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This Page Was Last Updated March 2000

This page contains various stories and pictures of my Herbie.  Please take the time to read through this.  I promise, you'll be entertained! If you love Herbie and VWs it's a done deal!

The following is the story of how my Herbie came to be.

Back in 1988 I was cruising up to my local video store when I spotted a pearl white 1963 VW Bug. It was a perfect "Herbie" (and one of my dream VWs) so I asked the owner if she was interested in selling it . She said no but I proceeded to talk to the owner and here's what I found out. Mary Scott was teaching school in Germany in 1963 when she purchased this VW. The Bug was equipped with US spec bumpers and featured a European ignition steering column lock. The only option was a sunroof. Ms. Scott brought the car to the US and drove it daily for a number of years. When I met her she was new to the area and needed a VW mechanic. I decided to volunteer myself in the hope that one day her VW would become mine. The beauty of the VW was that it was in fairly sound condition. It had never been undercoated and had only been repainted once. I worked on the car from time to time and did little extras to help preserve it at no charge to Ms. Scott. Yes, I was keeping my dream car alive. Years passed and I moved on with my life. I lost touch with Ms. Scott until one day in late 1994 when she contacted me. Apparently, she was retiring and moving out of state and wanted me to look at her VW. Since she had been driving a second car for about six months the Bug fell into disrepair and wouldn't start. Then she said those magic words, "Would you be interested in buying my VW?" Of course, I jumped on it! I went to see the Bug and it looked pretty sad. It was still solid but worse for wear from sitting. We struck up a deal and it took a battery and a carb rebuild to get "Herbie" back on the road. My trip home was an adventure. On the way to the gas station the rear tire came off of the rim! The old bias tires were shot beyond belief! Fortunately, "Herbie" had a jack, tools, and a spare.

Even though this VW was a perfect Herbie something didn't feel right about calling "Her" that name. Yep, this VW felt like a female and the name "Penny" came to the top of my head. Penny stuck with her but she does keep the "Herbie" nickname.

Because I didn't have a lot of money Penny's restoration was a gradual process. I began by painting the rims "Herbie style" (solid pearl white) and adding new 165 radial tires. Next up was repairing a few small rust spots and stripping the tar boards off of the original floors. The floors were in decent shape except where someone had placed a jack under the driver's side.

I began collecting parts for Penny's restoration and in spring of 1997 it was time to send her to the body shop.

I wanted Penny to be a VW that should be driven so I opted for a budget restoration. Of course, Penny had to look nice but didn't need to be perfect. Since I was building her as a "Herbie" I knew a lot of attention was going to focus on this VW, The last thing I wanted was to constantly worry about it getting scratched or dinged. I wanted every one from kids to adults to be able to enjoy it.

Penny was stripped down to a near bare shell in my driveway and driven to Damian's paint and Body (of Tampa). Once there, I removed the rest of the parts (windshield and lights) and she was ready for her minor floor pan repair and body prep work. Since I was planning on painting the interior of the car gray (like original Disney Herbie cars) there was no need for the shop to paint the interior surfaces. Only the exterior of the car was painted. The rest of my Bug was to remain original.

Picking up the car was an adventure. I forgot to bring the windshield. It's not fun driving a car without glass. To make matters worse it rained on my way home! I managed to make it to my parent's house where I stored the car until the storm was over. Once home it was hard waiting for the paint to fully cure. I couldn't wait to get those Herbie decals on!

First up was the headliner installation. It was my first headliner install with a sunroof and it wasn't easy. But I got through it! Now it was time for the Herbie stripes! Forming vinyl to curves isn't a fun job. The most difficult decal was the three piece front hood 53. When it was done I was mighty proud! "Herbie" was looking great! Next, I installed the windows with the original chrome strips in place.

All seals and trim came from West Coast Metric. The TMI seat upholstery and sunroof came from Rocky Mountain Motorworks. After installing the sunroof the three stripe colors were dyed on to the canvass. Penny's front seats were completely rebuilt. I stripped and repainted the seat frames, added new horse hair seat pads and installed the new gray upholstery. Since my goal was to use as many original parts as possible, I left Penny's door panels and all original interior trim in place. The carpeting is imitation square loop.

Restoration was completed in April of 1997. Since that time Penny has seen plenty of action and has taken several awards in various VW shows. However, the most fun we have with her is when we're playing the role of Herbie. The last modification I did was to rig Penny to talk. The kids really get a kick out of it!

Herbie Dies In Gatlinburg! Penny's Great Adventure!

In August of 1997 my wife and I decided to drive Penny to A VW show in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Leading up to our departure I ran into several problems with Penny. Every indication was telling me NOT to drive her but I was determined. I wound up replacing her fuel tank and half of her braking system one day left before we were to leave!

