Hollywood star Ewan McGregor’s quest to find his beloved Volkswagen Beetle has drawn a blank.
The Trainspotting actor and renowned car enthusiast yesterday made a fresh appeal to trace the old “love bug” he bought for £550 in the late 1980s. McGregor saved the money while working in a hotel kitchen in his home town of Crieff.
However, the 44-year-old was told by a fan that the car has not been taxed since 1990, meaning it has been kept in storage for 25 years or it has been scrapped completely.
Yesterday, McGregor posted an image of his teenage self with his lime green Beetle on Instagram.
He wrote: “The day I bought my first car. I was 16. I’d washed dishes for two years and saved the £500 she cost.
“It seems she’s gone now, old ESL380V I can’t find her. If you ever come across her let me know. Cheers.”
One fan, who carried out his own research using an online vehicle tracker, replied: “According to the vehicle tax register it was taken off the road in October 1990. So it’s either being stored somewhere or scrapped.”
He added: “Interesting that it was manufactured in 1974 but not registered until 1980. Any idea why this was? With it being only 10 years old in ‘road going’ terms hopefully it’s being kept somewhere and you can find it.”
The actor’s appeal went out to more than 1.3 million followers on social media.
McGregor spoke about his memories of his first motor in feature-length documentary The Bug which was released earlier this year.
“I am pretty sure it’s gone though,” he told film-makers. “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.”
He bought the second-hand motor when he was 16, before he set off to study drama in Fife.
He said in The Bug: “There’s something about being in this little car that is one of my favourite places in the world.
“It has a lot to do with not growing up. Somewhere in me is still that 16-year-old who got his first car and never got over it.”
The star, who is expected to reprise his iconic Renton character in the upcoming Trainspotting sequel, keeps a collection of Volkswagen vehicles at his home in California.
McGregor is now shooting his directorial debut in Pittsburg. The film will be an adaptation of Philip Roth’s novel American Pastoral.