I was excited to read that the Wachowski brothers, known mainly for their futuristic series of "Matrix" movies, are beginning filming a big-screen, live-action version of the hit Japanese cartoon "Speed Racer." I got addicted to this fabulous cartoon while serving in the Marines in Okinawa, Japan, in the late 1970s. For those unfamiliar with "Speed Racer," it's quality animation that imbues viewers with the good-triumphs-over-evil message, but in an entertaining way.

    As much as I look forward to seeing the film, to be released in May 2008, and reliving some youth, I'm more jacked up that this movie will build on the positive momentum that was created by last summer's mainstream movie hit "Cars." This sentimental romp through the fictitious Radiator Springs by a wide-ranging cast of animated automotive characters voiced by stars such as Paul Newman and Owen Wilson was the perfect vehicle to get children to embrace the old car culture at a young age, again, in an entertaining way.

    My recently turned six-year-old son has probably logged at least 25 viewings of our DVD version of "Cars" since we watched it on the big screen at our local multiplex last summer. He has many of the accompanying scale model toys that mimic the vehicular stars of "Cars" such as "Lightning McQueen," "Towmater" and "Doc Hudson" that he plays with on the ridge of the tub at bath time, using his imagination to re-create scenes from Radiator Springs.

    Since a big concern in the old car hobby, and one shared by all the staffers at Old Cars Weekly, is the "graying of the hobby," these types of movies such as "Cars" and now "Speed Racer" go a long way towards getting youngsters interested in positive vehicular role models at a young age. I'm sure if anyone over the age of 40 with even a passing interest in old cars could think back, they could probably pinpoint some movie-, television- or book-based vehicle that peaked their curiousity at a young age and got their passion for old cars started without realizing what was happening at the time. Some of my early influences (and we're going way back, here, because I'm part of the graying segment of our hobby) were films such as "The Great Race," "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" and pulp books by noted hot rod author Henry Gregor Felsen ("Hot Rod" and "Fever Heat").

    A real version of the Mach 5 (Speed Racer's car) has been created for the new movie, and most likely, it will make the rounds of the auto show circuit to promote the "Speed Racer" movie early next year. And, once the movie is released, the prerequisite avalanche of scale model toys will be released. I just might have to get a bigger bathtub so my son will have enough room to add "Speed Racer" cars to his collection of "Cars" toys.