Ruh-Roh, It’s a Rot Rod for $6,000!

Scooby-doo had trouble pronouncing anything but Rs. Today, Nice Price or Crack Pipe has the mystery of a Rot Rod that should have been a Miata — if it weren't for its meddling owner.

The '88 M3 drove you all to frothing-at-the-mouth levels of indignation over just what a first-gen M3 was, much less what it was worth. Despite the healthy discourse over the merits of the E30-based super-de-duper coupe, the $39,000 asking price was still deemed a crack attack by 83% of you.

Now that that mystery has been solved, let's take on another, which may require a quartet of teens and horse-sized dog to unravel- that of the Rot-Rod Miata.

By now, most everyone is familiar with the main characters and typical plotlines of the Scobby Doo Mysteries: muscle-man Fred; smokin' hot Daphne; filthy pot-head Shaggy; and plain but smart Velma, roll around the country in their shag-carpeted sin-bin, the Mystery Machine. Along the way they get mixed up in odd goings on and eventually foil the plans of disgruntled employees, ne'er do well siblings and corrupt land developers. Keeping them company is Scooby doo, their talking great dane.

Today's mystery machine is a 1995 Mazda Miata that has gone full goth. The seller calls it a Rot Rod meaning Rat Rod, but the Scooby infused pronunciation is more fitting for this little Japanese sportscar. The body has been given a matte black paint job that's darker than the lyrics to a Bauhaus dirge. Skulls adorn the mirrors, windblocker and windows, and the air inlets in the nose look like fangs. Hugging the asphalt like Morticia Addams' skirt is a ground effects package, also in the key of strife.

Typically, when you wipe off their makeup and unstrap them from their combat boots and NIN tee shirts, Goths turn out to be just regular folks, only angrier and more sardonic. This Miata is much the same, as underneath the skulls and sorrow lurks a standard 1.8-litre Mazda DOHC four, the slick 5-speed manual, butt-thumper seats and easy to erect top. No mystery there.

Unsolved goes the impetus for its creation, however. A more typical canvas for this kind of treatment would have been a '59 Lincoln, or not owning a car at all. And while that riddle may have been too tough for even Velma, the question of how much it costs is one even Shaggy could deduce- $6,000.

Now it's up to you to solve the mystery of the $6,000 Gothiata. Is that a price that makes you say Jinkies? Or, will your response cause the seller to claim he would have gotten away with it if not for those meddling Jalopniks?

You decide!

eBay or go here if the ad disappears. A tip of the helmet to BZR for finding this!

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