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Mon Feb 23, 2009 4:17 pm

bugnut68 wrote: DeathBus wrote: hmmm where should I start... well the Rants are gone so I cant link you to my classic 3 page rant about those f*cking horrible assed cars!!!!!!!

I compare Hard Core Herbie Fans to Trekkies.

I have actually seen a dude dressed like Buddy Freaking Hackett.

I don't share the same volatile point of view in terms of the Trekkie analogy -- hell, I've seen a few examples of VW enthusiasts that could be included in the same comparison on this and other sites, particularly when ripping on others for not having an early enough car or whatever -- but I definitely agree that dressing up like characters is pretty far out there.

I also don't really dig New Beetles and late model VWs done up with the decals, even worse when the decals are way off on the font, etc.

The whole "trekkie" analogy is kind of redundant, because I think the same could be said about any hobby with a following. I recently read about some sick fucks that obsess over James Dean's 1955 death, so it's pretty much the same thing.

In virtually any other automotive scene, the Volkswagen crowd is stereotyped by many as primarily hippies, so as far as I'm concerned casting stones is pointless. :lol:

Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:42 am

i think the movies have had a positive effect on the hobby. they have given VWs alot of exposure. so maybe some kid calls your bug a herbie. well, its a beetle right? and one of the positives of a bug is that it has stayed with relatively the same look while refining parts of it through the years right?

hell, if you put a 63,65 and 70 herbie in front of me i probably couldn't tell which was 'real'. and you know what? i wouldn't care either!

Thu Mar 12, 2009 4:30 am

bugnut68 wrote: In virtually any other automotive scene, the Volkswagen crowd is stereotyped by many as primarily hippies, so as far as I'm concerned casting stones is pointless. :lol:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That is alot worse than being associated with Herbie.

Sun Mar 15, 2009 2:53 am

Here is one of 6 bugs built for VOA for the release of Herbie The Love Bug movie in 1969. Does anyone have any more pictures?

Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:56 am

A 100LS Coupe.....................I had one of those. :wink:

Sun Mar 15, 2009 2:53 pm

53 0val wrote: A 100LS Coupe.....................I had one of those. :wink:

My first car was a '76 100LS sedan, so comfy. Broke down all the damn time though :roll:

Sun Mar 15, 2009 3:15 pm

My mother ran her Audi 100 to 125K miles before trading it in. 100 miles a day round trip to work. Rain or shine, snow or ice.
Never had to hardly do a darn thing to it.
I drove an S90 wagon to 150K miles. I bought it used with 75K on it.

Sun Mar 29, 2009 8:00 pm

Well.

Found this, not parked nearly 3 spots away from me...

:shock:

Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:21 pm

found this in a junkyard over the summertime

Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:26 pm

dropped65 wrote:
found this in a junkyard over the summertime

That's where it belongs.... :wink:

Thu Mar 04, 2010 8:28 pm

x2 it looks good there :twisted:

Fri Mar 05, 2010 12:46 pm

iowegian wrote: George Evans wrote: It seems like the hand full of Herbie drivers i have been around fit the same profile. They are middle aged men who want to impress children in their pre-teens with the Herbie. Thats creepy.
It has been my experience that anybody that would own a lime green SuperBeetle is a little light in their loafers. :roll:

And wears spandex on bike following other men wearing spandex...yep deff. in the weirdo catagory.

Fri Mar 05, 2010 8:41 pm

A little known fact about the original Herbie movie "The Love Bug", was the
#1 money making movie of 1969. Beating out such movies as "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. You can take some solace in knowing that Paul Newman owned a Bug.

Geoff 63 ragtop not a Herbie

Sat Mar 06, 2010 9:42 am

Madtat wrote: iowegian wrote: George Evans wrote: It seems like the hand full of Herbie drivers i have been around fit the same profile. They are middle aged men who want to impress children in their pre-teens with the Herbie. Thats creepy.
It has been my experience that anybody that would own a lime green SuperBeetle is a little light in their loafers. :roll:

And wears spandex on bike following other men wearing spandex...yep deff. in the weirdo catagory.
yep, I am in that category except there are just as many women & most of them are following me ;)

Tue Mar 09, 2010 12:42 pm

[quote="George Evans"]
yep, I am in that category except there are just as many women & most of them are following me ;)

Bundy used a v-dub you use a bike....lol :twisted:

Thu Mar 11, 2010 11:54 am

Year correct Herbies are cool, all others suck.

