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 TRANSFORMERS: CAR ROBOT
Deluxe Cars (C-002/C-003/C-004)

SPEEDBREAKER (C-004)

C-004 SpeedBreaker

The last of the Deluxe Cars is SpeedBreaker.  This vehicle is a Dodge Viper decked out in a blue metallic motif.  This is my choice for appearance!

VEHICLE MODE:  SpeedBreaker has it’s engine exposed on the hood colored in red and silver chrome.  The windows are of a clear yellowish tint with yellow headlights, red taillights and yellow rear turn signals.   The front intake in painted in silver as well as the fog lights/parking lights.   The first thing you notice about this vehicle are the blue flames painted on the hood and doors.  It fades into a lighter metallic blue outlined in white.  The rims are also chrome plastic with a 5 point star shape.  There are no seats visible inside of this car but rather the bits and pieces of a robot.  And finally the rubber tires with "T.F CYBERTRON" embossing.  Also the rear wheels are wider than the front which definitely makes it a hot rod!


ROBOT MODE:  To transform this car from vehicle to robot mode you first have to remove the exhaust pipe from the undercarriage, open the doors and remove the rear bumper.  The bumper will become the exhaust bow gun weapon and arm of this robot.  That will come later. The next step is to separate the rear wheels from the body, which are the legs.  The tricky part is now sliding out the roof that is attached to one of the arms.  I found it easier to tilt the front-end of the car until it separates from the rest of the body and from the left and right front wheel housings.  This relieves some of the tension where the roof and engine manifold (?) are connected.  When the roof is slightly separated from the engine, turn it counterclockwise lifting it up then out.  The Autobot symbol is visible on his left forearm.  The roof is now a huge shield on his left arm that is connected near the shoulder with a ball-in-socket joint on the shield.

The legs are folded out and rotated as well as extending the feet.  Let me say that the feet do not look too impressive here.  It appears to be an elongated horseshoe that looks a bit cheesy.  Moving right along…rotate the lower extremities (pelvis and below) so you can begin work on transforming the upper half of the robot.  The front wheel housings and doors become back armor that is attached via swivel and ball-in-socket joint.  This looks like the shell of an insect such as the BulkLifter kit from the Microman99 line.

Next is the front bumper that was slightly separated earlier.  There are lots of twist and turns in this section that would probably take an entire page to describe so I’ll just say that the bumper becomes the bow for his firing missile.  One of the front wheels is stowed away neatly in the center of his back and the other is like a shield on his right arm.  The lower half of the front-end is connected to his right shoulder with a ball-in-socket joint.  This looks like a shoulder pad which is obviously too large for his body.

The manifold folds down and becomes his torso.  The head is now exposed and moved into place.  A few adjustments here and there and SpeedBreaker is ready for action.

I like the weapons but must say that he loses in overall appearance.  I don’t like the weak looking legs and feet.  There are just too many bulky shields preventing him from posing well.  I also noticed that the chest/arm connection becomes disconnected often when changing his pose.  Colors are okay but the neat thing is the knee joint which allow him to sit on his feet!  This is just the way his legs are folded when transforming back to vehicle mode.  But I think it’s neat the he can sit Japanese style.

SpeedBreaker

The above photo shows all three Deluxe Cars.  The second is SpeedBreaker in vehicle mode and a final photo with the doors open.

SpeedBreaker with doors open

Two additional pieces of plastic accompany this vehicle.  One piece is the exhaust pipe missile that attaches to the undercarriage of the car.  The other piece is SpeedBreaker’s knife.  Unlike the exhaust pipe, this piece does not have a spot on the car to be stored.

*** Update: SpeedBreaker's knife can be stored on the peg behind his pelvis and transformed into vehicle mode if placed correctly.   When you've almost completed transforming SB into vehicle mode, place his knife on the peg so that when you're looking at the front of the car, the knife's handle is on the left and blade is to the right.  This should fit just fine and now there aren't any loose attachments.  Thanks to Mike Turner for this find! ***

SpeedBreaker in Robot Mode

SpeedBreaker has two weapons; Exhaust Bowgun and Knife.   The bowgun shoots the exhaust pipe or missile with the push of a button.  The knife has two uses that are called Jackknife and Handgun.  This weapon has two handles and the photo below shows the handgun mode.  The knife can be stored on a peg located on his lower back.

SpeedBreaker with Knife

Close up of SpeedBreaker

In robot mode, SpeedBreaker has many colors such as the metallic blue, gray, light blue, white, clear yellow, silver & red chrome, and neon orange.  The head looks odd with the appearance of a visor in the down position while the right half is in the up position and molded onto his head.  He face is gray and eyes are painted in neon orange.  There’s just a weird look to this guy that does not impress me one bit.

WildRide's Autobot symbol

 

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