The Mach 5 In Reality

The Mach 5 has been a fictional vehicle model featured in the popular animation flick Speed Racer, but not until the blockbuster-in-the-making Speed Racer movie from Warner Bros. came into the picture. Oh yes, the Speed Racer film is one of this year’s most anticipated movies.

Speed Racer is played by Emile Hirsch along with leading-lady Christina Ricci as Trixie, Speed's girlfriend. Speed Racer is apparently born to race cars. He is aggressive, intuitive and, most of all, fearless. His only true competition is the memory of his late brother who he idolized - the legendary Rex Racer. Rex died in a race that has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to accomplish. Speed is loyal to the family racing business, led by his father, Pops Racer, the designer of Speed's thundering Mach 5.

The Mach 5 according to wikepedia:

The Mach Five is the racing car Speed Racer (Go Mifune in the Japanese version) drives in the anime series of the same name (known as "Mach Go! Go! Go!" in Japan). The car was designed, built, and created by Pops Racer, Speed Racer's father. It features a set of special devices which Speed Racer uses throughout the series. In the original 1966 series, the Mach Five is a white racing car with an 'M' written on its hood. In the 1993 American remake, the design was completely changed.

Its name probably derives from the fact that speeds above Mach 5 are known as hypersonic. However, the Mach Five cannot reach Mach speeds. The name is also a pun in two languages: the word for "five" in Japanese is "go". However, the "go" used for the car's name is a suffix attached to the names of ships, etc. Thus, the car is known in the Japanese version as simply the "Mach".