The Axelerators are an Autobot subgroup whose members' engines become their gun in robot mode. They are the counterparts to the Decepticon subgroup the Skyscorchers.

They're really heroic.

Members include:

• Rapido the charismatic platoon leader
• Skram the carefree thrill-seeker
• Turbofire the backup
• Windbreaker the scout

Fiction

Dreamwave Generation One continuity

The Axelerators were among the Autobot civilians unhappy with Prowl's custodianship of Cybertron after the fall of the Unified Cybertronian government. Skyfire

Wings Universe

Rapido, Skram, Turbofire, and Windbreaker were part of a new generation of Autobots who were born on Earth in Cyberfactories, engineered through a merger of Cybertronian and Terran technologies. Along with Pyro, Rapido distinguished himself early on after his creation and was considered a leading figure among this new Autobot team. The Axelerators were present at the Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland when the Autobots confronted Clench and his criminal Decepticon Syndicate over forestonite. Generation 2: Redux

Toys

The Transformers

Rapido

• Rapido (Axelerators, 1993)
• Hotrider (Axelerators, 1993)
• Skram (Axelerators, 1993)
• Zap (Axelerators, 1993)

• Known designers: Takio Ejima (TakaraTomy), Masakatsu Saito (concept artist)

The Axelerators were initially released in the European market in 1993, during the "transitional" time when the Transformers toys took on the new Generation 2 sigils, but the packaging lacked the "Generation 2" line-name. Each toy has a chromed engine block that becomes a hand-held weapon for robot mode.

Rapido and Hotrider were gang-molded together, as were Skram and Zap.

Generation 2

• Rapido / Rapido (Cars, 1993 / Axelerators, 1994)
• Turbofire / Hotrider (Cars, 1993 / Axelerators, 1994)
• Skram / Skram (Cars, 1993 / Axelerators, 1994)
• Windbreaker / Zap (Cars, 1993 / Axelerators, 1994)

Shortly after their European release, the Axelerators were made available in the United States as part of the proper Generation 2 line, with the subgroup simply identified as "Car": Also, Hotrider and Zap were given different names in the U.S. as Turbofire and Windbreaker. They were slightly recolored for their U.S. release, with the transparent pink plastic of their windows and lightpipes being replaced with a smoky grey plastic that was much harder to see through.

In 1994, they were re-released in Europe in Generation 2 packaging, although these versions were called "Axelerators" again, and all four figures retained their previous European names and window coloring.

Rapido, Turbofire / Hotrider, and Windbreaker / Zap were to be redecoed by Takara for the Block Town Autobot characters Rapid Engine, Hotrider, and Carzap, but the line was canceled. Curiously, Skram was never announced for use in Block Town.

Notes

• The name "Axelerators" originates with the European 1993 release of the figures. When they were released as part of the Generation 2 line in the US, the assortment was simply identified as "Car" (they're sometimes referred to as the "Small Autobot Cars" to distinguish them from the larger Autobot "Cars" Sideswipe, Jazz, and Inferno), but their European-market Generation 2 re-release retained the name "Axelerators".
• Though the Axelerators were never released in Japan, each did gain a Japanese name via a BotCon Japan 1997 exclusive poster, which featured bios for all of the new Generation 2 characters released in the U.S. who weren't part of the Japanese line: the Axelerators, the Skyscorchers, Rotor Force, four of the Go-Bots, and the Color Changers.

Foreign names

• English: Small Autobot Cars (America)
• Japanese: Axelerator (アクセラレーター Akuserarētā)
• Italian: Colorflash