Off the Screen and Onto the Street
With the imminent arrival of two movies based on iconic TV shows of the 1960s, it seemed like a good time to compare their equally iconic cars. Both Get Smart and Speed Racer appeal to our inner child, feature cool retro looks, and star actors with good pedigrees (Steve Carell and Alan Arkin in Smart, Emile Hirsch and Susan Sarandon in Racer). But more importantly, how cool are their cars, and will I be able to get one?
The Get Smart car is a convertible Sunbeam Tiger, developed by the Rootes Sunbeam group in England in conjunction with Carroll Shelby, he of Shelby Cobra fame. Based on the 4-cylinder Sunbeam Alpine, the Tiger took cues from the Cobra by putting a large Ford V8 engine into the Alpine’s lightweight European frame, transforming the touring convertible into a sports coupe. The 4.2 V8 achieved 164-hp in its heydey, which unfortunately only lasted four years, from 1964 to 1967, when Chrysler bought out Rootes and soured on the idea of producing a car with the rival Ford engine.
Can you still get one today? Sure, but they’re hard to find. Since only around 7000 were produced in its short lifetime, the Tiger is a highly sought-after collectible. In fact, they are so hard to find that the upcoming film actually uses the identical-looking Alpine as a stand-in, because they could not find an actual Tiger in Canada, where they were shooting. Even harder to locate are the Tigers that come fully equipped with ejector seat, dual hood machine guns, exhaust pipe oil slick, cigarette lighter grenade launcher, and the Cone of Silence, so naturally the production Alpine had to be slightly modified.
Let’s face it, Get Smart is more about gadgets and gags than the actual car, whereas Speed Racer is all about the car. The Mach 5 drove Speed and Chim Chim to many a victory, so there was a lot of pressure on the filmmakers to get the look just right. And apparently they did. Yes, fans, the actual Mach 5 racer exists, and it was revealed by producers in Potsdam, Germany, where most of the shooting took place.
Unfortunately, this particular Mach 5 is more of a mockup than an actual production vehicle, so don’t start dipping into your savings account in anticipation of this car showing up at your local dealer. In fact, most of the Mach 5 that you’ll see in the movie will come straight from CGI computer effects.
But that doesn’t mean it can’t be built. Compare the above picture with the film’s CGI-enhanced model. Pretty close, down to the M logo and red number 5 on the side. Back in 1999, a prototype Mach 5, based on the Corvette roadster chassis, was built in conjunction with a child safety car campaign that toured around the country. These Corvettes featured a 5.7-liter, 385-hp V8. The original now sits in the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, but it drew so many adoring male fans that 100 production vehicles were built and signed by the original creator and voice of Speed Racer.
So if you look hard enough, both theSunbeam Tiger and Mach 5 are out there somewhere, plying the roads (or more likely resting comfortably in collectors’ garages) waiting to challenge the next Racer X or evil KAOS agent.Â
