With The Super Mario Bros Movie now leaving cinemas, and the Tour de France coming to a close this weekend, that link between those topics and cars may be tenuous, but it hasn't stopped us taking a look back at this week's classic Car-Vid that was way out there and controversial and amazing at the time... and now, somewhat pales into the ether of long-forgotten and these-days-tame YouTube videos.
Though with 79 million views, it's still worth looking back when French YouTube prankster Remi Gaillard, who in 2008 dressed up as Super Mario, climbed aboard his Mario Kart and set off in French public traffic for a 2min:16sec video of daring, do-well hilarity.
While these days we're conditioned to seeing Ken Block throw his 1000hp all-wheel drive Insanocorn sideways over the Louvre, Travis Pastrana skydive without a parachute in to a rally car doing burnouts underwater, Johnny Knoxville challenge a raging bull or Vin Diesel forsaking a space suit, physics or logic for family, 15 years ago, Remi Gaillard's Mario Kart stunt was considered very risque, joining traffic and throwing bananas under cars, to the music, graphics and sound effects of the classic Nintendo game.
With such daring stunts as pulling into a petrol station and refuelling and overtaking slower cars, he does have to face some consequences at the end of the video, when he's caught by the police - who are then temporarily distracted just enough for Remi to climb back onto his kart, start-up and race away in true anarchist prankster style, with the motto: "It's by doing anything that we become anyone," as the police set off in pursuit.
In fact, the video was so good (at the time, remember), Remi followed it up two years later with his YouTube video Mario Kart 2, with similar antics, added turtles, a drive through visit of a supermarket where he attempts to restock his banana supply, and another run-in with the police, the 2min video reeling in another 30 million views.
Oh Remi, you're such a farceur.