Friends dress as Scooby Doo characters for car race
BBCFour friends are set to take part in a driving challenge dressed as characters from the 80's Scooby Doo cartoon.
Scott Boraston, Graham Wilde, Steven Buckley and Matt McGinley, from Kidderminster, are taking part in The Rat Run 2026, a charity rally where teams drive a 1,300-mile route from the UK to Benidorm, Spain, in cars worth no more than a few hundred pounds.
They are taking part in memory of John Wilde, Graham's brother, who took his own life earlier this year.
They are hoping to raise money for a new, local mental health community centre set to open within the next couple of months, Boraston said.
The group have decorated the vehicle to make it look like the Mystery Machine and hope it will get them to their final destination in September.
They will be stopping at five destinations during the 1,300 mile challenge before getting a police escort into Benidorm. More than 200 other cars are expected to take part.
All vehicles are tested with Top-Gear style challenges along the way.
Boraston said they saw the challenge advertised and decided to take part and spent £400 on a van.
"We saw it, [the van] and we AI'd it [used AI] as a Mystery Machine and it looked brilliant so we thought we had to do it.
"It'll make it - it will make it."
He said they have no idea why they chose the theme of Scooby Doo, just that it suited the type of vehicle they bought and it "just had to be".
"I'm Fred. Matt was meant to be Daphne, but he chickened out so he's now Scooby.
"Graham was Velma and Steven's Shaggy because he looks like Shaggy as it is, without the costume."
He said John would have "absolutely loved it".
He would be dressed up, hanging out the window, making everybody laugh," he said.
Boraston said they all hoped the van would get people into their cause as they travelled through Europe.
"We've been driving it around for the past few weeks, months and it has drawn a lot of attention," he said.
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