NEW ORLEANS— It is one of most iconic and recognizable vehicles from the history of television. It’s the van that took Scooby Doo and his mystery solving sidekicks on their adventures.
52 years after the first cartoon aired, local Scooby Doo fan Danielle Kent and her husband Jeff own their own Mystery Machine.
Danielle decided this would be her mid-life crisis vehicle and it had to be accurate to the original van from the 1969 cartoon.
“I found out that Hanna-Babera, the creators of Scooby Doo, Hanna had a 1966 Dodge A100 and that’s what they based the cartoon on. So I started searching for Dodge A100s and I found a 68 dodge A100 and it’s the same body style, said Dainelle.
She found a van in Michigan and after some body work, the van was wrapped by PG NOLA.
According to Jeff, “New wiring, new radiator, new alternator, new tires. We couldn’t have done this work by ourselves without the help of Voodoo Mike with Voodoo Hot rods, Jimmy Myers fabricating metal parts and Toy’s amazing upholstery work. And we paid for whole thing in Scooby snacks(laughs).
Although the project is ongoing the Kents share the van at car shows and fans… love it.
I actually thought that when we got the Mystery Machine that it was all going to be all children that at ran up going “Scooby Doo Scooby Doo!” but it’s not. It’s their parents that run up and go “awe I remember that,” stated Danielle.
Scooby Doo fan Josh Mix chimed in, ” I would get my Fruit Loops and go sit in front of the TV and just beg my parent to put it on. Oh it is definitely a labor of love. Definitely. I love this. This is just amazing.”
The Kents hope to complete the Mystery Machine and use it to help special needs children.
Danielle stated, “It doesn’t matter your gender, your race, every single person I have met loves Scooby Doo. It brings a smile to their face and it brings us all together because we have Scooby Doo in common.”