Cartoon Car Toons!

Wacky Races… How can I forget this funny and exciting cartoon show? This was phenomenal during the 80s, made popular by the characters Dick Dasterdly, Penelope Pitstop, and Muttley among all others.

The Wacky Races is one among the top cartoon series I often watch when I was a kid. Every episode promises a whole lot of fun and excitement with new adventures to look forward to. Let me give you one of favorite characters from the show… It’s Peter Perfect in the Turbo Terrific 09 race car!

Peter Perfect is a jock who is apparently dead over heels in love with Penelope Pitstop. He drives a drag racer that frequently falls to bits. He always stops to say hello to Penelope. His car is probably the least challenging in the races. His car usually breaks down right after he makes a statement on its dependability. Sometimes Peter Perfect displays odd elasticity capability, although this seemed to be just a gag. In development, the car was called the Varoom Roadster, a name used in the Gold Key comic book series. A character in the Horrid Henry series called Perfect Peter has the same name as Peter Perfect. It just goes backwards.

I think I had enough of this childish stuff so I better run and send my father’s Audi struts to our mechanic friend! Got to go!

The green flag will be waved on May 9 next year. That would be a red date for me. Why? Because my favorite Speed Racer heads to the big screen. And it is enough reason for me to be happy.

It would be nice to follow the escapades of Speed, a young race car driver in his quest for success in his stunningly fast car – Mach 5.

According to Anime News Network, the movie is a Warner Bros. Pictures presentation, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, of a Silver Pictures Production. The movie stars Emile Hirsch as Speed, Christina Ricci as girlfriend Trixie and Matthew Fox as Racer X, Speed’s older brother.

“We have been excited about ‘Speed Racer’ since we first announced the project. We see it as a movie with broad-based, worldwide appeal—from adults to teens to families—making it the perfect film to lead off our exciting 2008 Summer slate. We want to give ‘Speed Racer’ the maximum playability throughout the season, so moving it up to the earliest possible date made the most sense,” Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

Kwan-Rubinek, President of International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures, added: “Opening ‘Speed Racer’ day-and-date with the U.S. in most international markets will not only allow audiences to see the film early but will maximize business before the start of the European Soccer Championships.”

“Speed Racer” is being written and directed by Larry and Andy Wachowski, marking the brothers’ first writing/directing collaboration since their groundbreaking “Matrix” movies. The film is being produced by Joel Silver under his Silver Pictures banner.

Hirsch was 6 years old when he saw his first episode of “Speed Racer” cartoon and caught a glimpse of the Mach 5. “It was one of the coolest things I’d ever seen,” Hirsch told The Army Times. “That’s when I started thinking it would be great to be on TV. And have one of those.”

Sixteen years after, Hirsch finally got behind the wheel of the Mach 5. “My first thought was, ‘Yeah, they got the car right,’ ” he says. “That’s one of the best things about the show, so it was always going to be one of the most important parts of the movie.”

Andy and Larry Wachowski, the brothers who are making their first directorial job since The Matrix trilogy, grew up on the famous 1960s Japanese cartoon about the adventures of a racing family — and a chimpanzee called Chim Chim. “They’re using a real monkey,” Hirsch says. “Just don’t call him that. He’s a chimpanzee. He gets upset if you call him a monkey.”

“The TV show was the brothers’ introduction to Japanese animation,” says Joel Silver, producer of Racer and the Matrix films. “They fell in love with the genre. They said they’d been making R-rated movies their whole lives and wanted to do something their nephews and nieces could watch.”

“Speed Racer will have a “retro future” look and will center on Speed (Hirsch) trying to make a name for himself in the racing world despite the efforts of corporate giants to foil his career,” concludes Silver. “Racer is going to be very bright, very family-friendly. And it will have great effects like TheMatrix, just with the car.”

In the three racing games of the Crash Bandicoot series, one player which you can use is Dr. N. Gin. He is the right hand man of the evil Neo Cortex. Together, they are plotting time and time again how to control the world. But each time, Crash would end up saving the day from the duo.

Dr. N. Gin is tasked by Neo Cortex to create several weapons and other unpleasant devices. These are made by the evil doctor without question whether it can harm or it will help. Being the right hand of the main villain in the game series, Dr. N. Gin serves as a stage boss.

According to Wikipedia, “Jason Rubin is credited for the concept of Doctor N. Gin. N. Gin has a live missile in his head, which can give him a headache when it becomes active. Coincidentally, Jason Rubin suffered from chronic migraine headaches. N. Gin’s name is a play on the word ‘engine’, referring to his occupation as a physicist.”

