When Debbie Garrigues first saw the rusted ’73 VW Beetle last year, she knew
that she wanted it.
Her daughter, Deborah, has always wanted a VW
Beetle, and she was about to get her driver’s license.
So, she got the $1,000 and bought it.
“It was momma’s project, but we did it for
Deborah,” Garrigues said.
With new bumpers and a new white paint job, it
was a pretty VW Beetle.
Then, she was looking in a magazine and found
decals that made it look like Herbie — “the love bug” from the Walt Disney
movie — and the idea was born.
After all the work was done, Herbie rode again.
“We’ve had so many people offer money for
it,” Garrigues said. The most they have ever been offered was $5,000, when it
was sitting in the shop one day.
In all, the family has put $2,000 into the little
car.
Everyone notices the car.
“My son says he could be driving in a Ferrari
and not get as much attention as he does driving this one,” Garrigues said.
Now, Deborah Garrigues, a Salisbury High School
student who works at Rufty’s General Store and Market, is earning money to pay
her mother back.
“People go into Rufty’s and ask her how
Herbie is,” Debbie Garrigues said.
“Not how she is,” she added.
“It’s as close to the movie ‘Herbie’ as
we could make it,” Debbie Garrigues said.
Just like in the movie, this car has a
personality, too.
Deborah Garrigues talks to Herbie and gives him
praise all the time.
Once, they had Herbie towed and the tow truck
driver took a picture of him. Now, that picture is floating around on the
Internet.
Deborah Garrigues loves her car as much as her
mom does. She washes it all the time.
She had never driven a stick shift before. Once,
she drove it in second gear while she was going 55 mph.
All of her friends like it, too.
“We always end up taking my car,” Deborah
Garrigues said.
She is a big fan of Volkswagens, with a
collection of smaller ones to keep her company since she can’t drive Herbie
into her room.
Everywhere they go, children jump up and down and
point, and adults wave.
But they aren’t waving at the pretty blonde
behind the wheel. They are waving at Herbie.
Contact Joanie Morris at 704-797-4264 or jmorris@salisburypost.com
.
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