Here’s an idea for a Christmas present, providing that special person in your life likes Volkswagens, and specifically a Beetle-shaped one given a life by Disney. I’m still a big fan of the studio’s Herbie films, largely of the 1970s. There aren’t too many things I buy on impulse, but this charming metal ‘model’ made the words, ‘I’ve got to have that’ come out of my mouth. I bought it yesterday from the Chelmsford branch of Cancer Research UK (you can also find it online).
At £19.99 it wasn’t an especially cheap impulse purchase, but it is, you have to admit, charming. Made of metal (and presumably by hand) it looks a little battered like a child’s tin toy from yesteryear. Around 15 inches long and representing Herbie somewhere between Herbie Goes Bananas and the last film made in 2005, Herbie: Fully Loaded, the car has painted rust, rubber-look tyres and a crude engine lid spoiler. Being hand finished, each one is individual, too.
It’s all made from the most basic things; the door handles are nails and bolts, while all the body work is just bent and tensioned metal panels, a bit unfinished. That’s part of the bygone era charm, though, and why we like it. It was going to sit in the dining room, but it looks so nice on the hearth in the lounge, that that’s become its new home. It reminds me of my childhood, and the fact that I ‘donated’ money to charity in the process of buying it is the icing on the (Christmas) cake.
