What Kind Of Vehicle Was The Famous 'Dumb And Dumber' Van?
Dogs have been chasing cars down the street since the invention of the automobile, and it's safe to say that no vehicle would draw out more barking dogs than the furry Mutt Cutts Van from "Dumb and Dumber." Not that people wouldn't chase it, either, unable to decide whether they wanted to pet or drive it.
The Mutt Cutts Van is one of the legendary, totally irrational retrofitted movie cars like the Ectomobile from "Ghostbusters" (a Cadillac Miller-Meteor Sentinel), the time-traveling DeLorean DMC-12 from "Back To The Future," and of course, Benny the Cab from "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" But what kind of vehicle is the so-called Shaggin' Wagon? A 1984 Ford Econoline.
If that's a vehicle you don't remember, neither do most. It's safe to say that "Dumb and Dumber" did more for the Ford Econoline than Ford did, sprucing it up with tan carpet inside and out, along with floppy ears, legs, nose, whiskers, tongue, and a tail. Filling it with gas naturally necessitated lifting a rear leg to reach the gas cap, a perfect place to spill gas as Jeff Daniels did if you were distracted.
Other dog vans to play with
There's hardly a soul who didn't fantasize about getting the zoomies and speeding down the road in the furry Ford. So it's hardly surprising that hardcore movie fans sought to recreate the vehicle, and fan versions have gone on sale at various auctions, according to Hagerty. One of the replica's novel touches even includes a bird cage with a fake dead "Petey" inside. That's commitment.
One can easily foresee functionality problems, with dog appendages potentially falling off at high speeds and causing minor accidents, plus rain rendering the car as smelly as an actual wet dog. But it's just too cute, and were there to be a red carpet featuring movie cars, many would stride right past the Bond Aston Martin and the "Jurassic Park" Jeep Wrangler to pet the Econoline, inappropriately lifting up the gas leg just because they had to. So the more important question is this: What kind of dog is the car? According to the cops in the movie, "they're driving an '84 Sheep Dog."