In the racing game, Dr. N. Gin has a car that has good acceleration just like Koopa’s on the Super Mario racing game. In the Crash Nitro Kart game, the evil doctor is one of the racers in Cortex’s team. He is one of the pilots of the red vehicles. This doctor is really evil as he considered creating cybernetic sharks which he can command. In another game, Dr. N. Gin convinced Cortex to help in the search for Von Clutch’s lost Power Gems. The plan though is for Cortex and his team to use Von Clutch’s theme park as their base of operation in their quest to control the world.

If you are planning to play Crash Team Racing maybe you might want to use Dr. N. Gin. Or if you want to unlock other characters, you might want to try some of these cheats. According to kidzworld.com: “To unlock the driving machine of your fave character - head to the main screen, hold down L1 and R1 and punch in one of these codes:”

• For Penta Penguin: Down, Right, Triangle, Down, Left, Triangle, Up.
• For N. Trophy: Down, Left, Right, Up, Down, Right, Right.
• For Ripper Roo: Right, Circle, Circle, Down, Up, Down, Right.
• For Papu Papu: Left, Triangle, Right, Down, Right, Circle, Left, Left, Down.
• Ford Komodo Joe: Down, Circle, Left, Left, Triangle, Right, Down.
• For Pinstripe: Left, Right, Triangle, Down, Right, Down.

Here are some more cheats that you want to try. Keep holding down L1 and R1 and key in these codes:

• For Invisibility: Up, Up, Down, Right, Right, Up.
• For Infinite Masks: Left, Triangle, Right, Left, Circle, Right, Down, Down.
• For Infinite Bombs: Triangle, Right, Down, Right, Up, Triangle, Left.

So that’s it. Have a good one.

Before PlayStation, we learned to love the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.  Ad one of the games I love to play with the system is Super Mario Kart.  During those days, the graphics of the game was a never-before-seen feature. Even before the PlayStation came out with good looking games, Nintendo has been doing it already. Anyway, back to the game, Super Mario Kart is a kart racing video game where players can choose from eight characters in the Mario Series.

One peculiar thing about the game though is that players are forced to play on a split-screen mode. On single player modes, one half of the screen shows the map.  There are two single player modes.  The first one is Mariokart GP.  Wikipedia explains:  “Engine classes of 50cc, 100cc, and 150cc are available (150cc is available upon acquiring gold in all the cups in 100cc). Larger engines result in faster vehicles and a greater level of difficulty. There are four cups to select: the Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Special Cups (100cc and 150cc only). Each cup consists of five tracks and the player must receive fourth place or better in any track to advance to the next.”

The second single player mode is Time Trial.  In this mode, players race around the tack without having to worry about other racers. This is for those who wants to set the fastest time in a course.  Personally, I like the Mariokart GP mode since I can beat computer controlled racers which kinda makes me feel good.

The character that I always wanted to play is the generic Koopa Troopa. Wondering what a Koopa Troopa is? Once again, Wikipedia explains:  “A Koopa Troopa is a creature of the fictional turtle species in the Mario video game series. Koopa Troopas (also sometimes just called “Koopas”) are collectively one of the most well-known Mario enemies, and have appeared in nearly every game.”

In the game Super Mario Kart, a Koopa Troopa has excellent traction, average acceleration but low top speed.  This makes it a good character to play on circuitous tracks where top speed does not really come to play as you end up slowing down as you make the turns.  As an opponent, I am kinda frustrated racing with the Koopa since it has unlimited ammo.  It can hurl turtle shells at its opponents. But while sometimes frustrating, it makes the game more exciting.   Actually, I think the Koopas are actually kinda cuter than Mario or his brother Luigi.

If you have been playing your heart out on your PlayStation in late 90s I am sure you have met Crash Bandicoot. I had a great time playing with the character through different levels. I especially liked the way he walks when he gets crushed.  LOL.  Back then, I was wondering why he was named Crash Bandicoot.  Soon, I found out the he is called Crash because that’s what he does for a living; crashing boxes.  And why bandicoot?  The makers of the game wanted something that everyone has heard of but does not really know what it is. That’s why they settled with bandicoot.

If you are still wondering what a bandicoot is, let us solicit some help from Wikipedia.  The online encyclopedia describes the bandicoot as “any of about 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia”.  Still fuzzy right? So why don’t you go ahead and read the full article here.

The makers of the game though have amusing answers for the questions: a) What is a bandicoot? (b) Why is “Crash” a bandicoot? and (c) Why is he named “Crash”?  Their answer: (a) Crash is a Parameles gunnii, of the order polyprotodonta, family Peramelidae, commonly known as the Eastern Barred Bandicoot. He is a marsupial, which means that he is born with a built in fanny pack. They live in Tasmania, a small island south of Australia, as well as on the Australian mainland. The Parameles gunnii is, on average, 320mm from head to rump, and has a 80mm tail. They weigh about 950g. Crash’s family, on the other hand, tend to be about a meter tall, orange, walk on their hind legs, and wear big shoes. They have, therefore, earned a good living in the Parameles gunnii circus sideshow spinning real fast and the like.  (b) Because both of his parents were.  (c) Because that is the name his parents gave him.

