Dan Whitney has restored several cars, including two Austin-Healeys, a Jeepster and a couple of Jaguars, but his George Brothers Slush Wagon Special is the first car he’s built from scratch.

Whitney, of Olathe, said he has always loved the look of vintage Indy racers, so he decided to build one with the help of his 15-year-old daughter, Sarah. The Slush Wagon Special, however, is also a novelty because it’s built on the chassis of a riding lawn mower, and it has a margarita mixer under the hood as well as an engine.

“I call it a two-cylinder, 12-horsepower, 4.5-gallon blender,” Whitney chuckled. The car is a little over nine feet long and has room for just one person.

Figuring out how to make the drink mixer was a challenge, but Whitney’s solution was ingenious. He started with a small cooler and put a garbage disposal in the bottom. A PVC pipe recirculates crushed ice and liquid from the bottom of the disposer back into the top of the cooler. Power for the mixer comes from an extension cord or the battery.

In place of the Murray’s rear wheels, Whitney mounted dual sprockets and chains that extend back under the seat and drive the solid rear axle. Motorcycle wheels are used on all four corners, and the ones in back use the motorcycle brakes for stopping.

Up front, the Murray engine roars and pops through straight pipes, and drives the car at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour or so, although it is obviously not street-legal.

Whitney said he and Sarah shaped the body by hand. Some solutions required creative thinking, such as using a copper funnel for a hood scoop. When it came time to paint, they wanted a weathered and old-fashioned look. Sarah did the small lettering by projecting an image on the body and copying it with a brush. She did the large lettering with a stencil.

The whole project took about two years, Whitney said, and it was finished last year. Whitney said he has used the car to mix soft drinks at church functions, and he is looking for charity events or other opportunities to show it off.

“Sure, I could simply use a blender to make margaritas,” he said, “but creating the Slush Wagon was way more fun.”