Race Against the Mammoth Car - Episodes 7 and 8

Sparky has just checked out the brakes and wheel systems of the Mach Five at the starting point of the No Limit World Race. Trixie runs across the tarmac and presumptuously assumes her position as Speed's assistant. Spritle and Chim Chim soon join her, jumping on Pops' back on the way, taking their place in the trunk. Pops sees them and removes them. Sparky and Trixie have an argument as to who is going to be the assistant. Trixie has just taken brat lessons from Spritle. Sparky shows incredible restraint until he tries to remove her.

Up drives the Mammoth Car, which Sparky estimates is over 200 yards long.

The race officials are there to inspect every car in the race. Inspector Detector is there to explain that $50 million in gold bars was taken from the National Bank. He reasons that someone might try to smuggle the gold bars out of the country during the race.

Inspector Detector gets a guided tour of the Mammoth Car. The main engine has 7500 hp. Each mammoth wheel has an auxiliary engine of 1500 hp. The Mammoth Car has a total of 30000 hp. Let's see, doing the math, that means the Mammoth Car has 15 wheels. Maybe they mean axles. One drive axle for the tractor, means there are seven two-axled trailers. Somehow it all doesn't work out.

The Mammoth Car can travel over 500 mph on any kind of road. Sparky noses around the Mammoth Car, but he's caught by one of the henchmen and is locked in a shed.

Meanwhile, back in the pits, Sparky's absence is noticed and Pops prepares to get in shape to be Speed's assistant. He finds his physical condition is much less than it was when he was known as Dragon Racer, the famous wrestler.

A stranger is standing at the starting line. Unknown to Speed, this is his older brother Rex, who ran away from home years ago.

As the Mammoth Car revs up, its wake bounces around a tiny Pacer-like thing. The gorgeous Miss Racing Car drops the flag to start the race. The notorious Cruncher Block, owner of the Mammoth Car, and suspected by Inspector Detector of being the gold robber, is in the crowd.

Meanwhile, back at the shed, Racer X finds Sparky and wakes him up. Sparky tells him his tale of woe.

The Mammoth Car starts taking cars out of the race by forcing them off the road. Then it's Speeds turn as the Mammoth Car tries to mow him down. Speed escapes disaster by driving along the cliff.

A steam locomotive collides with the Mammoth Car with predictable results. The train is derailed and a whole herd of pigs gets loose. While Speed and Trixie help the engineer, mechanics quickly repair the Mammoth Car. Speed notices that the Mammoth Car was hardly scratched, yet a whole team of mechanics was at work fixing the car. He suspects there's a big secret. Hmmm.

Trixie deploys the homing robot with a x-ray camera to take pictures of the Mammoth Car. When the camera comes back, Trixie notices that it's been shot. Speed astutely figgers that it was the guys in the Mammoth Car. Double hmmm.

By now, Cruncher Block has returned to his luxurious headquarters halfway around the world. He receives a radio message from the Mammoth Car about Speed's attempted surveillance work.

The race is down to the Mammoth Car and the Mach Five. Speed begins to suspect that the Mammoth Car may be carrying the gold. Have you figgered out how they're doing it yet? The Mammoth Car deploys a squadron of motorcycles to go after Speed. But Speed's older brother Rex, in disguise as Racer X, spreads oil on the road. The motorcycles crash and one of the bikers gets a nasty lump on his head that pops through his helmet.

Pops is talking to Sparky as they drive (the license plate is 1947). Sparky has a black eye that he didn't have when he was talking to Racer X. Pops has a real nasty look on his face. Maybe Pops slugged Sparky. Pops does have a bad temper. They check in at the airport, but the last plane leaving for the north (where Speed is) had already left. The clerk cleverly says that unless they can sprout wings and fly they'll have to wait until the morning. Pops sees a plane out on the tarmac and sarcastically asks about it. How unusual to find idle planes at an airport. He's informed that it belongs to Cruncher Block. Cruncher Block and a few of his men board his plane. Unbeknown to Cruncher Block, Speed Racer's kid brother Spritle and Chim Chim have stowed aboard the plane. Spritle steals Cruncher Block's sandwiches.

