Making the Mystery Machine
Converted an old white van into the Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo.
Project Overview
A couple of friends and I bought an old 1965 Dodge A100 van and transformed it into the mystery machine from Scooby Doo. Their names are Nico and Emily, and they are awesome.
The idea came about during a party, when Nico randomly said “we should make the mystery machine.” Fairly soon after, plans were being made.
Build Process
- Prep: Started sanding old paint off, realized this would take approximately 18 years to complete, abandoned that idea. Cleaned the body.
- Paint: Drove van to a ranch in San Diego. Used paint color-matched to images of the real mystery machine, a paint gun, and some stencils for the lettering and flowers.
- Interior: Stripped the inside and carpeted with turf, installed an armchair and some other seating.
On the Road
After the conversion, we had some awesome adventures. We camped in the van on a cliff by the ocean, woke up to an invitation to the Carlsbad car show, broke down, performed an oil change in a random parking lot, navigated the windy roads of the Los Padres National Forest at night, stopped at many, many rest stops in the central valley, slept alongside truckers, and talked to a lot of people who turned out to be ardent Scooby Doo fans.
Gallery
