Van-Pires

1 9 9 7 (USA)
13 x 25 minute episodes

A strange meteor crashes into the Sunrise Salvage – the hang-out of teenage gearheads Axle (Jason Hayes), Snap (Garikayi Mutambirwa), Rev (Melissa Marsala), and Nuke (Marc Schwarz) – causing the derelict vans and cars in the junkyard to morph into human-like forms who terrorise the night with an insatiable thirst to feed on gasoline (the titular “Van-Pires”).

The Van-Pires are led by Tracula – a beady-eyed monster with chrome pipes for hair and ribs – who has a need for speed and a plan for world domination.

But the events of the meteor crash also gave the four teens – known as the Motor-Vaters – the power to merge with their cars and transform into automotive superheroes that are part human and part Carfin (a portmanteau of “car” and “coffin”).

They are the only ones who can stop Tracula and the Van-Pires, but like their evil adversaries, the Motor-Vaters require gasoline to sustain themselves and must avoid the sun at all costs.

The gang are assisted by their friend and mentor, Van He’ll Sing, an old hippie (and former roadie for the Rolling Stones) who runs Sunrise Salvage.

The series mixed live-action and 3D computer animation (from the Animation Factory of Hollywood) to present stories of the teens efforts to defeat the parasites (called Van-Pires).

The soundtrack for the show was composed by John Entwistle, the bass player from legendary British rock group The Who.

Axle
Jason Hayes
Nuke
Marc Schwartz
Rev
Melissa Marsala
Snap
Garikayi Mutambirwa
Count Tracula
Jonathan Davis (voice)
Ambula
Donna Daley (voice)

Episodes

Those Who Have the Fuel Shall Rule! | Unleaded Zeppelin | A Few Good Cars | Tailpipes from the Crypt | Bride of Tracula | Mission Demolition | Bad to the Cone | Nukenstein | A Car Is Born | The Swarm Storm | Rebel Without a Car | Uncool Fuel | One Million Miles BC

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