Aside from crashing boxes for a living, Crash also had a stint as a driver.  In the racing game Crash Team Racing, Crash once again takes center stage.  It was made by Naughty Dog and released in 1999 for the PlayStation.

The story revolves around the plot that an extraterrestrial named Nitros Oxide is claiming that he is the fastest racer in the Galaxy.  He saw Crash and the gang getting ready to join a kart racing tournament and decided to join.  Being the evil extraterrestrial that he is, he challenged racers from Earth to see who is the fastest.  In the said tournament, what’s at stake is the planet. If no one can beat Nitros Oxide, he will turn Earth into a concrete parking lot and will tae all of its inhabitants as slaves.  Since this is a game, the ending will be up to you.

You all know who Inspector Clouseau is, right? Are you familiar with the Pink Panther and his car the Silver Hornet? It’s actually a Citroën 2CV which appeared on “Revenge of the Pink Panther” but it was shown with slight modifications and it was just fell apart. The car didn’t have a GMC pickup fifth wheel hitch but the vehicle fits the right description of what the car should be.

The Citroën 2CV is actually a French car which means “two horses” in English and it is known as deux chevaux in French. It was a budget car produced by the French automaker Citroën in 1948 to 1990. It was their very first iconic car which was designed as a low cost, reliability, versatility, simplicity and off-road driving unit.

The car also has these following features:

• a light easily serviceable engine
• extremely soft suspension
• high clearance
• oversized loads
• a car-wide canvas sunroof

The 1948 2CV features:

• four wheel independent suspension that was inter-connected front to rear on the same side
• leading arm front suspension
• trailing arm rear suspension
• rear fender skirts
• suspension design allows wheel change without removing skirts
• front-wheel drive
• inboard front brakes
• small, lightweight, air-cooled flat twin engine
• 4-speed manual transmission
• bolt-on detachable body panels
• front suicide doors
• flap-up windows because roll up windows were considered too expensive in 1948
• detachable full length fabric sunroof and boot lid 

This is the Citroën 2CV which is also known as The Silver Hornet:
Class: Economy car
Body style(s): 4-door sedan
Length: 3.83 metres (150.8 in)
Width: 1.48 metres (58.3 in)
Height: 1.60 metres (63 in)
Curb weight: 560 kg (1235 lb)
Designer: Flaminio Bertoni

So if you want to see the car, you better watch Revenge of the Pink Panther.

From the title itself, you would definitely know what I am talking about. Yes, the De Lorean DMC-12 is the flying car in the Back to the Future trilogy. Do you want to know more about the car? Well, just continue reading, while I look for Subaru loyale parts for my old car.

The De Lorean DMC-12 is a car manufactured by the De Lorean Motor Company. The sports car is actually a production car that was released in 1981 to 1983 in the US car market and was produced in Northern Ireland. The car is made up of gull-wing doors and its body is composed of fiberglass and the non-structural brushed stainless steel panels are affixed. Thanks to Wikipedia.com for the information.

The very first prototype of the De Lorean DMC-12 was released in March 1977 but was officially produced as a car in 1981. On the same year at January 2, the DMC-12 first rolled out on the showrooms from DMC factory in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. The production car was not that perfect so the maker decided to retune the car and several changes have been made - like the wheels and interior as well as the hood (bonnet) style.

There are more than 9,000 DMC-12 cars but production was later stopped in 1982. The reason was not revealed. And you would believe it if I tell you that until this day, there are 6,500 De Lorean Motor Cars believed to still exist.

Here are some pieces of information about the car which I picked at wikipedia.org:

Manufacturer: De Lorean Motor Company
Production: 1981-1983-2008
Class: Sports car
Body style(s): 2-door coupe
Layout: RR layout
Engine(s): 2.8 L (2849 cc) PRV V6
Transmission(s): 5-speed manual 3-speed automatic
Wheelbase: 95 in (2413 mm)
Length: 166 in (4216 mm)
Width: 73.1 in (1857 mm)
Height :44.9 in (1140 mm) doors closed
77.2 in (1961 mm) doors open
Curb weight: 2712 lb (1230 kg)
Designer: Giorgetto Giugiaro

