The Secret Engine - Episodes 5 and 6

Speed, Spritle and Chim Chim are out for a drive to check out some of the adjustments Pops had made to the carburetor. The Mach Five seems to be a bit too big for the road as it spans both lanes. It starts to rain. "Yummy yummy says my tummy," Spritle remarks as he chomps on a banana, from which Chim Chim snags a bite.

Speed puts up the deflector and turns on the radio. The music coming from the radio is very 60-ish. Sounds a lot like the Ventures. The broadcast is interrupted by a news bulletin announcing that Tongue Blaggard, a convict at Songalong Prison, has escaped. Blaggard is the head of an unscrupulous organization known to have thousands of men throughout the world. He is thought to be hiding in the vicinty of Hightaxtown.

Further on down the road, Speed and company encounter a Model T, which runs better than a clock. Spritle adds, "I'll bet it doesn't run any faster than a clock." Speed urges the old man driving the car to put the top up and offers to help. The old man refuses his help, and by the time he finally gets the top up, the sun comes out.

Later, Speed is driving the Mach Five in a clinic led by one of the greatest racers of all time, Fireball Rust. Rust is a real taskmaster, cutting no slack on his charges. We get a closeup of Speed's chance in the hot seat. Rust is all over him, but Speed seems to handle the pressure.

Spritle is watching Speed practice, but Chim Chim cleverly conceals the picnic basket by hoisting it up a tree with a rope. While Spritle frantically looks for the basket, Chim Chim wolfs down all the food.

Next comes practicing LeMans starts. Speed makes a complete idiot of himself as he trips over the fender, misses the cockpit and falls on his face.

A stranger is watching Speed play the fool. But unknown to Speed, this is his older brother Rex, who ran away from home years ago and is now known as Racer X. Racer X performs a flawless LeMans start of the Mach Five then runs the slalom, often on two wheels. Nobody can get off to a faster start and maintain top speed as well as Racer X. At the end of his show, Racer X does a handstand on his way out of the Mach Five and into his car, the Shooting Star.

On the way back from the clinic, Spritle has Chim Chim tied up as punishment for stealing all the food. They meet the old man with the Model T again. The old man changes his tune about Speed when he sees that the Mach Five has a real stick shift and a real honest-to-goodness clutch. As the old man admires the Mach Five, the daughter releases Chim Chim from bondage. The old man gets a ride in the Mach Five (notice he rides standing up). Chim Chim and Spritle ride with the girl in the Model T.

Spritle is a bit too honest when he says of the Model T, "It's a pile of junk."

Speed is taken to the old man's home, where he cares for a group of orphaned children, an amazing feat on the salary of a taxicab washer.

Meantime, Tongue Blaggard is out looking for the Model T once owned by Lightfingers Klepto, the famous crook. He snatches the old man's Model T. When the old man sees his car stolen, he tells Speed about the history of the car. The old man reveals he is Lightfinger Klepto's son.

Back at Pops Motors, a car repair enterprise between Pops and Sparky, there is an empty garage. Mom tries to cheer them up with some cookies.

Trixie spots the Model T off Highway 8 near the bridge on the River Kwhen as opposed to the River Kwhy. She radios Speed with the news.

Meanwhile, Pops and Sparky are napping at the garage. They are awakened by Speed and Trixie who talk Pops into repairing the old man's Model T for free as a sort of public promotion. When Pops sees the car he yells, "It's a pile of junk." The public relations gimmick works as the garage is soon flooded with customers, unfortunately they all own Model Ts. Sparky notes there's a common problem that seems to be in the engine.

Returning to the old man's house, Speed digs up the old engine that's buried. When he uncovers it he reveals the serial number 9870000 with S3 N2 etched underneath.

Back at Blaggard's hideout, another stolen Model T is being inspected for the engine with the serial number 9870000. Blaggard describes his convo in prison with Sureshot Sluggem, the guy that knocked off Lightfingers Klepto, where he learns of the secret of the hidden bank loot and how the loot can be found using the code written on engine 9870000. The exact location is somewhere near Boulder Mountain in Misty Valley.

Speed drives around with a flag marked 9870000, a very subtle attempt to attract the attention of whomever wants the engine. It works because Blaggard takes notice, but he cautions his men that it might be a trap (the phrase big duh comes to mind).

The bad guys are soon in hot pursuit, then Speed starts to really fly. When one of the cars crashes, Speed sees an opportunity to question the driver, but he has to cut the interview short as a whole convoy of vehicles and a helicopter overhead distract him. As Speed takes off, not far away, Racer X, whom Speed does not know is his older brother, races to the rescue. His car is driving up a hill that's almost vertical.

