Cartoon Car Toons!

Dexter loves car races too aside from ice cream and cool gadgets. That’s why in one of the episodes of Dexter’s Lab, they spoofed the classic 1968 Hanna-Barbera cartoon series Wacky Races and it was entitled Dexter’s Wacky Races!

The Wacky Races is an animated television series from Hanna-Barbera. A fun-filled car racing adventure about a group of 11 different cars racing against each other in a variety of road rallies, with each driver hoping to win the title of the “World’s Wackiest Racer.” The cartoon was unusual in the large number of regular characters - twenty-three in total.

Here are the cast of Dexter’s very own version of the wacky races!

Vehicles include:

• The Lab Rat - driven by Dexter who is in the Professor Pat Pending role. It is equipped with the latest technology and technological advancements. Since Dexter place 2nd and the Merry Prankster (with the wrong driver), in was actually Dexter who won the race.
• The Dark Man Special - driven by Mandark who is in the Dick Dastardly role. It is equipped with a magnet with 3 settings: “Moose”, “Car” and “Boat”. The vehicle also has 2 legs that can pop up from its torso.
• The Family Sedan - driven by Dexter’s parents. Very similar to the Sedan Dexter’s parents usually drive; the only differences are that they have state of the art windshield wipers and the vehicle has all excess weight removed (including the back seat and the gas tank).
• The Merry Prankster - driven by Windbear and Oceanbird; Mandark’s hippie parents. Equipped with a Propane tank installed by Windbear. A police officer pulls them over so he can inspect their car, and he accidentally activates the Propane tank propelling him to the finish line. It is unknown what became of the vehicle after the race, but for Windbear and Oceanbird used the officer’s bike to continue the race.
• The Glory Lorry - driven by Major Glory, Valhallen and The Infraggable Krunk, has stickers and is the most luxurious motor on the market. Close to the end of the race the car stalls, forcing Krunk and Valhallen to push the car all the way to the end.

Do you remember the first time he appeared on movie screens? It was in 1977 when the fictional movie called Damnation Alley was released in Universal City, California. It was constructed by Dean Jefferies at Jefferies Automotive. There are actually two models of the cars on the film but only one was given the chance to be produed for $300,000 in 1976. That is even more expensive than the real time Audi heater core.

Landmaster is actually a real car but it was used on the film as if it was a fictional vehicle. The design looks awful just like any other standard truck. He was made a little junky so that the junkyard would get something it needs for the repairs.

Landmaster in real life is powered by a 391 cubic-inch Ford industrial engine and also uses the same rear-ends as of big trucks and it also uses the Allison automatic truck transmission. The car also features the star wheel which is made fully functional in the film. There are 12 wheels on the car but only 8 functions.

The car has the innovative steering mechanism that propels the vehicle by not only turning the front wheels but also bending the middle section filled with hydraulic rams to do the turn. Its body is also made up of 3/8-inch steel plating which is about 10 tons on the scale. It was actually sent to a 25 foot jump but surprisingly, nothing bad happened.

In history, a Landmaster was seen parked on the Dean Jefferies’ automotive shop close to the Cahuenga Boulevard located in North Hollywood, California from 1977 to 2005 according to Wikipedia.org.

The owner of the Landmaster later sold the vehicle in 2005 and it is now undergoing restoration to preserve its natural appearance. The restored Landmaster will be seen as a showcar at a particular circuit. The car was slightly modified from its looks during its appearance in the movie “Damnation Alley.” The car’s driver seat was enlarged and the passenger windows with the flexible center section cover removed.

OTHER APPEARANCES of LANDMASTEr:

• The wild and the Young (1986) - Music video by Quiet Riot
• Get A Life (1990) - the “Paperboy 2000” episode.
• A.P.E.X. (1994) - a time travel movie.
• Hybrid (1997) - a post-apocalyptic movie.
• Dino Island pre-ride video - Sony MovieGlide Theatre
• The Road Worrier - A television commercial for Amoco titled
• The Morrow Project RPG featured the M.A.R.S. (this is actually one of the elongated version of Landmaster with four seats and start wheels.)

I’ve always been a fan of that balding yellow guy who drinks Duff like its water. Yes, it’s Homer Jay Simpson who recently made it to the big screen. I’ve seen the movie and I think it was great. Matt Groening really knows how to tickle our collective funny bone. We all know his passion for beer and donuts and beers but some may not know that Homer is also an automotive designer.

On the second season of The Simpsons, the fifteenth episode, Homer shows that he can design cars. The episode entitled ‘Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?’ is a show which tells us that Homer may have found his brother. It all started when Grampa thought that he was dying after he suffered a heart attack from watching the latest McBain movie. Grampa said that before he married Homer’s mother, he already had a son with a prostitute. This means that Homer has a half-brother.

