Boschman parting with Mystery Machine

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This article was published 17/11/2023 (787 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There’s no mystery as to why Len Boschman’s Ford Econoline van attracts so much attention and brings back good memories for those who remember the Scooby-Doo cartoon gang from the 1970s.

In just a few days, one lucky hardcore fan or avid collector will be the successful bidder and new owner of the Mystery Machine van, with its psychedelic paint job and flower-power imagery.

After building it from scratch in his MacGregor garage, Boschman is ready to sell.

“I did build it with a lot of passion, and so much engineering has gone into this vehicle,” Boschman said. “But I would find more joy seeing that it’s down in the [United] States and being recognized down there in magazines or at shows.

“And I can watch it from here that somebody else gets joy. I’d get more joy out of that than me having to cart it around and doing that myself.”

Inside the Mystery Machine and underneath all that shag carpet, there is a 6.0-litre power stroke turbodiesel V-8 and five-speed automatic transmission that is fitted with a turbocharger.

For added entertainment value, Boschman installed a multimedia system for AM/FM and satellite radio, DVDs, CDs, top of the line speakers and a drop-down 40-inch television.

All this is a long way from the 1961 Econoline van that was driven from the Northwest Territories to MacGregor in the 1990s and dropped off at Boschman’s place, where it sat for “20 years or so.”

When the owner passed away, his family donated the van to Boschman, and he vowed to do something special with it.

That opportunity came in 2018 when Boschman was in Las Vegas at an automotive industry show called SEMA, which stands for Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association.

SEMA is held every November in Vegas and is only open for buyers and sellers of automotive parts, vehicle manufacturers, aftermarket parts companies and media outlets.

Boschman was there representing Four Way Motors, the General Motors dealership his father started in MacGregor in 1967, which he eventually took over buying and selling cars, operating a towing service and doing insurance and body work.

But it was a vehicle that Boschman had brought to SEMA that caught the eye of another event organizer. It was his red and white 2013 Chevrolet Silverado K-5 Blazer.

“GM never made this Blazer past the 1990s, so I built a new version of it in 2013 of it, just to say I did, and it’s my daily driver right now. It’s got a removable roof like a convertible, and I put an integrated roll bar in there,” said Boschman.

When Boschman was invited to build something for the 2020 RATical Rod Build Off Drive Off competition, the Mystery Machine was born.

“I cut the whole floor out of it so the frame. Everything was gone. It was a skeleton. And I made everything underneath because the six-litre motor is in the back, it’s not in the front like a normal vehicle. I had to narrow the rear end, so I cut 27 inches out of the differential, made it really narrow and put dual wheels underneath the back end of this thing.

So, it’s all tucked in underneath as if it was factory. And it has airbags and that’s what it rides on — the suspension, you let the air out, and it drops to the ground.”

Ask Boschman to list the cars and trucks he has built and sold, or ones that are still under construction, and there are as many vehicles as one would imagine sitting on a lot at a high-end car dealership including a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air convertible, a 2008 Hummer H-1 he hand-built out of aluminum, and a 1954 Chevrolet truck that he lowered, added a diesel engine but kept the “old paint look.”

“I love building wacky vehicles and I’ve done it all my life. I’m just a guy with a passion for cars. And because I grew up with it all my life, I’ve never changed.”

Boschman credits growing up around his dad’s dealership with his love of automobiles and said he started working on cars when he was 12 years old.

At age 15, he challenged a post-secondary mechanics exam and passed. And at 18 — although Boschman said he hated school — he persevered at Assiniboine Community College.

He graduated with an inter-provincial licensed mechanic degree, making him the youngest licensed mechanic in Canada.

“I have so many ideas for building cars in my brain, it’s just that — for one, where to store them all and two, to have them all and not sell them is not a good business decision,” Boschman said.

A little more than a year ago, Boschman decided to sell his business to two of his employees, so for the first time, he has time.

“My life is my wife, our two kids and cars. I’m just trying to get my mind clear after being in business for 30-plus years, and now it’s just playtime is what I call it.

“So, for me just to go into the shop, it’s like somebody’s going to the gym or somebody knitting or taking up cooking as a hobby.

“Going out to the shop and playing — that’s what I love. It’s a hobby, it’s a passion, so I’ll carry on building more.”

The Mystery Machine is listed on the “Bring a Trailer” auction site, and is up for bidding until Sunday at 1:06 p.m. For more information, visit bitly.ws/32x6m

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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