History YMMV / WackyRaces

* RootingForTheEmpire: Inevitably kicks in with Dick Dastardly sooner or later. Between him being the most memorable and entertaining character, his ability to get ahead of the other races ''before'' he starts cheating, and how often he screws himself out of winning because he resorts to cheating, you wish the guy would be allowed to win a race just once.

* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:

** Considering that ''Anime/SpeedRacer''[[note]]which predates Wacky Races by at least a year[[/note]] is fairly popular, it only makes sense that this show is too. Dick Dastardly in particular is the most popular Hanna-Barbera character in Japan.
** The show is also very fondly recalled in Latin America, to the point [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcnsRrXzBC0 one brazillian car commercial]] featured a Live-Action adaptation of it.

* {{Woolseyism}}: In the Latin American dub (which was broadcast in Spain, too), Dick Dastardly was turned into a [[FrenchJerk Frenchman]], called Pierre Nodoyuna (Nodoyuna -"No doy una"- is a colloquial Spanish term for "I always fail"). The change actually helped Dastardly's appeal in the Spanish-speaking countries, and he still remains a fairly popular character.

** Considering that ''Anime/SpeedRacer''[[note]]which predates Wacky Races by at least a year[[/note]] is fairly popular, it only makes sense that this show is too. Dick Dastardly in particular is the most popular Hanna-Barbera character there.

* AwesomeMusic: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duDtuZ6W2Q8 The Intro Theme]] is an upbeat, almost big-band/blues style piece that establishes the tone of the series.

** The show is also very fondly recalled in Latin America, to the point [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45o6_Q1WMss one car commercial]] featured a Live-Action adaptation of it.

** Considering that ''Anime/SpeedRacer''[[note]]which predates Wacky Races by at least a year[[/note]] is fairly popular, it only makes sense that this show is too.
** Dick Dastardly is the most popular Hanna-Barbera character in Japan.
** The show is also very fondly recalled in Latin America.

* WhatAnIdiot:
** Dick Dastardly is known to lay traps for the other racers in order to win the race himself. For most of the traps he sets, he's at the scene a good while ''before'' the racers he intends to trap, meaning he's ''miles ahead'' of them. What's more, he often waits around to see if his trap will work. If he just raced rather than waste time setting traps, he'd probably win.
** Usually Dick loses the race by being HoistByHisOwnPetard, but in "Whizzin to Washington", he is about to win ''without'' cheating... only to stop so he can give Muttley his autograph, losing anyway. He does it a second time in another episode to pose for a photo finish, and doesn't even seem to mind.

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: Despite the fact that it's pretty liberal with the source material (Muttley having to rescue Dick Dastardly by fighting the other racers), the NES game by Atlus is a pretty solid platformer.

* FairForItsDay: As mentioned below, Penelope's stereotypical feminine mannerisms would be seen as quaint at best and offensive at worst by today's standards. But one must also consider that this show, which first ran in 1968, portrayed a woman driving along with the rest of the male drivers in a what was probably then a man's only sport and earned 1st place four times (and 2nd and 3rd two and six times respectively) across the entire run. She's not considered a joke by the other racers, who treat her as a legitimate competitor (some will flirt with her, but then she either pulls ahead or takes advantage of their distraction). She also doesn't accept being mistreated or disrespected, showing that despite her worrying about her makeup a little too much, she at the very least has a healthy amount of self-respect, rather than simply taking verbal abuse quietly.

* DesignatedVillain: Dick Dastardly has shades. He repeatedly cheats to win, but the other racers often cheat too or have unfair advantages thanks to gadgets attached to their vehicles, yet Dastardly is framed as the villain and the other races framed as innocent. In many episodes, Dastardly's traps are meant to take other racers out of the race permanently, but in some episodes he doesn't do anything worse than the other competitors, yet is still treated as a scoundrel. And in one race he was disqualified for extending the Mean Machines nose, a tactic shouldn't even matter since the other racers would have done something similar.

* DesignatedVillain: Dick Dastardly has shades. He repeatedly cheats to win, but the other racers often cheat too or have unfair advantages thanks to gadgets attached to their vehicles, yet Dastardly is framed as the villain and the other races framed as innocent. In many episodes, Dastardly's traps are meant to take other racers out of the race permanently, but in some episodes he doesn't do anything worse than the other competitors, yet is still treated as a scoundrel.

* RootingForTheEmpire: ''Many'' people want to see Dick Dastardly win for once.

* DesignatedVillain: Dick Dastardly has shades. He's the villain of the cartoon who repeatedly cheats to win, but the other racers often cheat too or have unfair advantages thanks to gadgets attached to their vehicles and receive no penalties whatsoever. The different is that Dick usually sets traps to take the other racers out permanently, or targets the drivers themselves. Still, sometimes Dick is not any worse than the other competitors yet is treated as a scoundrel.

** Dick Dastardly is known to lay traps for the other racers in order to win the race himself. For most of the traps he sets, he's at the scene a good while ''before'' the racers he intends to trap, meaning he's ''miles/kilometers ahead'' of them. What's more, he often waits around to see if his trap will work. If he just raced rather than waste time setting traps, he'd probably win.