Being the “average guy” that he is, Homer decided that he must find his brother. So they went to the orphanage to inquire about Grampa’s other child. They found out that Grampa’s son was named Herbert and was adopted by Mr. and Mrs. Powell. Herbert or Herb Powell looks exactly just like Homer except that Herb is taller, slimmer and has more hair. He is the head of an automobile company named Powell Motors. The said company is in danger of being overtaken by the Japanese because of poor management. Even though Herb faces this challenge, he is still very rich and yet sad that he does not know where he comes from.

And so, Herb was overjoyed when he was informed that he has a half-brother. After learning the truth, he invited the whole Simpsons family into his mansion. It was then that Herb decided that Homer, being an “average guy”, should be the one to design the company’s new car. And this is the beginning of the end for Herb. Unfortunately for Herb, he realized too late that Homer is not what you could call an “average guy”. And the result of Homer’s foray into auto design is a travesty.

The Homer as the car is called has some “interesting features” like an extremely large beverage holder, a little ball on top of the aerial, tail fins, bubble domes, shag carpeting, and several horns that plays “La Cucaracha”. For a closer look at the car that Homer built, check out this site.

I know, some of you may not know who Wonderbug is because it has been years since it first came out on TV screens. It is a show on ABC that features a car that talks and acts like a human - something that is just like Disney’s Herbie. It begun its telecast on September 11, 1976 and finished 22 episodes befoe it finally ended on September 2, 1978.

“Schlepcar” was Wonderbug’s alter ego. It appears like a totally misused, rusty old beat up car that looks like it was not taken cared of. Just lie Herbie, Wonderbug can also talk, and drive itself while doing a mumbling voice. It was co-starred by several famous celebrities that time namely David Levy (Barry Buntrock), Jack Baker (C.C. McNamara) and Carol Anne Seflinger (Susan Talbot).

A magic horn was sounded and Schlepca was turned into a Wonderbug - his new identity. He was able to help three teenagers to stop doing evil deeds that try to conquer and inflict evilness to the earth. Wonderbug and these teenagers were also teamed up to prevent crooks who cause evil wrongdoings.

Wonderbug is a custom-made Meyers Manx-clone body Volkswagen. It was given articulated eyeball headlights as well as the bumper that serves as his mouth. He was also given several facial expressions. When he mums, the mouth also moves as if he actually talks. His back seat is also covered every time he tries to hide something from the people. He also had a long fender-mounded radio antenna matched to a robot-like claw or gripper, Wikipedia said.

Barry thinks the car actually has a brain and he usually leaves everything to the car but it always ends up with Susan making a way to save all of them.

Wonderbug is a 15-minute show sharing its time with Krofft Supershow titles including some other shows like Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, The Lost Saucer, Dr. Shrinker and Magic Mongo.

You may be familiar with who KITT is but are you familiar with KARR? Wikipedia has the story.

KARR is the acronym for Knight Automated Roving Robot. KARR was the prototype of KITT and has appeared two times in the entire Knight Rider series.

KARR was originally made by Wilton Knight and was manufactured by Knight’s company - Knight Industries. After it was built completely, the company installed a CPU in the car and activated the system. But because of lack of a higher technology, the installation turned out to be unsuccessful. Errors happened and the whole production was stopped because it can be dangerous. It was put on hold until the company found the best solution.

So KITT was made. KITT was the better version of KARR. If KARR was programmed for self-preservation, KITT is programmed to protect humans. KARR can be ruthless and a threat because of his personality. KITT is childlike and enjoys what the world gives. KITSS is inexperienced and naïve as compared to KARR who has a little grudge towards his existence. Maybe because he was not created perfect is why he envies KITT’s existence. KARR was actually the exact opposite of KITT’s remarkable personality. While KITT enjoys playing around with people, KARR displays lack of respect and loyalty. He usually ejects his driver to save up some weight to pursue his escape.

He first appeared on the episode titled, “Trust Doesn’t Rust” aired last November 19th, 1982 on NBC. He also appeared on the controversial season three episode “K.I.T.T. vs. K.A.R.R.” aired on the same channel in November 4th, 1984. He appeared as the enemy of KITT with Michael Knight as his driver. He was translated into a video game later under the Davilex International under license.

The car parts of KARR and KITT were never specified but they sure do not wear the Mazda fan. But because they both talk, I guess the features maybe are as high tech as the cars of today.

Is there anyone here familiar with “The Munsters”? Well. You may not have heard about the TV series because it actually became so famous during the years 1964 to 1966. The TV series only made 70 episodes before it finally waved goodbye from the TV screens. “The Munsters” is actually the classic Addams Family. The rumors and the comedy you can see on that TV series was actually taken from “The Munsters”. The TV series gave the scary vampire characters whole new comic scrip.

Usually, we get scared of vampires but you can chuckle your lungs out seeing “The Munsters”. They are scary and funny. That’s how I can describe them.

