I still remember this cartoon that I never missed on Saturday mornings. The characters were the hero Jack Wheeler, Ardeth the tomboy, Kip, the minority rep of the gang who drove an MG and "Tank" the big guy. Each week they were involved in a different race scenario. Each time they were tormented by their arch-nemesis Dexter, the bad guy. Had that great 60s underpinning where the good guys always won and Dexter left in shame. Jack Wheeler always drove one of two cars, the Jack Rabbit Special or the Sand Crab. Both cars were white, probably to indicate the "good guy." Each episode featured lots of good information regarding automotive mechanics and motor mania in general. At the end of each episode, Jack Wheeler always gave the young audience a driving safety tip. He even did an anti-smoking commercial, which was aired during other Saturday morning cartoons. Its companion cartoon was "Sky Hawks" which had a similar theme but featured airplanes instead of cars. I still remember the Hot Wheels theme song - "Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels, always racing always chasing. Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels, keep a-turning now, keep a-burning now, keep a-turnin' Hot Wheels! Daytona, Indianapolis and Bonneville! Dune buggies, keep a-climbin', up the sandy hill! Hot Wheels, Hot Wheels, keep a-turning now, keep a-burning now, keep a-turnin' Hot Wheels!"
Review of Hot Wheels
