{"id":337,"date":"2020-05-18T09:57:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T08:57:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterling-insurance.co.uk\/blog\/?p=337"},"modified":"2026-07-14T08:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T07:51:09","slug":"do-you-remember-wacky-races-and-the-mad-modified-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterling-insurance.co.uk/blog\/modified\/do-you-remember-wacky-races-and-the-mad-modified-cars\/","title":{"rendered":"Do you remember Wacky Races and the mad modified cars?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you remember Wacky Races<\/a>, the Hanna\u2013Barbera cartoon series? It featured the fiendish Dick Dastardly and a host of the world\u2019s \u201cwackiest racers\u201d, each driving a mind-boggling modified car of their choosing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cartoon was inspired by the 1965 slapstick comedy film The Great Race<\/a> and featured 11 drivers taking part in rallies throughout North America.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dastardly, the bungling villain of the piece, drove the Mean Machine, a purple, rocket-powered modified car with an abundance of concealed weaponry and the ability to fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was the archetypal mustache-twirling baddie and Muttley, the sniggering mut, was his simpering sidekick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dastardly\u2019s modified car was always pipped at the post<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Dastardly\u2019s usual race strategy involved using the Mean Machine\u2019s great speed to get ahead of the other racers, and then setting a trap to delay those in hot pursuit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But most of his plans backfired, meaning that he was usually passed by the entire field at the finishing post. Doomed Dastardly never won a single race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you recall all the Wacky Racers and the modified cars they drove?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

They were:<\/p>\n\n\n\n