“The Munsters” have their own family car. They call it The Munster Koach. Although the car does not have the Infiniti i30 radiator, it is very useful to the family. Among the seventy aired episodes, the Koach appeared more than twenty times.

The Koach comes with a Model T body and is 18′ long with 133″ frame entirely made by hand packed with brass radiator and fenders as well. The interior was painted with a bloody red paint job combined with the Gloss Black Pearl paint. They staff took 500 hours to perfect the look of the car given more steel scrollworks. To give it a more realistic appeal, they also installed dropped the axle, split radius rods and T springs.

The engine part was a Ford Cobra engine built with the Jahns high compression pistons matched on a 10 chrome plated Stromberg carburetors given with an Isky cam as well as a set of Bobby Barr racing headers. Given a four speed manual transmission as well as a power rear end, the car is definitely the right car for the family.

Thanks wikipedia.org for this gorgeous piece of information. If you wish to see more information about the “The Munsters”, click this link.

I’ve been watching NASCAR and Formula One races recently. Actually I also love motorsports aside from cartoons. And then, last Sunday, I was watching the Italian Grand Prix which McLaren’s two-time world champion, Fernando Alonso, won. Aside from marveling at how these Formula One drivers mange to control their rocketing cars, I was also fascinated by the job being done by their crew.

I know that it is important to have a very fast crew so that you can be in and out of the pits in no time. Every tire nut should be secured; fuel should be filled to the right amount according to the strategy. Things like that are important especially if a millisecond can cost you a championship. So I was thinking about how these guys prepare for this job. And then my mind flashed back to that blue forklift who performed the fastest pit stop in the history of the Piston Cup.

The Piston Cup is actually patterned on the Winston Cup which is now the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series. Anyway, I am talking about Guido in the movie Cars. He lives at Radiator Springs along with Sally Carrera, Doc Hudson, Mater, and his best friend Luigi. He actually works for Luigi in the latter’s Casa Della Tires. They are both Italian although Luigi can speak English and Guido cannot although Guido understands the language.

Guido was voiced by Guido Quaroni - a computer modeler and animation scientist at Pixar Animation Studios. His dream is to perform a pits stop, which he pronounces as “peet stop” for a real race car. His dream was fulfilled when he became part of Lightning McQueen’s pit crew. During race, when Lightning needed a change of tires, Guido impressed everyone by performing the fastest “peet stop” in the history of the Piston Cup. It only took him four seconds to do what needs to be done. Thus he was a vital part of Lightning’s team.

Near the end of the film, we see Luigi and Guido at their shop when a Michael Schumacher Ferrari voiced by the seven-time world champion dropped by. Luigi instantly fainted. Guido, on the other hand, fainted when Schumi talked to him.

I remember during my childhood years when the Transformers animated series was launched on television. It was the most exciting animated stories ever told aside from He-Man, Spiderman and Friends and the Ninja Turtles! I think it was the start of a new remarkable era for animation because of its storyline, characters and settings! Wow! The Transformers were the future during those times and even nowadays, the popularity of this animated flick has vastly expanded so much so that it cater to different generations of anime-enthusiasts!

One of the original characters that I admire so much is the one and only wise leader of the Autobots - Optimus Prime! I still can recall the action figures that my parents gave me when I was a kid! He was an awesome character! His alternate vehicle was a Freightliner COE Dual-Axle Semi Truck with Trailer that definitely suits his quality as a very powerful and smart leader! He was once known as Orion Pax when he was just a small robot. He was then crowned with the Autobot Matrix of Leadership and later known to be the great and fierce Optimus Prime!

As leader of the Autobots, he has devoted himself to a chaotic life of preventing the Decepticons wherever they attacked and he wishes to have unity and peace between the robots of Cybertron. He is accompanied by a trailer in vehicle mode, which can become a weapon platform. He was also accompanied by Roller, a small unspeaking Autobot which is sent on reconnaissance missions.

According to Wikipedia.com, the original Optimus Prime transforms into a cab over a semi truck. The truck’s cab transforms into the robot mode of Prime himself, with enormous power and armed with a laser rifle. Contained within his chest is the mystic amulet known as the Autobot Matrix of Leadership (or Creation Matrix), carried by all Autobot leaders and passed down through the ages. The truck’s trailer disconnects and transforms into the Combat Deck - a mobile battle-station/command headquarters with an “Auto-Launcher” robot armed with assorted artillery and beam weapons. It can also serve as a radio antenna for battlefield communications between the Autobots. The Combat Deck can launch Prime’s third component, Roller, a mobile scout buggy that can easily slip behind enemy lines. When Roller is present somewhere, it is as if Prime is there himself. Injury to one component is felt by each of the others, and while Prime could survive the destruction of either, despite the slight degree of autonomy they possess, the Combat Deck and Roller would not be able to survive without him.

Well, that’s just a few of the facts about Optimus Prime. But one thing’s for sure - he is one cool character that gives power to the Transformers! Transform and Roll Out! I’m outta here!