A few weeks back, I shared a fantastic set of Wacky Races cupcakes. Ever since then, I’ve been looking for more Wacky Races themed treats. Imagine my surprise when I found this wonderful Army Surplus Special Cake that was made for a 70th Birthday by Creative Cakes By Lucy. The Army Surplus Special is the part tank / part jeep vehicle driven by Sergeant Blast and Private Meekley on the famous Hanna-Barbera cartoon Wacky Races.
Wacky Races was a Saturday morning cartoon that premiered in 1968. There were 34 ten minute episodes in this series. The plot of each episode was a race between 11 wacky race cars, each with even wackier drivers. Each race occurred in a different location. What made this cartoon so popular was that each driver did everything possible to prevent the other cars from finishing the race. The show was popular enough to have two spin-offs Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines and
The Perils of Penelope Pitstop. The main villains from Wacky Races, Dick Dastardly and Muttley became iconic Hanna-Barbera villains that have appeared in a ton of cartoons. They were even the villains in a famous theme park ride.
The Army Surplus Special is the number 6 car. It is an army tank and Jeep hybrid with a small steamroller wheel attached to the front. The Tanks Encyclopedia suggests that the 2nd half of the Army Surplus Special is a half-track. I always assumed that the track wheels were part of the tank half. The authors of the Tanks Encyclopedia are experts and have multiple photo references so they are probably correct.
The vehicle is sometimes known as The Surplus Six. It made use of its tank facilities while racing, including its cannon, whose turret could spin around to face forward or back. In one episode, the tank fired a bubblegum ball to stop one of the other competitors. The Surplus Special was also equipped with a supply of land mines, which when driven over, would propel the vehicle into the air, and also bazooka-like thrusters in the back, which provided speed boosts.
Sergeant Blast was voiced by Daws Butler. Daws is one of the most famous voice actors ever. IMDB lists Daws as having performed on 394 programs. Here are just some of the characters that Dawn created the voices for: Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw and Baba Looey, Augie Doggie, Wally Gator, Snooper and Blabber, Dixie and Mr. Jinks, Elroy Jetson, Peter Potamus, The Funky Phantom and Hair Bear.
Private Meekly was voiced by Paul Winchell. Paul had an amazing career. He began working as a professional ventriloquist at the age of 14. He’d already taken first place in Major Bowes Amateur Hour by that age. Later in life, Paul would begin doing voice acting in cartoons. Some of the famous characters he created were Dick Dastardly, Fleegle the Beagle from the Banana Splits (Banana Splits has one of the most catchy theme songs ever.), and Gargamel from the Smurfs.
This one blew my mind. Per Wikipedia, Paul also had medical training and became one of the first people to patent a mechanical artificial heart, implantable in the chest cavity. There is some debate as to how much of Winchell’s design Robert Jarvik used in creating the Jarvik-7 because their designs are very similar. Who assisted Paul in creating the artificial heart? Dr. Henry Heimlich, inventor of the Heimlich maneuver.
Needless to say, Paul’s great contribution to mankind was his work on the artificial heart. But, that isn’t what made him a legend. That was for his most famous voice acting role. Paul was the original voice of Tigger in Disney’s Winnie the Pooh cartoons.
I watched a few episodes of Wacky Races, so I remember exactly what the Army Surplus Special looked like. Just like in the cartoon, the Army Surplus Special cake is visually divided into four parts – the tank, the wheels, the front and the steam roller. I love the little touches on the tank. For example, Lucy even included the ladder rungs on the side of the tank that Sergeant Blast uses to climb into the tank. It has the car number six on it. Notice the W on the tank? Every wacky racer has the same W on their vehicle. I’m guessing that it is to show that the vehicle is one of the wacky racers. The things that look like two giant exhaust pipes are actually bazookas. The Army Surplus special has two sets of wheels. The track wheels are in the middle. In the cartoon, they can turn 90 degrees and become essentially stilts for the Army Surplus Special to get over obsticles. The steamroller, in addition to flattening obstacles and competitors, also serves as the front wheels.
Sergeant Blast is wearing his tan uniform and has his sergeant stripes. He is wearing his helmet. I’m not sure we ever see him without it. Just like in the cartoon, he rides in the top of the tank, sticking halfway out. I really like that Lucy has Sergeant Blast pointing at Private Meekley and giving him a command. Private Meekley is the actual driver and sits in the jeep/half-track portion. Just like in the cartoon, Private Meekley is wearing his tan uniform and hat.
Lucy did an amazing job with this cake. Any fan of Wacky Races, myself included, would love to receive a birthday cake this cool!
Looking for more Wacky Races treats?
