Melange

Involvement in the Race for Revenge
The Melange was originally driven by Flash Marker before he was killed in a a wreck caused by the Three Roses Club, as they were afraid of his capability as a racer and the speed of the Melange. Their actions put into motion the events leading up to and causing what takes place in Race For Revenge Part 1 and Race For Revenge Part 2.

His son Flash Marker Jr. modified the car so that he could control it remotely. He used it to seek revenge on the Three Roses Club for murdering his father, and forced his younger sister Lily Marker to act as a decoy driver during the race at Danger Pass.

To further aid him in concealing the car's identity, he replaced the shell of the vehicle after it was wrecked trying to escape Speed Racer with one that had an open engine design, a two tone coloration, and red racing stripes. A portion in the middle of the shell's hood could be remotely flipped by Flash Marker Jr. to reveal the X3 while the car was killing off the remaining members of the Three Roses Club during the race at Danger Pass.He concealed the X3 with this decoy driver and new shell so that nobody would recognize the car that had been killing members of the Three Roses Club (Mr. Green, Mr. Black) at night, in and around the city they lived in.

The original Melange that was destroyed evading Speed Racer was cherished by Flash Marker Jr., and he was visibly distraught when it was destroyed as it was likely the only possession he had to remember his father by.

It featured a dark blue paint job and had a matching shaker scoop on the hood. It's most likely that it was a covering for the engine's supercharger, which would explain the exposed design of the disguised Melange since it has no shaker scoop.

The original Melange also sported a dual-tire design similar to that of the Dually trucks, although the inner tires were smaller. It's likely that these were for better traction. Combined with the concealed supercharger, these features would have actually made the Melange an extremely scary car to go up against, especially considering that these features made it superior to the Mach 5 in a race since it easily caught up with Speed who was topping out in the beginning of Race for Revenge Part 1 at 180 MPH.

In it's introduction in Race for Revenge Part 1, the Melange attempted to ram Speed off the track. If the Mach 5 didn't have gadgets at it's disposal, Speed would have been killed or crippled. This quickly cements into the minds of the viewers that the driver of the Melange is an extremely dangerous driver, as Speed himself remarks that he nearly crashed.

The disguised Melange is never shown to have the same dual-tire design as the original car, which may be a show that Flash Marker Jr. was still unable to match his father's aptitude for building race cars by the time of his death, despite clearly being capable of excellent body work.

Trivia

 * The Melange appears along with the Mammoth Car in Speed Racer The Next Generation, episode "The Fast Track", parts 2 and 3. In this appearance, it has changed color and now has a roof.
 * The Melange takes some design elements (Mostly the nose) from the 1961 British race car, the Cooper Monaco (T-61M) King Cobra. The Melange shares most of it's design with the British concept race car designed specifically to win the Le Mans, the 1966 Jaguar XJ13. Sadly, it was never entered because of unforeseen difficulties and it was later shown in the 70s fully repaired.
 * Car: Melange (1967)
 * Driver: Flash Marker (1967); Flash Marker Jr. (by remote) (1967)
 * Number: #X3 (1967); #3 (disguised) (1967)
 * Affiliation/Sponsor: N/A
 * First Appearance: Race for Revenge Part 1 (1967)
 * Other Appearances: Race For Revenge Part 2 (1967)
 * Background: "Melange is the name of a horse that was famous." When Speed says this, a famous painting of Napoleon Bonaparte on his horse, Marengo, is shown. Apparently, the name "Marengo" must have seemed more Japanese than French in the original materials and was translated as "Melange." Marengo is actually an Italian place name and the site of a very successful battle for the general. Both Napoleon's horse and an orange-flavoured dish Chicken Marengo were named as a result.