Some of you may recall that I mentioned I was interviewed for what looks to be an amazing new documentary about the VW Beetle, called The Bug Movie. You may also remember that I shamelessly played up the fact that Ewan McGregor is in the movie, too. Well, I’m sort of doing it again, but with a reason: Obi-Wan wants his Bug back.
See, in that trailer for the movie, there was a scene where Ewan McGregor was talking about his very first Beetle, and they showed a picture of young, fresh-faced Ewan and his first car, a Beetle. It caught my eye because it was a South African model, which I thought would be pretty uncommon in Scotland.
McGregor sold the car years and years ago, and is pretty sure it hasn’t been on the road since the ‘90s, but he would like it back, though he’s not particularly confident about his chances. He did make a sort of half-assed attempt to find it via Facebook:
But you know what? I’m pretty sure we can do better. After all, our community has a decent track record of helping to find cars, Beetles or otherwise, and I feel like even if South African Beetles made it to Scotland with some regularity, there’s can’t be that many of them floating around, right?
He sounds a little pessimistic, though:
I am pretty sure it’s gone though. The guy I sold it to took out the engine for his other bug and sold what was left to a guy at our school who I have no contact with anymore. It wasn’t road taxed since early 90’s so may have been scrapped. (Heart ache)
So, Jalops of Scotland, the rest of the UK, and Ireland — think you could have a look around? If you need help identifying a South African Beetle, this article might help. The big thing to look for are those strange cuffs around the taillights— only SA Beetles had those. And strange white reflectors mounted on the front fenders, if they’re still there.
So, let’s see what we can do. I’m sure if someone manages to find Ewan’s funky old Beetle, he’ll happily give them one of the lightsabers he probably stole from the set of the Phantom Menace. I mean, I made that up, but it can’t hurt to ask, right?