"You don’t forget what happened."

LOS ANGELES—Recently uncovered studio notes have revealed that the 2000 cult classic Dude, Where’s My Car? was originally conceived as a gritty, grounded drama centered on Honda owners waking up to discover—shockingly—that their Civics had been stolen.

“It was meant to be a tribute to Civic owners,” said former production assistant Melanie Tran. “The guys wake up, walk outside, realize their Hondas were stolen, and complain about The Club being no good. Then they start uncovering the billions of other people who had their beloved EG hatches stolen.”

The original script followed two best friends in Southern California who parked their B16-swapped Civics outside one night, only to return and find nothing but shattered glass and a pair of open Club locks. The film was set to end with a PSA about the importance of parking your Honda inside.

“It was a very realistic portrayal of the Honda experience,” said script co-writer Paul Martinez. “We even had a scene where the main character installs a GPS tracker—but it gets stolen too.”

Studio executives, however, found the concept “too depressingly accurate” and worried that audiences might mistake it for a documentary. “The test screenings were rough,” said New Line Cinema executive Dan Houghton. “People didn’t laugh—they just nodded and said, ‘Yeah, all they found of mine was the stripped shell.’”

In an effort to lighten the tone, the script was reworked into the stoner buddy comedy we know today, swapping the Civics for a mystery car and replacing the chop shop ending with space cults, ostriches, and matching tattoos that say “Dude” and “Sweet.”

Still, hints of the original Honda-centric plot remain. Fans have long speculated that the protagonists’ blank stares and short-term memory loss were inspired by the emotional trauma of owning a Civic in Los Angeles. “You don’t forget what happened,” said Honda theft survivor Jesse Gutierrez. “You just buy another one.”

Today, Honda owners look back at the film with gratitude. “It’s honestly good they made a different movie,” said Civic enthusiast Marco Delgado. “If they made the Honda movie, I would’ve gone to watch it—and had my car stolen in the parking lot.”