The original Japanese title "Mach GoGoGo", is a rather elaborate pun:
- it is the name of the hero Go Mifune (as Speed Racer was known in Japan)
- it contains the car's name "Mach-go", or Mach 5 ("Go" is Japanese for the number five)
- it contains the English word "go", a staple of racing (multilingual puns were becoming vogue back then)
- and "Go-Go-Go" is the Japanese sound effect for the rumbling of tires on a racetrack.
For its English redub as "Speed Racer" Peter Fernandez changed the names:
- Speed Racer was originally known as Go Mifune
- Trixie was was originally known as Michi Shimura
- Pops Racer was originally known as Daisuke Mifune
- Mom Racer was originally known as Aya Mifune
- Spritle was originally known as Kurio Mifune
- Chim-Chim was originally known as Sanpei
- Sparky was originally known as Sabu
- Inspector Detector was originally known as Detective Rokugo
- and Racer X was originally known as Kenichi Mifune.
In its original Japanese version "Mach Go Go Go," Speed Racer was called Go Mifune, named in honor of legendary Japanese actor Toshirô Mifune. This is why he sports a G on his shirt.
Speed Racer's car the Mach 5 was primarily based on three automobiles: the racecars Ferrari 250 TestaRossa and the Ford GT40, and OO7's weapon-equipped Aston Martin.
The English dub of the show is famous for its racy, fast-paced dialogue. This was due to trying to squeeze the complicated plots into the characters' dialogue, and also because voice director Peter Fernandez only had 2 days to script and record the English dub.