The Mammoth Car forces Speed off the road and when Speed uses the jacks to travel cross-country, the Mammoth Car takes chase. The cutters make a narrow path for the Mach Five. Trixie observes that it's too narrow for the Mammoth Car, but it just mows down the trees. Speed uses the cutters to rip one of the Mammoth Cars tires off.

The Mammoth Car circles the Mach Five and shoots at it. When Speed tries to escape, he ends up in Lake Icy Chill. Intermission time.

Satisfied that Speed and Trixie are done in, the Mammoth Car takes off and reports their success to Cruncher Block. With a sound closely resembling a toilet flushing, the Mach Five starts up and drives out of the lake. Trixie and Speed use a tape recorder to tell Inspector Detector what they know and use the homing robot to carry the tape.

Cruncher and the gang, flying overhead, see the Mach Five cruising on the road below. He tells the Mammoth Car crew to "look behind you and don't tell me they're ghosts." He orders the Mammoth Car to lead the Mach Five to the secret refueling station. But a stranger is following, who, unknown to Speed, is his older brother Rex, who ran away from home years ago.

When Speed arrives at the refueling station, he can't see anyone there. (Now where would you hide a Mammoth Car?) Speed and Trixie are shot at and seek refuge in an abandoned mine. A runaway mine car is released to chase them down into the mine. They get knocked out when they reach the end of the line. But no one knows that Speed's younger brother Spritle and his pal Chim Chim were stowaways aboard the plane. But they're spotted and they too run into the mine.

Speed and Trixie are tied to a mine car that has a crate full of three tons of dynamite. As the Mammoth Car takes off, the fuse to the dynamite is lit and the car plunges deep into the mine. Spritle and Chim Chim hop aboard the car and Chim Chim chews through the ropes as Spritle tugs on them. As the rope snaps, Spritle goes into orbit around the mine car. Speed, with his characteristic scream, lets us know that the end is near.

Racer X throws a switch to divert the car from disaster and rescues our fearless foursome. But alas, their clothes get dirty from the smoke of the explosion.

Thanks to a nearby laundry, their clothes are now clean. Speed wonders if Racer X might be his older brother. Racer X asks, "Can something be the matter? You're looking at me in a very strange way." Speed responds, "Yes, well actually I find you rather attractive beneath that mask of yours." Not really.

Speed and Trixie race all night in the Mach Five. Spritle and Chim Chim are guess where? At the checkpoint, Inspector Detector and Speed's father Pops are waiting anxiously. As the Mammoth Car pulls in, Inspector Detector wants another look-see at the car. Speed arrives as the theme music rises in the background. The Mammoth Car takes off with Spritle and Chim Chim aboard.

Spritle and Chim Chim are discovered but we're left in suspense as we return to the race which ends in an absolute tie for first place. The kids are tied up, but in an act of mercy (and stupidity) they are let down, only to wreak havoc on the crew. There's a bit of humor when Spritle in one half of a crewman's costume and Chim Chim in the other half are seen walking around.

The Mammoth Car approaches the docks where it is supposed to board a ship for safe passage out of the country, but at the last moment it turns away. It's Spritle and Chim Chim to the rescue as they threaten the driver with a pipe. Then they clock the pilot and co-pilot with a wrench.

With no one at the controls, the Mammoth Car careens out of control. Speed jumps up into the cab of the Mammoth Car and tries to stop it from colliding into an oil tank. It just nudges the tank and the car and the oil tank explode into flames. Speed, Spritle and Chim Chim are safe, but the Mammoth Car is quickly turned into a oozing glob of melted gold. Tada!

As Cruncher Block basks in misery, the rest of the oil tanks explode for effect. The Mach Five gains a clear victory in the race when the Mammoth Car is disqualified. Inspector Detector lavishes praise on Speed on behalf of an admiring public. Spritle is jealous, but he and Chim Chim get a small loving cup filled with candy. The episode ends with Chim Chim ready to chunder and Spritle with black and white circles rotating in his eyes.

CREDIT ALL EPISODE SUMMERIES TO SPARKY'S HOME PAGE