The Mystery Machine Rolls Into Reno

Commentary

Reno has seen its share of peculiar vehicles over the years, some belching smoke, others sputtering, some playing music too loud for a peaceful public. But this Friday, the National Automobile Museum will welcome a machine of a different stripe: the Mystery Machine from Scooby-Doo, a van so famous it scarcely needs a driver.

The exhibit featuring the iconic, flower-powered crime-fighting wagon opens to the public this week, and promises less horsepower and more happiness.

Indeed, the Mystery Machine is not merely a van, but a rolling monument to meddling kids, a traveling ambassador of groovy optimism, and perhaps the only vehicle in American history that improves its gas mileage when fleeing a villain in a rubber mask.

Visitors will be able to admire the psychedelic paintwork up close, complete with its unmistakable green, blue, and orange flourish, a color scheme that suggests either artistic genius or a very confident paint salesperson.

Then on Feb. 15, matters grow even more serious. From 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m., guests will have the rare opportunity to step inside the van itself and pose for souvenir photos.

Museum officials describe the display as a limited-time engagement, which in museum language means, “Come see it before it vanishes like a Scooby Snack at the end of Act Three.”

For those of us who grew up watching Scooby and the gang unmask wrongdoers with suspiciously similar eyebrows, the arrival of the Mystery Machine offers a pleasant reminder. Most monsters are just people in costumes, friendship is dependable transportation, and sometimes the best journeys involve a talking dog and a sandwich taller than your ambitions.

And for a few hours in Reno, the only mystery left unsolved will be how we ever got this old.