The trip went pretty well until we were assaulted by a rock hauler on the interstate. We decided to stop and check for damage, and while slowing down I noticed that Penny's valves were making a lot of noise. Once stopped, my fears were confirmed. Not only had the rock hauler inflicted several dents in Penny's hood it also broke out one of her head lamp lenses. To make things worse, A quick pop of the valve cover revealed that the stud which holds the rocker assembly to the (#3-4) head had pulled out! Penny was basically only running on 2 cylinders. Local auto shops were no help so the decision was made to attempt to make it to the show and try to repair Penny there. We were about 200 miles out from our destination so I took it easy for the remainder of our trip. Once off at the proper exit Penny was in bad shape. The engine was making sharp metal to metal noises and was idling at about 100 rpms. This is when I decided to pull the plug. I called a tow truck  and ahd Penny delivered to the show. Then we had a whole new series of problems to contend with.

We had arranged to stay in a mountain cabin for the long weekend. To get to the cabin we needed to find a rental car. Unfortunately,the only place in town was a rent a wreck that charged $40 for only 8 hours! We rented the 115k mile '88 Buick, drove to our cabin and checked in. Next, we drove nearly two hours to find a REAL rental car.

The 1st day of the show was spent mostly looking for trucks and trailers to tow Herbie home. One way rentals were going to run in the $500 range so that was out of the question. Our only hope was to find a good used engine because nobody had the necessary parts to repair ours locally. I searched the swap meet ($600 for a used 40 hp engine!!) but found nothing. Finally, I made a HELP sign and placed it next to the car. After a while a family approached us with a proposition. It seems they were just passing through while on vacation from Florida and mentioned that if we couldn't find a way home they were willing to leave their camper behind to tow us back. The only catch was that we had to leave Sunday morning at 1 am. Of course we went for the plan. I bought a tow bar from the show for the trip back. Next, we had to check out of our cabin (after staying only one of the three nights) because no taxis would drive up there and bring us to the show site. Then we had to return the rental car. We left the cabin to take the rental back. Fortunately, we had someone willing to drive us back to the show site. However, by the time we got back it was 1am and we were supposed to head out at 5am! Thankfully, a couple of fellow VW enthusiasts let us snooze for a few hours in their room.

At 5am we met our saviors, hitched up Herbie and began the trip home.

It was so incredible that this family would actually go to the trouble to help strangers out, and ask for nothing in return! Of course, they are friends for life for being so kind. We'd like to give an extra special thanks to Jim, Cindy, and Patrick Collins for being our saviors. We love you guys!

After we got home I removed Penny's engine for a rebuild. Fortunately, the only damaged item was the left cylinder head. The rebuild was handled by the folks at Total Performance Buggies in Tampa Florida.

Meeting Dean Jones!

In early 1998 I had an opportunity to meet Dean Jones, the actor who portrayed Jim Douglas in the Disney Herbie films. Mr. Jones was nice enough to pose for pictures and even autograph "Herbie's" glove box door! Unfortunately, this autograph made my final Herbie step (painting the interior all gray) impossible. So, my car lacks the proper interior finishing. But this is ok because at least one real Herbie sported non-painted interior.

Our Herbie, The Official Disney World Embassador!

In January 1999 Penny was invited to Walt Disney World in Orlando to help open the new All Star Movie resort. Penny was an official Disney employee for two days. Herbie's job was to guard the lobby entrance and greet guests as they arrived. Since Herbie can talk it was a lot of fun. Disney had offered me stanchions to block access to Penny but I figured it would be cool to have her available for people to enjoy up close. Everything worked out and no damage was done. It was a blast!

The most fun we have with Penny is showing her off to kids. Penny has hosted two very successful movie parties for children and we hope to do more charity events soon. After all, making people happy is what Herbie is all about.

This is a nice shot of Penny late in the afternoon.  The setting sun casts a warm glow over her.

Here's a nice rear shot. I used photoshop to "install" the rear Herbie plate. I do have a plate for the rear but for some reason I didn't put it on for the pics!

The following images are of Penny's NEW interior. Compare these to the "before" shots.

About Penny's interior. Her door panels are still the original ones. I replaced the carpeting, headliner, seat upholstery, and floor mats. The headliner was a tough job I'll think twice about trying to do another sunroof Bug again! The seat upholstery is from TMI (via Rock Mountain Motorworks).

This is a pic of Penny's engine. She still sports her original 40 HP engine. The engine has been rebuilt back to stock specs. Some of you may notice the 009 distributor, 12-volt generator, and different carburator. There's a story behind those non-original parts. Penny's previous owner converted her to 12-volts. The original distributor and Carb were stolen from Penny a few years before we bought her. Some criminals tried to steal her but couldn't because Penny has a locking steering column. The criminals took whatever was easy to unbolt. They stole her hood, decklid, mirror and visors, carb, distrib. and a couple of other small items. Penny recovered but would never be the same. One day I'll get her those original parts that she craves!

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