Snake Oiler (car)


 * This page refers to the car. For the character, see Snake Oiler.

Snake Oiler's car

 * Car: Unnamed (1967 Anime); Hydrophiidae (Film, although not mentioned)
 * Driver: Snake Oiler (all media)
 * Number: #12 (all media) 20 and 21 for his two teammates in the Casa Cristo 5000
 * Affiliation/Sponsor: Car Acrobatic Team (1967); Hydra-cell Racing Team (Film)
 * First Appearance: The Most Dangerous Race (Part 1) (1967)
 * Other Appearances: The Most Dangerous Race (Part 2) (1967); The Most Dangerous Race (Part 3) (1967); Speed Racer (film)
 * Background

1967 series
Snake Oiler drives as a member of The Car Acrobatic Team and is their best driver. His car, as well as the other members', features unique retractable wings to get better distance and maneuverability on acrobatic driving maneuvers. Speed Racer accepts Snake's challenge to participate in the Alpine Race. Late in the race, as Snake seems headed for sure victory, Speed catches up to his opponent and warned him that his car is leaking oil. He ignores Speed's warning, and his car explodes. He escapes the explosion but swears revenge on Speed. Unique to Snake, his car's cockpit is off-set in the opposite direction of the ones on his fellow drivers' cars (with the exception of Captain Terror).

2008 film
In the movie, Snake Oiler's car is part of team Hydra-Cell, one of the racing teams hired by Cruncher Block to fix races. All of the Hydra Cell rally cars are snake-themed. Although not widely known, the number 12 can still be seen on Snake Oiler's car in certain scenes of the Casa Cristo rally and on much of the movie's merchandise. While the car he uses mostly in the film is his rally car, a few scenes at Thunderhead and Speed Racer The Videogame show his T-180, which is named The Hydrophiidae.

Technical Specifications
The Hydra-Cell rally car features rolling shroud intakes, articulated Python Grip tires, nanometric valve springs, and a snake-skin wrap that can be molted, much like the skin of an actual snake. Like most rally cars that participate in the Casa Cristo 5000, it is equipped with illegal weapon modifications. The car is armed with a pair of Janus 420 Oil Slickerators that are passed off as being a Venom driveshaft and are capable of creating oil slicks to make opposing cars lose control. On the front bonnet of the car is the "Snake-a-Pult", a catapult-like weapon that flings live snakes (described in the Supercharged featurette as being "Oiler's deadly pets") into the cockpits of opposing drivers' cars.