main characters throughout its run: Mel Blanc as Speed Buggy, an orange dune buggy nicknamed "Speedy" who has the ability to talk and solve mysteries. His headlights and front grille serve as his eyes and mouth, respectively. He served as the "wacky hero" of the series with St. Bernard-like qualities. Blanc's frequent work as a voice actor with Hanna-Barbera landed him the position. His voice was similar to the Maxwell automobile he portrayed on the radio series The Jack Benny Program. Michael Bell as Mark, a teenager and the designated "brain" of the group. Mark was one of Bell's first voice roles, with his only other credits at the time being for The Houndcats and The New Scooby-Doo Movies, as well as the Artful Dodger in Oliver and the Artful Dodger, the only two-part episode of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. Arlene Golonka as Debbie, the beautiful teenage girl and leader of the group. Marking Golonka's first role as a voice actress, she had only previously acted on various series such as The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry R.F.D.. Phil Luther Jr. as Tinker, a Southern-drawling teenage mechanic who is Speed Buggy's designated driver and best friend. Production and creation Speed Buggy was developed with the working titles Speed Bug and Speed Buggs. The show's concept was partly inspired by the 1968 Walt Disney Pictures film The Love Bug and the Japanese Speed Racer franchise. It was hinted by author David Hofstede that "Chugga-Boom", the vehicle in Hanna-Barbera's series The Perils of Penelope Pitstop, served as a prototype for the vehicle in Speed Buggy. Executive produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Hanna-Barbera Productions, Charles A. Nichols served as the director and Art Scott was the associate producer. Iwao Takamoto, the main producer, expressed in his posthumous 2009 autobiography that the creation of Speed Buggy occurred due to the success of his other productions Josie and the Pussycats and Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!. He wrote that his participation in the series was partly because he enjoyed getting "[his] hands on a show whenever [he] felt it was necessary"; however, he was ultimately less involved with the show due to his trust with Bob Singer, an animation artist for Hanna-Barbera productions at the time. Jack Mendelshon and Chuck Menville were the two head writers for the episodes. Several other writers contributed to the series, including Lars Bourne, Len Janson, Joel Kane,