• Hayato Kazami - Junichi Kanemaru
• Naoki Shinjo - Hikaru Midorikawa
• Karl Lichter von Randoll - Youko Matsuoka
• Bleed Kaga/Jotaro Kaga - Toshihiko Seki
• Osamu Sugō/Knight Schumacher - Sho Hayami
• Jackie Gudelhian - Bin Shimada
• Franz Heinel - Ryotaro Okiayu
• Edelhi Bootsvorz - Naoki Tatsuta
• Pitalia Lope - Tomomichi Nishimura
• Henri Claytor - Hiro Yuki
• Phill Fritz - Atsushi Kisaichi
• Leon Earnhardt - Nobutoshi Hayashi
• Johji Ohtomo - Kousuke Tomita
• Akira Hiyoshi - Bin Shimada

Cyber Machines:

• SUGO
• Asurada GSX
• Super Asurada 01
• Super Asurada SA-01/C
• Super Asurada AKF-11
• Garland SF-01 (SF-02 minor update)
• Garland SF-03
• ν -Asurada AFK-0
• Garland SF-03/G
• AKF-0/1B Nemesis
• ν -Asurada II AFK-0/G II
• AOI
• Superion GT
• Fire Superion G.T.R
• Stealth Jaguar Z-7
• Fire Superion GTO-15B
• Stealth Jaguar Z-7B
• Exsuperion Z/A-8
• Exsuperion Z/A-10
• AL-ZARD NP-1
• Ogre AN-21
• AL-ZARD NP-2
• EX-ZARD Z/A-11
• Union Saviour
• Knight Saber 005
• Issuxark 007
• Issuxark 008
• Knight Saber 006R
• Issuxark 00-X1
• Issuxark 00-X3
• Issuxark 00-X3/II
• Strozek Project/ Strormzander
• Stil HG-161 (HG-162)
• Stil HG-164 (HG-165, Kreuz Stil)
• Spiegel HP-022
• Missing Link
• Missionel VR-4
• Neo Missionel VR-40
• Missionel VR-50/1
• Strat Missionel MS-1
• Strat Missionel MS-3/B
• A.G.S (Aurum General Staff)
• Condor B-15
• Condor B-16A
• Condor B-17
• Condor B-19
• Star Stampede (K.A.M Stampede)
• Stampede RS
• Star Saber RS
• Stampede J-1001
• S.G.M (Silent German Mind)
• Silent Screamer β
• Silent Screamer γ-2
• Albatross DDT
• Albatrander 602
• Albatrander 603
• Geodolite T.T
• Corundum 50P
• Kohinoor
• Counterarrow T.O.S
• Counterarrow T.O.S.X-R

Can’t get enough of the Transformers? Here’s one character from the Autobots that is definitely entertaining to watch. Kids, ladies and gentlemen of all ages… here’s Jazz!

Jazz is the very cool, very stylish, very competent and aggressively-knowledgeable member of the Autobots in the Transformers television and comic series based on the popular toy line produced by Takara and Hasbro. His original vehicle mode is a Martini Porsche 935 Turbo racing car. Jazz is self-confident, calm, and completely composed. He was assigned as the head of Special Operations along with his personal committed troop of agents. He frequently gives the most treacherous assignments to himself. Why? He’s just really the coolest head for the toughest tasks.

Jazz’s coolness expands to any environment he finds himself in, no matter how peculiar or astonishing. Jazz naturally tunes in to the local traditions, understanding and improvising, and making innovative command decisions, making him an essential right-hand bot to Optimus Prime.

Here are more details about Jazz from Wikipedia.com:

Jazz stayed as one of the more popular and well-remembered characters from the original series. Because of problems with trade-marking the name Jazz, some latest releases of Jazz were called Autobot Jazz.

Jazz was among the Autobots who followed Optimus Prime on his mission on board the Ark. They were attacked by Megatron’s ship, the Nemesis, and crash landed on Earth, where all on board were preserved in emergency stasis. Four million years later, in 1984, a volcanic eruption awakened the Ark’s computer, Teletran-I, and it revamped all on board. It reformatted Jazz in the form of an Earth race car.

In the episode “The God Gambit” Cosmos collected data in space on a potential new power source, but was attacked by Astrotrain, Thrust and Starscream. Crashing on the Saturn’s moon Titan, the local priests worshiped the Decepticons as “Sky Gods”, but rebels were able to reactivate Cosmos and call for aid from the Autobots. Optimus Prime sent Omega Supreme along with Perceptor and Jazz. Astrotrain set himself up as the chief god of the moon and forced the natives to gather energy crystals. The trip to Titan sapped Omega of most of his energy, but Perceptor and Jazz were able to collect sufficient crystals to reactivate Omega and defeat the three Decepticons. Making sure not to let the Autobots get the crystals, Astrotrain had set up a chain reaction which later destroyed them. The Autobots helped the natives to escape the explosion and helped them settle in another area of the moon.