0:00
We wanted to get Cam a Mystery Machine for olver ten years. And after Mel organised his special day out with Beau, and we saw the joy that it gave him, we decided that we really wanted to give him a mystery machine of his own.
All young people have interests, Cam's special interest is obviously Scooby-doo - and it's really important to us to honour things that he's interested in.
Cam has an extensive collection of DVDs and Scooby toys. We've been to every stage show of Scooby-doo that comes to Melbourne.
0:34
For his 21st birthday present, the whole family went to Movie World and he got to meet Scooby and Shaggy and look at the Mystery Machine. Everything that we could do that's Scooby-doo we’ve done.
At a time in cams life where he would usually be buying his own car and we'd be helping him out getting set up through his adult life. It's not a possibility for him and it's really important to us to give him things that give him pleasure.
1:01
Cam lives in the world of Thomas the Tank Engine and Fireman Sam and Inspector Gadget and Scooby-doo. We've always said to him, Save money for a Mystery Machine - never really thinking that we could deliver - but we decided that we wanted to, and we just wanted to be able to give him something that was his.
About two years ago, we found a CF Bedford 1976 online in Tasmania we brought it across on the ship.
1:31
Mechanically it was pretty sound, you had to redo the brakes of course, clutch cable, the steering, the gears were a bit loose, so we have to tighten all that up. And then we wanted it to look something like the Scooby-doo Mystery Machine the same as in Queensland, so we looked online again. I found some guards and some flares and all those sorts of things you could buy, we fibreglass those in there was a bit of rust around so we had to take all the rust out mostly around the roof and then we sanded it all back and Frank primed it and painted it and then we got this wrap on it which I think looks pretty good.
2:15
So, we found it in 2015. I thought it'd be completed in about six months, but I was completely wrong, and it's now been two years and I'm very proud to be able to give it to Cam. It's his 23rd birthday this week and I'm very happy and very proud to be able to give it to him today.
2:40
The week leading up to a birthday when we were giving in mystery machine, I couldn't look at it without crying. I'd get a glimpse of it through the fence with Frank and I just think Oh my goodness, that it's going to be done. And then when the day came, just to see it and see him, it was just the best.
3:06
Seeing the van come down the driveway I was really intent on Cam's face, I just wanted to see what his reaction was, and you can just see when you realised that it was his, he saw the writing on the front, and we talked about that a lot, Now if you had a Mystery Machine, what would the writing look like on your Mystery Machine, so when he saw that it said Cam’s Mystery Machine it was the happiest, happiest, happiest day.
3:38
It’s wonderful to be able to present Cam with his dream. On the day that we gave Cam the keys to his Mystery Machine that was his dad's special pleasure. It was just wonderful and after he got the keys to his machine he wouldn't be parted from them, he slept with them, he had to have them beside him, with everything that he did and they're still his most prized possession.
4:04
This could never been achieved without Frank and Patricia our neighbours and dear friends, their love and support and Frank’s expertise in restoring cars is what made this happen.
Children with special needs can't make their dreams come true on their own, that's their family's job, and it was our great pleasure to make and it was our great pleasure to make Cam’s dream come true.
