Stephen's Herbie, "The Love Bug"
Some individual Flip Books of the major events...
The following are a few of the on-line flip books that we have put together to remember some of the highlights over the last 25 years.
Enjoy...
Funfest 2005 at Mid-America Motorworks in Effingham, IL was really fun with around 20 or so Herbie's in attendance from around the country, Joaquin Garay III, and even the latest Batmobile from Batman. Mid-America had all of their original Herbie cars outside as well, and I was able to be part of the cruise that they did with these cars at the end of the day. We also did the cruise around Effingham at the end of the event and attended a private showing of The Love Bug on the oldest indoor movie screen in town.
One of my favorites, Jingle Bugs Rock which my family and I put on for 7 years at Old Town USA in Kissimmee, FL in support of the US Marine Corps Reserve Toys-for-Tots drive each year. Many of the cars would be decorated specifically for Christmas to compete for awards, and we usually had 250-300 cars in attendance. It was basically a free show with a number of great sponsors, and we gave away everything from gift packages, a rail buggy frame, an engine, a large flat screen TV and much more to encourage everyone to bring as many toys as possible. One year we were able to fill-up two large Marine trucks with toys.
Our first attempt to bring Herbie and their owners together from all around the world was successfully done for Herbie's 50 Year Anniversary held in Orlando, FL in March of 2019. Although most everyone stayed at the Herbie Resort at Walt Disney World where we were allowed to do some really unique photographs with the cars, we also attended Don Garlits Museum in Ocala, Fl, Dezer's Auto Museum in Orlando, FL, Old Town in Kissimmee, Fl, and the Lakeland VW Classic car show in Lakeland, FL. We had people come from around the world along with Shin Watanabe and a full crew from Hot VW Magazine. Overall, there were a maximum of 42 Herbie's in attendance.
Although we call this a Dukesfest, it was actaully called Sonic's Big Cruisefest Cars, Starts and More, and was held in 2006 in Little Rock, AR. Herbie was a special guest star and was treated as such by being located up on the open pavilion platform right next to the Arkansas River along with a collection of Knight Rider cars that were in attendance. Not only did we put on a show for three days, but I also had the chance to meet the stars from The Dukes of Hazzard who spent some special time with me.
This is just some random pictures related to me and my Herbie taken over the years. You will see some duplication, but overall, it shows some of the detail that dad put into building my car as well as his friends Bo, Daisy, Duke and Rosco. For those who are interested in more detail of my Herbie, there will be some links at the bottom of this page where you will be able to find some additional information that might encourage you to automate your Herbie as well.
The ultimate of Herbie events was done for Herbie's 53rd Anniversary and started on March 31, 2022. Once again, my family and I planned the entire event which was held in Daytona Beach, FL and once again, we had people come from all around the world. We had special display time of the cars at several key locations so that we could meet one-another and the community could enjoy the cars, spent quality time on the white sand beach of Daytona, put on our own VW car show and topped it all off by running laps at the world-famous Daytona International Speedway where we were joined by over 200 additional cars including everything from Corvette's to Model T's. In the end, we had 53 cars in attendance. Probably the premier car event of the century.
Following our show in 2019 (Herbie's 50th Anniversary), we decided to do what dad called The Great VW Cross Country Race where we were going to race all types of VW's including my Herbie from Myrtle Beach, SC and Albuquerque, NM to Effingham, IL. All of the planning was done and we were ready to roll and then the Virus hit the US which shut down any chance we had to pull off the event. So dad, thought he would do something a little different and write a book about Herbie and how he got into this race and the events that eventually led to him not finishing the race in order to help someone who had gotten into trouble while racing. The book is called Herbie and The Rose, and it was published as well as being placed online for everyone to enjoy. Click here or on the picture below to read this great story yourself.
