Mach Five (Speed Racer)

The Mach Five (マッハ号, Mahha-gō) is the fictional racing car which appears in the anime series Speed Racer (known as Mach Go! Go! Go! in Japan) and its adaptations, including TV anime series and live-action films. The car has a set of special devices the driver can deploy with buttons on the steering wheel.

Mach Five was designed by Mitsuki Nakamura, who was the art director of Tatsunoko Production, which produced the 1967 TV anime series.

The initial plan was to keep the original manga design for the anime production, but it was decided to redesign the car, and Nakamura, a car enthusiast, was entrusted with the task. Nakamura scoured photographic materials and designed the car in reference to the Porsche, Ferrari and Jaguar race cars of the time. The car's special devices and other settings were conceived by Tatsunoko's literary section.

Mach Five's design remained timeless and modern half a century after its birth, and passed muster for the Wachowskis' 2008 live-action film adaptation with few changes 40 years later.

Speed Racer (known as Mach GoGoGo in Japan) is the first series produced in Japan in 1967 based on the manga.

Mach Five is the racing car driven by "Speed Racer" ("Go Mifune" in the Japanese version), whose car was designed, manufactured, and created by "Pops Racer" (Daisuke Mifune), Speed Racer's father. The car is a two-seater, left-hand drive car with no detailed specifications other than that it is powered by a V12 engine. The body is painted white and blue with the letter "M" written in red on the hood.

The car has seven special functions, each of which is controlled by a button on the steering wheel assigned to each initial from A to G.

The New Adventures of Speed Racer is a remake series produced in the United States in 1993, and has not been released in Japan.