The Melange and the X3

The Melange was a topless racing car numbered with a "3" driven by racer Flash Marker. When investigating the mysterious car, Speed recalls the name Melange was the name of Napoleon'shorse, who saved his life several times in battles (actually named Marengo, but due to the Japanese interpretation of the French word, the name "Melange" was translated). When Speed recalls his knowledge of French History, a rendition of Jacques-Louis David's painting of Napoleon Crossing the Alps, which depicts Napoleon riding Marengo, is drawn in the episode. Pops Racer, however, identified the name "Melange" as a car driven fifteen years earlier by a young driver named Flash Marker.

The Melange's chassis was colored with two shades of purple and had an exposed engine on its hood. During the 'Race at Danger Pass', The Melange, along with Marker, was fatally crashed by members of the Three Roses Club. Since then, Flash's son, Flash Marker Jr, had plotted his revenge on the Three Roses Club by building a car with a sleek, black body marked "X3".

The car was driven through remote control and a robot dummy was placed in the driver's seat, broadcasting the phrases "Melange Still Races" and "Melange is alive" to haunt those of the Three Roses Club. The X3 was used primarily to deliberately crash into and kill those affiliated with the Three Roses Club, leaving a card marked X3 to haunt other Three Roses Club members who haven't been killed yet. Speed, who had volunteered to help the police, chased down the X3 until it crashed into the guard rail of a train crossing. Speed noticed its robot “driver” and brought it back to the police for further investigation. Meanwhile, Flash Marker Jr. secretly brought back the wrecked car from the train track and replaced its body with a replica of the original Melange, placing it over the X3 chassis in his secret underground car factory, to prepare for the next Race at Danger Pass.

Since it is the same car with the chassis of the Melange, the car can still be controlled remotely. The new Melange is still numbered “3”, but it has the ability to be changed through remote control to “X3”, making the drivers of the Three Roses Club realize that the "new Melange" is actually the X3. The car, "driven" by Flash Jr.'s sister, Lily and controlled by Flash Jr. in his helicopter, was used to fatally crash into two Three Roses drivers until it was destroyed when it lost control and crashed into the final member of the Three Roses Club.

The X3 makes a cameo along with the Mammoth Car in Speed Racer: The Next Generation as an enemy program of the virtual track. The car has the same design as the original X3, but rendered in CGI form, as with all the other cars in the show's racing sequences. It pays homage to the original anime by making the same beeping sound used in the old series.

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