Hawke’s Bay can count itself lucky when it comes to monsters and mysteries as the region is kept smiling with a local take on the famous Scooby-Doo Mystery Machine.
However, this van doesn’t cart around the four best friends Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and talking dog Scooby-Doo – it is proudly owned and driven by Hastings woman Rose Cooper.
Cooper and her husband share a love for old cars but purchased a modern van and themed it after the classic Scooby-Doo TV and film franchise featuring the Mystery gang.
The 52-year-old said her husband had planned to surprise her while she was in hospital getting hip surgery and get the vehicle wrapped in Scooby-Doo graphics, but had to reveal his plans when she caught Covid and the surgery was delayed.
It was another three months before she climbed into the driver’s seat.
“I squeezed in there, it was a bit painful – but I did it.”
Since then Cooper and the Mystery Machine have been putting smiles on faces across Hawke’s Bay.
“I never realised how handy a van could be and I wanted a Scooby-Doo machine.”
She said her one-of-a-kind van gets used for everything from taking the dogs to the river, camping, and carting friends and family, to concerts and functions.
“They just crack up and laugh and it is nice to see people of all age groups smiling.”
She said the van was inspired by the 2002 Spooky Island Scooby-Doo film, and her favourite character was Mystery Inc star Scooby-Doo.
“It’s not a fascination with them, but I think it’s just the characters and the comradery behind it – and it is just such a dag.”
Cooper said she was greeted with shouts of delight when people recognised the van and had to perfect the mana wave for the kids.
“My daughter was camping in it by herself out at Te Awanga and a guy was knocking on the window and she was a bit scared so she rang me and then she said: ‘Oh my god mum he has come back dressed as Scooby-Doo’.”
As for now, Cooper didn’t have any immediate plans to add to the van, instead, she hoped to continue to make people smile.
Michaela Gower joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2023 and is based out of the Hastings and Central Hawke’s Bay newsrooms. She covers Dannevirke and Hawke’s Bay news and has a love for sharing stories about farming and rural communities.
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