FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) — After the mystery of how Scooby Doo learned to speak, the second biggest question might be how Fred drove the Mystery Machine so easily.
“It’s a three speed on the column, so as you’re driving, you’re shifting and operating a steering wheel and the clutch. There’s a lot of action involved in this vehicle: no power steering, no power brakes.”
That’s the description from Ty, a classic car enthusiast who turned a 1966 Dodge service van into a classic cartoon icon.
“I searched for years and years to find one like this that didn’t have windows on the side, because the Mystery Machine didn’t have windows,” he explains about the short van.
“When I found it here in Fort Wayne, I was just delighted. It took a great deal of work and a lot of support from my family. My daughters helped sand it. My friends helped design all the graphics on it and then we ultimately painted it and got it into the condition you see now.”
Ty stresses it’s not for sale but when that day comes, he thinks he could get $50,000 for it.
The Mystery Machine turns heads and has a following – literally.
“I’ve had people follow me as much as 20 miles from my home, all the way home, into my driveway to take pictures,” Ty says.
You can learn more (without trespassing) on the Fort Wayne Mystery Machine Instagram page or Facebook page.
Ty says he’s received praise from fellow enthusiasts “around the world.”
“It’s kind of living out a childhood dream to actually own a Mystery Machine. It’s like owning a Batmobile or owning the Ghostbuster car. Nobody really does it. You see it on TV, like, ‘Oh, I’d like to have one of those’ but no one really does it.”
If you’d like to catch the Mystery Machine in person, it will be part of Saturday’s Rolling into Roanoke Dream Tour.
Ty says the Mystery Machine will deliver a package at Sweetwater Sound early Saturday morning and then be stationed at the GM union hall in Roanoke for most of the day and then return back to Sweetwater Sound for the grand finale drive-in movie.
