1969 Plymouth Roadrunner
Benny's car is the primary land transport of the Lagoon Company used to travel on the streets of Roanapur. Benny, being a skilled mechanic, is the main driver and repairman of the car, although Rock is occasionally seen driving the car when Benny is not present on a mission. The car has been seen in three models throughout the Black Lagoon series, but each car type has always been a red-painted four-seat 1960s U.S. model. The first car seen is the 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner,[1] which was then replaced with the 1965 Pontiac LeMans GTO,[2] and the third (and current) car is a customized 1963 Pontiac Tempest 326.[3]
Car model and history[]
1969 Plymouth Roadrunner[]
The 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner is the first car that Benny uses to drive around Roanapur. In the Black Lagoon anime, the red-painted Plymouth is the car used by the Lagoon Company throughout the first 17 episodes. In the manga, the car is only seen from Chapter 00 to Chapter 04 due to Roberta's damage to the car as well as its crash at the harbor in the "Rasta Blasta" arc.[4] In the anime, the Plymouth is used until the "Greenback Jane" story when the bounty hunters used the car as a shield, and Revy subsequently shot at the car, causing gasoline to leak and the car being tossed upside down from the resulting explosion.[5]
1965 Pontiac LeMans GTO[]
1965 Pontiac LeMans GTO debut in Episode 23
In the manga, the 1965 Pontiac LeMans GTO replaces the Plymouth starting in the "Calm down, two men" arc. The car traveled mostly unharmed throughout the various arcs until "The Wired Red Wild Card" when Rock and Revy got into a gunfight with The Quartet. During the firefight, Rob's revolver and Park Seung's machine gun riddled the left side and the back of the vehicle with bullet holes. When Rock and Revy escaped and had to park the 1965 Pontiac, the rear bumper also fell off, the rear windscreen was completely shattered, and the car's engine parts began to have trouble, slowing down the car's speed. Revy angrily remarked that it was a vintage car that she helped take care of, and Rock told her that they would replace the car later.[6] After driving home, for the rest of that arc, Rock and Revy had to use other means of transportation to travel through Roanapur.
In the anime, the 1965 Pontiac LeMans GTO made its first appearance in Episode 23 when Benny stepped out of the car to talk with Dutch during the upscale in violence in Roanapur,[7] replacing the Plymouth Roadrunner after its destruction in the animated adaptation of the "Greenback Jane" arc. In the Roberta's Blood Trail OVA, Benny initially drove other characters to and from places throughout Roanapur.[8] When Rock agreed to take on Garcia Lovelace's job, Benny stayed home while Rock became the GTO's driver for the rest of the story.[9]
1963 Pontiac Tempest 326[]
Customized 1963 Pontiac Tempest in Chapter 114 (with V326 emblem from the LeMans)
Benny's customized 1963 Pontiac Tempest 326 has the iconic split grill with the Pontiac logo in the middle, the cursive Tempest fender emblem on the left fender,[10] the car door steel moldings on each side, the mock vents behind the front wheels, the driver's rear-view mirror placed on the fender, and double vertical circular tail lights. However, Benny's third car also has a customization from the 1963 Pontiac LeMans. Although both car models have a similarly designed front grill with double horizontal circular head lights, the V326 emblem from the 1963 LeMans model is on Benny's car's grill.[11]
The vehicle debuted at the end of "The Wired Red Wild Card" when Benny returned to Roanapur after he got into an argument with his girlfriend Jane, with Rock deciding that he would buy a car at the local business Meotehap Kai Auto to replace the car for him after the 1965 Pontiac got totaled.[12] Benny told Rock that he did not mind the new 1963 car, but claimed that it lacked the elegance of his beloved Plymouth.[13] In "L'homme sombre," Rock drove the car with Revy accompanying him to see various people throughout the story as they investigated the murders of Black men in Roanapur, and Dutch later used the car at the story's end. Later, the car was also seen in the "New Girl in the Hood" arc as Rock drove Revy and Le Majeur around town.
Trivia[]
- Throughout "The Wired Red Wild Card," the Pontiac GTO is erroneously referred to as a Plymouth Roadrunner.
Gallery[]
See also[]
- Black Lagoon — Lagoon Company's water transport
References[]
- ↑ The Plymouth is explicitly mentioned by name several times, and the car's distinctive hood and grill can be seen throughout the anime.
- ↑ The GTO lettering, the Pontiac logo, and the car's distinctive hood scoop can be seen on the car throughout the series from the "Calm down, two men" arc to "The Wired Red Wild Card."
- ↑ The front bumper and 326 numbering on the grill, are seen in Chapter 101; the Pontiac symbol on the split grill, the cursive Tempest fender emblem on the car's left fender, and the mock vents behind the front wheels are all visible in Chapter 109; and the 326 numbering on the grill can be clearly seen again in Chapter 114.
- ↑ Chapter 04: Rasta Blasta Part 3
- ↑ Episode 17: The Roanapur Freakshow Circus
- ↑ Chapter 82: The Wired Red Wild Card Part 6
- ↑ Episode 23: Snow White's Payback
- ↑ Episode 25: Collateral Massacre
- ↑ Episode 27: Angels in the Crosshairs
- ↑ Chapter 109: L'homme sombre Part 8
- ↑ Chapter 114: New Girl in the Hood Part 1
- ↑ Chapter 100: The Wired Red Wild Card Part 24
- ↑ Chapter 101: The Wired Red Wild Card Part 25