They were the most daredevil group of daffy drivers to ever whirl their wheels, but we never found out which of the "Wacky Races" racers actually won overall. Fortunately one Wikipedia user has worked out the results using Formula 1 scoring to reveal once and for all who claims the title of world's wackiest racer -- and it might not be who you think.
"Wacky Races" was a cartoon produced by Hanna-Barbera in 1968 and 1969. Although there were later wheel-spinnin' spin-offs headlined by Penelope Pitstop and Dick Dastardly, only 17 episodes of the original show were made.
If, like me, you thought the glamour gal of the gas pedal Penelope Pitstop won all the time, you'd be wrong. Pitstop's Compact Pussycat won four times, the same number as gangsteriffic Ant Hill Mob in The Bulletproof Bomb, the handsome Peter Perfect in the Turbo Terrific, and hillbilly heroes Luke and Blubber Bear in the Arkansas Chugabug. Yet none of them top the standings.
Formula 1 rules between 1960 and 1992 awarded 9 points to the first driver to cross the line, 6 to the second, 4 to the third, 3 to the fourth, 2 to the fifth and 1 point to the racer in sixth place. So in the overall wacky standings, the Ant Hill Mob prove crime does pay, coming third on the podium with 74 points.
Lumberjack Rufus Ruffcut and his beaver buddy Sawtooth logged 79 points, taking the Buzzwagon to second place overall.
But the ultimate champions are way out in front with a whopping 87 points, thanks to an unbeatable eight second-placed finishes. Popping the champagne -- or more likely smashing it to pieces -- the stone champions of Wacky Races are cavemen Rock and Gravel Slag. In their Boulder Mobile the hirsute Slag Brothers prove that high-tech vehicles are no match for good old-fashioned motoring... and a judiciously employed club.
Happily, everyone got a taste of the podium in individual races, as all the other racers won three times -- except of course for Dick Dastardly and his sniggering sidekick Muttley. Dastardly's Mean Machine crossed the line first only once, but he was disqualified in a photo finish.
Dastardly was voiced by actor and ventriloquist Paul Winchell, who not only provided the voice of Dastardly, Tigger and Gargamel, but also invented the first artificial heart.
Last year the drivers and cars of "Wacky Races" came to life in a Brazilian advert for French car manufacturer Peugeot, when an unnamed chap in a Peugeot 208 GTI used his sat-nav and flappy-paddles to outrace the rest of the field. Drat, drat and triple drat!