The helicopter extends a long ramp (you wonder where the ramp came from) and a squadron of bullet-shaped motorcycles comes down. Speed soons find himself between a rock and a hard place as the motorcycles close in from one side and the convoy from the other. Cue the suspense music - can Speed escape from the powerful forces of the notorious Blaggard?

Confused? You won't be when you see the next thrilling episode of Speed Racer.

Speed escapes by using the belted tires and heading straight uphill. His escape gives him enough time to recap the story thus far. Then, he accosts one of Blaggard's men trying to get some information, at least until a huge character named Tiny gives him a karate chop and knocks him out.

Speed and the old man are trapped in a cave where Blaggard tries to get the old man (Lightfingers Klepto Jr.) to tell him where the secret engine is. Enter Tiny who makes a point by chopping up rocks with his fists. Speed offers a deal to split the loot ($1 billion) three ways. Blaggard agrees, but first Speed has to call his folks. He tells Pops to tell Trixie to forget about the ring because it cost $650.

Speed tries to contact Trixie by radio, but he notices that some vacuum tubes are missing. He should have stopped by the drugstore first and picked some up.

Misty Valley is a long way away, so everyone has to stay overnight at a secluded cabin. During the night, Speed tries to make a radio call to the police. There obviously was a drugstore because the radio worked just fine. Unfortunately, Blaggard interrupts the call and gets a free tour of the Mach Five. When he plays with the homing robot he gets it a little too close to the ground and it picks up a clay sample on its belly. Then Blaggard plays a little more and sends the robot on its way to the Racer house.

Trixie shows up at the Racer house very late at night. She's mad because Speed was supposed to take her to a party. She wants to see him to give him a piece of her mind. I hope it's only a small piece, because she probably can't spare too much more. Pops gives her the message about the ring.

Trixie decodes the message. Add a couple of zeroes to 650 and that's the red zone of the Mach Five's tachometer (65000 rpm?). Speed must be in trouble! Of course he is, you fool. If he would stand up a fox like Trix, he's gotta be in trouble - probably a bowling match that went a few extra frames.

Meanwhile, Spritle wants some ice cream because the homing robot woke him up. Pops notices some red clay on the belly of the homing robot.

Next day, back at the cabin, Lightfingers Klepto Jr lets Speed know that he slept like a baby, or rather like an old man. Speed had heard Trixie's helicopter overhead last night.

Blaggard's men find a very dirty "native" of Misty Valley to act as their guide. She first refuses, at least until a great deal of money is offered, then no problem. When Lana (the "native") sees Speed she jumps all over him. He is the most handsome boy in the valley (fer sure). Down the road, Lana flips one of the guards out of the Mach Five. After putting up the deflector shield, she reveals herself as ta-da Trixie. She had studied the clay (a geologist, too) and deduced that kind of clay can only be found in Misty Valley.

Trixie, LKJr, and Speed make their way to the abandoned village where Pops is waiting. But when they get there, they find Blaggard dressed in Pops' clothes and Pops locked in a closet.

Spritle and Chim Chim have stowed aboard the helicopter. Blaggard has Speed take him and his minions to where he thinks the treasure is buried. There is a big X on the back of a rock. Tiny recovers the money and Blaggard orders his men to mow down Speed and the gang. But before he can give the order to fire, Chim Chim leads a herd of monkeys to attack Blaggard and his goons. Spritle, dressed in a tarzan outfit adds to the confusion. Pops yells at Spritle, "What are you doing dressed like that? You're liable to catch the sniffles." Spritle reminds Pops he used to be a champion wrestler, so Pops enters the battle.

Tiny engages Speed in a one-on-one match, except this time David forgot his slingshot. At least Spritle had a slingshot to take care of a gunman who was getting ready to shoot Speed (as though Tiny wasn't trouble enough). The match ends with a ton of rocks falling on Tiny.

Blaggard's back, but this time with a flamethrower. But Racer X drops in to join the party and knocks the creep over with the Shooting Star. He continues on to take out the rest of the gunmen. Blaggard takes off in one of his limos and Speed takes chase. At the water hazard, Blaggard figgers he lost Speed, but the Mach Five is really underwater. Blaggard finally tries to make his escape by grabbing a rope ladder dropped from his helicopter. But Speed uses the homing robot to knock the briefcase with the money from Blaggard's hands. Blaggard jumps down after it with Speed in pursuit. The money turns to dust and slips through Blaggard's fat little fingers.

But all is not for nothing, Inspector Detector informs Speed that he will receive a $100,000 reward for the capture of Blaggard, but good guy Speed decides the money should go to Mr Klepto so he can open his orphanage.

NOTE: There was no car race in this episode, although mention of the upcoming Multipeak Race was made.

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