The last show I went to had a '74 Super Herbie. If the 15 year old girl and her dad weren't so happy with it because they restored it, I would have been tempted to take an axe to it.

Thu Mar 11, 2010 12:57 pm

19super73 wrote: Year correct Herbies are cool, all others suck.

The last show I went to had a '74 Super Herbie. If the 15 year old girl and her dad weren't so happy with it because they restored it, I would have been tempted to take and axe to it.

If it isn't your car, why do you even care?

Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:00 pm

I attend alot of Volkswagen and Classic Car Shows, at Classic Car Shows vehicle owners don't really understand what the appeal is all about and figure it's just another movie car, "why's that car stealing my thunder" and at VW Shows, Beetle owners cringe when they see a "Herbie" pull in the Show because "Herbie" gets all the attention, wifes and kids love "Herbie".
But it's pretty funny when there's more than one "Herbie" attending a Show, it seems that VW owners love to pick them apart and I mean apart. Like having two Santa Claus's at the same Party. That's not Santa !
As for the "Newbie Herbie" crowd, most would like a vintage car but can only afford one vehicle and dress their "New Beetle" up to capture the attention of the old look, just like the old Charger / new Charger, old Mustang / new Mustang etc. they don't work on them they just drive them.
I like "Herbie" he's a great ambassador for VW Beetles and the Volkswagen Community !...It's NOT a car, it's a VOLKSWAGEN !

Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:43 pm

I wondered why the art directors of Herbie Fully Loaded didn't make the New Beetle 'love interest' somehow more special---just plain ugly yellow with a racing stripe across the door, big deal. They missed out on huge marketing
possibilities there.
(I know they had the dinky toys)

Thu Mar 11, 2010 2:50 pm

vwracerdave wrote: I think the movies were cool and I enjoy watching them. I can't stand people that paint their VW like Herbie. Kinda like the movie Smokie and the Bandit. It was an awesome movie, but I got sick of every asshole kid thinking his Black Trans Am was something special.

I don't particularly mind Herbie, in fact I enjoy watching the original four movies (The Love Bug, Herbie Rides Again, Herbie Goes To Monte Carlo and Herbie Goes Bananas) and the short-lived TV series on videotape and DVD with the grandkids, and I find a 1958-63 sunroof sedan in the correct color, with authentic-looking 53s and stripes or a genuine movie car from any Herbie production other than "Fully Loaded" to be appealing.

But when any other bug, particularly a New Beetle, a Super Beetle or a non-Super fatchick gets dressed up to have even a vestigial resemblance to Herbie, thoughts of child molesters, Pee-Wee Herman types (in other words, extremely childish men) and people who like Herbie but could care less about any other Volkswagen run through my mind. All those Herbiefied fatchicks could make some nice Sterlings, Speedster replicas, BGW Hebmuller tributes, Stevenson woodies and KoobleKar Kubelwagens, or could start a VW collection for someone new to the hobby if the Herbie markings were removed. The New Beetles with Herbie-style decorations would make excellent artificial coral reefs or sources of scrap metal. :wink:

Oddly enough, despite the polarizing status of Herbie, I don't hear people yammering about 550 Spyder replicas being dressed up like the James Dean death car as much as I hear complaints about Herbie tributes. Replicating a car that a celebrity died in should be more controversial than a well-loved movie character that also happens to be one of the world's most popular cars being replicated and tributed. :)

And regarding other popular movie cars, if I got a dollar for every time my beater 1960 Plymouth Fury four-door sedan got referred to as "Christine", I could build several dozen Sterlings or Kooblekars. :lol:

Now let's see some coachbuilts and Tempo Matadors with 53s and stripes! :lol:

OG