‘People talk to my film star Beetle’
VOLKSWAGEN Beetle superfan Luke Theochari really has the Love Bug after splashing out tens of thousands of euros to own one of the original Herbie movie cars.
The Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own and sporting a classic cream paint job with bold red, white and blue racing stripes, has been charming audiences since its debut in the 1969 classic film The Love Bug.
And after watching the movie as a 10-yearold boy, Luke fell madly in love with the car and dreamed of one day owning it.
Luke (65) said: “I went to see the film with my cousin Mike. I saw it three times.
“Herbie pulled wheelies and beat the Hot Rod. He’s magic! He won races in a car that was loved by its owners and as a child it creates an image in your head.”
Fast forward 55 years and dad-of-three Luke is bringing “joy and happiness” to the UK roads with Herbie after buying him from an owner in
America - one of only three cars used in the first movie.
Luke said:
“When I’m driving down the street people shout ‘Herbie! Herbie!’, but they don’t realise it’s the real car. That does make it a bit easier to get around.
“When I park up at the shops people come and look at the car and when I used to go to the cafe in the mornings the workmen - those really hard builders and roofers would say ‘Hi Herbie!’ and they’d go and talk to the car!”
Now, thanks to Herbie, Luke will appear on the big screen himself when he features in a Volkswagen advert as part of a new campaign that celebrates genuine VW fans.
Luke’s Beetle model - codenamed H2 was built specifically for the movie’s race scenes with a beefed-up Porsche 356 engine and loaded with performance upgrades, including Porsche finned brakes.
Luke has watched the original Love Bug movie hundreds of times - but just don’t ask Luke about the 2005 Disney reboot ‘Herbie: Fully Loaded starring Lindsay Lohan.
“Oh no,” he groans.