TheSamba.com :: View topic - I always thought "The Mystery Machine" was a VW

Wed Dec 29, 2004 1:03 pm

I was watching a Scooby Doo movie today, and when they wiped out and lost the entire body into a swamp, the engine was in front.
Must've been sort of modeled after an old Dodge or Econoline. (except with the spare tire where the grill would be)
I was disappointed. :cry:

Wed Dec 29, 2004 2:09 pm

Actually, its a 1965 Ford Econo-line, and it is a three on the tree.

Wed Dec 29, 2004 2:39 pm

The Mystery Machine can be anything you want it to be! The first movie it was a late model chevy. I though that was a real bummer! I think a bay panel would be just about perfect though. This is my daily driver:

Wed Dec 29, 2004 3:00 pm

Wed Dec 29, 2004 3:50 pm

[email protected] wrote: The Mystery Machine can be anything you want it to be! The first movie it was a late model chevy. I though that was a real bummer! I think a bay panel would be just about perfect though. This is my daily driver:

Yes, I remember emailing you and asking if you wanted to sell that. That is a very cool paint job.

2jmotorsports, nice picture???

Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:47 pm

VW Addict wrote: Actually, its a 1965 Ford Econo-line, and it is a three on the tree.
I think you're right. I just noticed the MM has two, full height, side swinging doors on the back, instead of a lift hatch.

Wed Dec 29, 2004 4:50 pm

[email protected] wrote: The Mystery Machine can be anything you want it to be! The first movie it was a late model chevy. I though that was a real bummer! I think a bay panel would be just about perfect though. This is my daily driver:

I guess that's right. My bus was a mystery machine when I first got it:
What's that smell?
Did you hear that?
What's this knob do?
Where's all the oil coming from?
Will we make it?......
Lot's of mysteries.... :P

Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:48 am

VW Addict wrote:
Yes, I remember emailing you and asking if you wanted to sell that. That is a very cool paint job.

2jmotorsports, nice picture???

Yes, the paint job is done pretty good, but I guess that metal was in short supply back in 97' when they did it, or they got a really good deal on a hammer and a couple of gallons of bondo!

Thu Dec 30, 2004 11:12 am

The other day I was working on my Westy and this kid on a bike came up to me and said " you know if I had that I'd make it into a mystery machine".
I told him it already was I said "it's got an upstairs" He said what ? and looked at me like I was a lying adult. I poped the Top and showed him and he said "cool" and really looked like he though it was cool. I thought about this yesterday and did a search to see what the mystery machine really was. The one in the movie is an econoline or something. But I wanted to know what was in the cartoon. I knew it couldn't be a Vanagon (I have an 81 Westy), but thought it might bay window since the cartoon came out in 69.

Well the kid was kind of right it looks very square like a vanagon but has a spare on the front like a bay, It's a combo of stuff you might see in the late sixties I think.

Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:15 pm

Ya... Uh.. Its a cartoon... but the didn't base it on a VW Bus, even when scobby came out, the based the van on a 1965 Ford Econo-line.

Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:35 pm

Well this is a cartoon to, and I'm pretty sure they based this on a splitty :lol:

Thu Dec 30, 2004 3:58 pm

Haha, what gives it away.. oh.. where's scooby? lol

Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:20 pm

I had always assumed it was a chevy van when growing up but it turns out it may have been a vanagon! :roll:

Thu Dec 30, 2004 7:40 pm

Art is the stylization of reality, so the Mystery Machine is the stylization of "vans" around at the time. Scooby Doo first aired in 1969...second year of the bay windows. I'm willing to bet that the artists borrowed much from the bay windows in the drawing of the Mystery Machine. Wasn't the new bay window design a big deal when it came out?

Yeah, I know...whatever. Like someone said before

Quote: Ya... Uh.. Its a cartoon

:wink:

Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:19 pm

mightyart wrote: Well this is a cartoon to, and I'm pretty sure they based this on a splitty :lol:

Wow Art, you are really showing your age.

Isn't that Freewheelin' Franklin, Fat Freddy and Phineas Phreak from Rip Off Comics?

I am appalled that you would know about them. [-X

Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:32 pm

I dunno...the windshields look the same...

Thu Dec 30, 2004 8:55 pm

VW Addict wrote: [email protected] wrote: The Mystery Machine can be anything you want it to be! The first movie it was a late model chevy. I though that was a real bummer! I think a bay panel would be just about perfect though. This is my daily driver:

Yes, I remember emailing you and asking if you wanted to sell that. That is a very cool paint job.

2jmotorsports, nice picture???
whats w/ all the smoke in the background?

Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:02 pm

[quote="orangeeyesore"] VW Addict wrote:

I didn't have anything important to add to this thread, I just wanted to post this pic over and over again as everyone else did- really like the paint scheme on this bus. Maybe I consumed too many Scooby snacks or something! Zoinks!!

I believe it was a VeeDub because on the episode with the haunted spector, the heat was out and Daphne had "THO" and Velma was complaining of it being cold. We all know Dubs weren't known for their comfort heating...

Fri Dec 31, 2004 2:07 am

Looks like an early Chevy to me. Can't be an early Ford or a Dodge because the lights are too high.

http://www.angelfire.com/tv2/mysterymachine/

There used to be a little analysis on why the guy thinks it's is an early chevy, but I cannot seem to find it. Maybe someone else can.

The one in the movie was a fullsize Holden van (GM) from Australia. I don't know why...

Fri Dec 31, 2004 8:27 am

TimGud wrote: I had always assumed it was a chevy van when growing up but it turns out it may have been a vanagon! :roll:

That's a pretty convincing MM, too.
Obviously the original drawing is an artist's hodge-podge of 60's era vans, but I thing the Chevy, the Ford, and the Vanagon look most like it.
It's be cool to take any one of those and do away with the grill and make an exact drivable replica.
The splitty is the coolest to me whether it looks like much the original MM or not.