VW Beetle enthusiast Luke Theochari is over the moon since he shelled out a hefty sum to become the proud owner of one of the original Herbie movie cars.
The iconic Volkswagen Beetle, known for its unique personality and adorned with the distinctive cream paintwork complete with striking red, white, and blue racing stripes, has been stealing hearts ever since it first appeared in the 1969 hit ‘The Love Bug’.
Ever since he was a ten year old lad, after seeing the film at a cinema in Ealing, Luke was utterly smitten with the charismatic car and harboured dreams of calling it his own one day. Now 65, Luke reminisced: “I went to see the film with my cousin Mike. I saw it three times at the cinema in Ealing.”
He fondly recalled: “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 over half a century, and the father of three is spreading “joy and happiness” on British streets with Herbie, having acquired him from a previous owner in the States – this particular vehicle being one of a mere trio used in the original flick.
Luke shared: “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! “.
Thanks to his beloved Herbie, Luke is set to make his big screen debut in a Volkswagen advert as part of a campaign celebrating true Volkswagen enthusiasts.
Luke’s Beetle model, known as H2, was specifically built for the film’s racing scenes. It boasts a powerful Porsche 356 engine and is kitted out with performance upgrades including Porsche finned brakes on all four wheels, Koni shock absorbers and a suspension system designed to handle serious bends.
For nearly forty years, Luke has been restoring and repairing Beetles at his business, Terry’s Beetles, based in Hanwell, West London. He owns an impressive collection of 32 VW Beetles and three Porsche 911’s.
Originally, Luke planned to build a Herbie replica from spare parts. However, a heart attack in 2005 changed everything.
“I was working in my garage and I felt uncomfortable and didn’t feel right,” Luke recalled. I had heavy heartburn and my colleague said ‘go home’. So I drove myself home and when my wife, Helen, saw me she took one look at me and said ‘come on, hospital! ‘”.
“I was laying there in hospital not knowing whether I was going to have another heart attack because you don’t know what’s going to happen next. A mate called me up and asked if I needed anything so I told him to sell some of my cars in case my wife needed money if I died. The whole episode gave me time to reflect.”
“While I was at home recovering I’d watch films with my daughter Flori who was three at the time.” We’d watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and then when she went to bed I’d put on the Herbie films again and I just knew what I wanted to do.”
Through his contacts, Luke managed to track down one of the original cars which was owned by an American fan. But getting him to part with Herbie took a lot of persuasion.
Luke said: “We emailed back and forth for about a year and eventually I managed to get the car off him.” He was asking loads of probing questions and wanted me to come and see the car before I bought it, which obviously wasn’t possible. He did his own checks on me to make sure I was responsible enough to own the car. I think he just wanted to make sure Herbie would be loved.”
“What swung it for me was when I spoke of the car as though it was human. What I didn’t realise was that although I was emailing him it was actually his wife I was trying to convince! “.
They asked ‘How would you get the car to the UK? ‘ so I said to them ‘You’ll have to send him off with an empty belly because he’ll be on a ship for a couple of weeks and you don’t want him getting sick’. That’s how Herbie was treated in the movies and that’s how they spoke of him.” The car was shipped from Florida to Southampton in a container and then transported to Luke over six weeks in 2007.
“When I took delivery the hairs on my arms and back of my neck stood on end and I ran to Herbie to have a look,” Luke recalled. “It caused a bit of a scene in the streets with neighbours coming to have a look but none of them knew it was the real Herbie. They all thought I’d bought a replica.”
Luke won’t divulge what he forked out for H2, but another model used in ‘Herbie Goes Bananas’ fetched £80,000 at auction in 2015, and his insurers have valued his pride and joy at £100,000.
He said: “I’ll never reveal how much I paid because money didn’t come into it. My late wife, Helen, never asked. She wasn’t interested. All she wanted to know was that I was happy.”
Luke’s cherished bug, boasting just shy of 85,000 miles and capable of cruising at 80mph, will be showcased in VW’s new campaign – YourWagen. The campaign kicks off with a special 60-second advert during Britain’s Got Talent on Saturday.
YourWagen aims to celebrate the special bond and role Volkswagen, meaning ‘the people’s car’, plays in the lives of its drivers, placing fans at the heart of the initiative. The YourWagen platform will feature a collection of real-life stories from genuine Volkswagen owners, inviting fellow customers to ponder on what they might name their own Wagen.
The film showcases memories of friendship, love, overcoming life’s challenges, turning hobbies into careers and, naturally, even a movie star.Luke has seen the original Love Bug film countless times – but don’t dare ask him about the 2005 Disney reboot ‘Herbie: Fully Loaded’ starring Lindsay Lohan. “Oh no,” he sighs.
Luke stated: “That is so not a Love Bug film because all the tuning firms got involved and put chrome engines in the car and that’s just not the right thing to do. It takes away all the magic. We managed to get tickets to see the film before it was released to the general public and we nicked all the posters off the walls! “.
“We left the cinema feeling like it had lost some of its charm. It’s supposed to be about a standard car that performs and outruns the big cars. But with the Lohan film, Herbie was kitted out with ridiculous spoilers and such.”
When he’s not working, Luke enjoys spreading the Love Bug’s joy and once made a 212-mile round trip to Leicester for a poorly three year old lad who was a huge Herbie fan.
Luke shared: “I received a message from his mum telling me how much he loved the films. The boy had undergone several serious surgeries and she wondered if I could drive Herbie up to their home. So I took Herbie up complete with a kid’s racing outfit for him to wear – similar to what they wore in the first film – and it was a great day! “.
“My wife would also take Herbie to the homes of sick kids and give them a ride to help give them a boost and I still take him to weddings to transport bride and grooms around for free. I don’t charge because Herbie’s not for hire! “.
“I’ve got to an age now where it’s getting harder getting around and doing lots of things. The brain wants to, but the body can’t. So I’m slowing down a little bit but I’ll always have a tickle with Herbie and just enjoy driving him.”
“It’s nice to make people happy. When you see people smiling as you’re driving down the road it’s a lovely feeling.”
