Wrench! Socket! Plugs, motor, tires, chassis!
"Speed Buggy" was one of the many short-lived Scooby-Doo clones to surface in the early 70s era of Hanna-Barbera "creative recycling." The show first aired on September X, 1973 and for 15 episodes before being cancelled. Unlike many of the H-B shows of this era, the show was never re-aired or syndicated.
Starring the immortal Mel Blanc as the title character, the show's premise was essentially the same as Scooby-Doo's: three kids and their unlikely anthropomorphic companion go around the world, solving mysteries and having all kinds of wacky adventures. In this case, the three kids were Asian-American straight man Mark (played by Michael Bell, a minor voiceover legend of his own), curvaceous hottie and Daphne lookalike Debbie (Arlene Golonka), and Speed's best friend and mechanic Tinker (Phil Luther Jr.). Speedy himself was brought to life by a sputtering, wheezing dialogue, pepped up by Blanc's twitchy energy.
Since the show's demise, Speed Buggy has reappeared twice on TV: first, as one of the competitors on Scooby-Doo's Laff-A-Lympics, and then as a guest star on an episode of Adult Swim's "Harvey Birdman, Attorney-at-Law." The show can also be seen on Boomerang occasionally.
Episode Guide
- Speed Buggy Went That-A-Away
- Daring Escapades
- Taggert's Trophey
- Speed Buggy Falls In Love
- Kingzilla
- Professor Snow & Madam Ice
- Out Of Sight
- Gold Fever
- Island Of Giant Plants
- The Soundmaster
- The Incredible Changing Man
- Secret Safari
- Oil's Well That Ends Well
- The Hidden Valley Of Amazonia
- Captain Schemo and The Underwater City