SPEED BUGGY
(CBS, September 8-December 22, 1973)
Hanna-Barbera Productions
MAIN CAST:
Mel Blanc – Speed Buggy
Michael Bell – Mark
Arlene Golonka – Debbie
Phil Luther, Jr. - Tinker
The success of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! prompted
Hanna-Barbera to take advantage of the new comedy/mystery genre they’ve blown
the door off of. As a result, Hanna-Barbera produced numerous clones of
Scooby-Doo, tinkering with the format ever-so-slightly so as to make it a feasibly
different show.
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Scooby and the gang meet their progeny on The New Scooby-Doo Movies. |
Speed Buggy centered on an anthropomorphic dune buggy named Speed Buggy (Mel Blanc),
or Speedy to his friends. Built by his driver Tinker (Phil Luther, Jr.),
Speedy’s incredible speed made him a great race car. Speedy and Tinker traveled
around the world to compete with their friends and pit-crew Mark (Michael Bell)
and Debbie (Arlene Golonka). Between races, the group always managed to find
themselves getting involved in some kind of mystery. Although Speedy had a mind
of his own, Tinker devised a remote-control device for him used primarily for
the kids to communicate with Speedy. However, it often ended up in the hands of
their foes.
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Speed Buggy lunch boxes. |
Speed Buggy debuted on CBS on September 8, 1973.
The series was written by Larz
Bourne, Len Janson, Joel Kane, Jack Kaplan, Heywood Kling, Norman Maurer, Jack Mendelsohn,
Chuck Menville, Ray Parker
and Larry Rhine, and
featured music by Hoyt Curtin.
Several episodes were reworkings of stories from the
earlier Josie
and the Pussycats, another Scooby
clone. Despite only being produced for a single season, the show proved popular; generating the usual wave of tie-in
merchandise like lunch
boxes, coloring
books and board games.
The show continued on in reruns for the next two years until ABC acquired the rights and began airing it in place of Uncle Croc’s Block in 1976. Later that year, the show moved to NBC where it
replaced McDuff, the Talking Dog until 1977. Once reruns made their way to Cartoon Network and Boomerang,
the typical Hanna-Barber laugh-track was removed.
![]() |
Speed Buggy, Jabberjaw, Captain Caveman, Scooby and Funky Phantom on Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated. |
In
1975, Charlton Comics
produced a 9-issue Speed Buggy comic book inspired
by the show. Shortly after the show’s debut, the characters guest-starred on an
episode of The
New Scooby-Doo Movies, and later Tinker (Frank Welker) and Speed Buggy
appeared as regulars on Laff-A-Lympics as
part of Scooby’s team, The Scooby Doobies. In later years, the characters would
make guest and cameo appearances on programs such as Johnny Bravo, Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and Scooby-Doo! Mystery
Incorporated, as well as referenced to as costumes in the
direct-to-video movie Scooby-Doo! and the Mask of the Blue
Falcon. In 2018, an origin for
Speed Buggy’s sentience was provided by Scott Lobdell and Brett Booth in The
Flash/Speed Buggy Special #1, which was part of DC
Comics’ second
wave of Hanna-Barbera crossover one-shots.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“Speed Buggy Went That-A-Way” (9/8/73) – The crew visits Debbie’s Aunt
Belle and learn Belle’s cattle herd is being targeted by Beef Finger and his
men.
“Speed Buggy’s Daring Escape” (9/15/73) – Dr. Kluge sets out to
capture Speed Buggy in order to learn his secrets.
“Taggert’s Trophy” (9/22/73) – The criminal called The Chief hits all
the cars in the race with a mind-control ray.
“Speed Buggy Falls in Love” (9/29/73) – Baron Vulch creates a female
automobile named Mata in a plot to get a bugging device he hid in Speed Buggy’s
trunk.
“Kingzilla” (10/6/73) – Forced to bail out into a valley inhabited by
giant gorillas, the crew is used by Professor Grovac to capture Kingzilla, who
has taken a liking to Speedy.
“Professor Snow and Madame Ice” (10/13/73) – Prof. Snow and Madame Ice
plan to trick Tinker into installing his remote control device on their
Freezemobiles in order to freeze the world.
“Out of Sight” (10/20/73) – The crew helps Professor Rigby against his
evil colleague Professor Rishna, with whom he had discovered a formula for
invisibility.
“Gold Fever” (10/27/73) – The crew encounter Gold Fever, who uses
satellites to steal the world’s gold.
“Island of the Giant Plants” (11/3/73) – The crew falls overboard on a
cruise and winds up on an island of mutant plants created by Dr. Meangreen.
“Soundmaster” (11/10/73) – Dr. Ohm and Panku use a replica of Speedy
in order to frame the crew for the theft of an advanced battery.
“The Ringmaster” (11/17/73) – The crew encounters the ringmaster who
plans to use an animal-controlling calliope in a plot to rule the world.
“The Incredible Changing Man” (11/24/73) – A scientist hides a special
tape in Speedy’s cassette player, making them a target for the size-altering
Incredible Changing Man.
“Secret Safari” (12/1/73) – Varzak and Emil steal a giant diamond to
power a Laser-Blazer for the intent to rule the world.
“Oil’s Well That Ends Well” (12/8/73) – The crew tries to find out
what happened to all of Oklahoma’s oil supply.
“The Hidden Valley of Amazonia” (12/15/73) – Encountering the
female-led society of Amazonia, Mark and Tinker are made slaves while Debbie is
made into one of them.
“Captain Schemo and the Underwater City” (12/22/73) – While on
vacation, the crew stumbles upon Captain Schemo’s plot to rule the oceans with
submarines.
Originally posted in 2014. Updated in 2018.
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