Childhood Fantasy: C3 Corvette-Based Speed Racer Mach 5 Replica
Considering that this is a car from a cartoon, we think the builder did a pretty good job.
It’s a bit of a generational anomaly, but a great many of us grew up with Speed Racer. For most of us, it was the first anime we ever watched. Speed Racer helped to jump-start our love of all things automotive. Besides Speed’s trademark rapid-fire dialogue, the most memorable part of the show was his race car, the Mach 5.
The Mach 5’s shape was simultaneously pointy and curvaceous. The distinctively dagger-like front end flowed into a tight, narrow midsection that, from above, might have reminded us of the exaggerated shape of a pin-up model, had us kids even known that such a thing existed.
As far as we know, the Mach 5 wasn’t based on a real car. It’s hard to imagine a production model that resembles it exactly. However, one car comes close – the C3 Chevrolet Corvette. Think about it: it’s got the pointy front end, the bulbous fenders, and the squeezed-in middle that makes any Corvette of that generation look inherently seductive.
From Fantasy to Reality
The team over at Auto Evolution (the Racer X to our Speed Racer, as it were) found this Mach 5 replica offered for sale by Classic Auto Mall of Morgantown, Pennsylvania. It’s based on a 1979 Corvette, and is powered by the stock 350 cubic inch small block and 3-speed automatic transmission.
It may be nothing special when it comes to performance, but to fans of the show, that probably won’t matter. This Corvette is probably your only chance to experience the Mach 5 in real life.
The proportions are far from perfect. The side profile looks about right, but the whole thing just seems a bit, well, chunky. We’re sure that some concessions had to be made to accommodate the Corvette underpinnings, let alone the requirements of street-legal use.
Regardless, it’s an impressive piece of work for sure and if you simply must have it, you can buy it for $86,900. That’s quite a lot of money for a late C3 Corvette. For the right Speed Racer fan, it could very well be worth every penny.
Photos: Classic Auto Mall
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