Lost & Driven · Case 002
Scarlet Fever
Gary Schultze built this 1977 Dodge B100 in the seventies: oak cabinetry, tufted scarlet vinyl, the name lettered across the rear glass. He sold it, he wants it back, and he has posted a WANTED listing for information that returns it to him.
The state of the search
Everything the case has so far, in one view: where the van was last confirmed, what identifies it, and how much of the community is on the hunt.
With the builder, before the sale. No confirmed sighting has been logged since, so the search covers the whole country. The WANTED listing was posted from Savage in 2026.
The clue board
Stamped by the factory and carried on every title, registration, and salvage record. No repaint removes it. One database match closes the case.
Hand-cut oak cabinetry, mirror inlays, diamond-tufted red vinyl throughout. Interiors this involved are rarely stripped, so the inside likely still matches the photographs.
The name in gothic script with filigree across the rear window. Distinctive, but lettering is removable, so its absence rules nothing out.
Moulded front air dam, flares, side pipes, rear spoiler. A respray can hide the colour, but the glasswork and body mods are expensive to undo.
The Boogie Van page has already spotlighted the van, which means photographs circulate and show-scene veterans may remember where it went.
Gary sold the van decades ago. The buyer's name and the year of the sale are the biggest open questions on the board. Paperwork from that sale would restart the trail.
Fifty years, two known chapters, one gap.
The record is solid at both ends and silent in the middle. The entries marked in brass are the ones a lead could fill in.
- 1977The van leaves the factory
Dodge builds a B100 short-wheelbase van and stamps it B11AE7K194890. It reaches Minnesota as a plain work van.
- Late 1970sGary builds Scarlet Fever
Gary Schultze strips the van and rebuilds it by hand: oak cabinetry with mirror inlays, diamond-tufted scarlet vinyl, brocade ceiling panels, a moulded body kit, and the name lettered across the rear glass.
- Year unknownThe sale
Gary sells the van. The year, the buyer, and the paperwork are all unconfirmed. This is the gap the whole search turns on.
- The decades betweenThe trail goes quiet
No confirmed sighting, no title record surfaced, no show appearance anyone has documented. The van could be stored, rebadged, or repainted anywhere in the country.
- 2020sThe Boogie Van spotlight
A custom-van history page runs a feature on Scarlet Fever, naming Gary as the builder and putting the period photographs back in circulation.
- 2026The WANTED listing
Gary posts a WANTED listing on Facebook Marketplace from Savage, Minnesota, asking for information that returns the van to him, and tells the story on his Cyclone Custom channel.
- July 2026Case 002 opens here
AUTODYSSEY opens the case file. Members follow the case, post leads to the log below, and add photographs to the record.
The builder wants his van back.
Gary Schultze built Scarlet Fever in the 1970s and did it the hard way: hand-cut oak cabinetry with mirror inlays, diamond-tufted scarlet vinyl on every surface, brocade ceiling panels, a moulded body kit, and the name in gothic script across the rear glass. The van left his hands decades ago and has not surfaced since.
Gary went on to a career in mechanical design and now runs Cyclone Custom, a truck and van outfitting channel on YouTube, from Savage, Minnesota. In 2026 he posted the search as a WANTED listing on Facebook Marketplace asking for information that puts the van back in his possession. He plans a YouTube series on the recovery once it is found.
The search has one advantage most ghost-car hunts lack: the VIN. B11AE7K194890 appears on every title, registration, and salvage record the van has ever touched, and no repaint removes it. One match ends the hunt.
Gary tells the story himself.
The build, the sale, and the search, told on the Cyclone Custom channel, where updates on the hunt land first.
Cyclone Custom on YouTubeFacebook Marketplace WANTED posting, Savage, MN
Gary Schultze posted the search as a WANTED Marketplace listing so it would surface where van people already look. The listing includes the VIN, period photographs, and a request for information that returns the van to him.
The Scarlet Fever video on Cyclone Custom
Gary tells the story of the build on his Cyclone Custom YouTube channel, with updates on the search posted to the channel as they happen. The video is embedded below.
VIN B11AE7K194890
The factory VIN decodes to a 1977 Dodge B100 short-wheelbase van. The VIN is the one identifier no repaint, re-trim, or engine swap removes. Any registration, title, or salvage record that mentions it ends the search.
Scarlet paint with a moulded body kit
Full scarlet respray over a moulded front air dam, fender flares, side pipes, and rear spoiler. The rear window shows the name in gothic script surrounded by filigree, visible in the period photographs.
Oak-and-tufted-vinyl interior
Hand-built oak cabinetry with mirror inlays, diamond-tufted red vinyl on every surface, brocade ceiling panels, and a carved rear drawer unit. Craftsmanship at this level survives ownership changes, because an interior this involved is rarely stripped.
The Boogie Van spotlight
The Boogie Van, a custom-van history page, ran a spotlight on Scarlet Fever identifying the van and naming Gary Schultze as the builder. That spotlight is evidence the van is already known to the vanning community and that photographs of it circulate.
Period photographs of the van
Ten photographs from Gary's archive, taken when the van was his. Click any image to view it full screen. Members can add their own, whether a show photo, a magazine scan, or a sighting, and every addition becomes part of the case file.
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The log is empty. The first lead starts the record.