The first time Anoop Thakoor fell in love with a car, actor Sanjeev Kumar had already called shotgun. "My heart was set on this car. I wanted this car. I was so desperate, but it wasn't in my budget." Thakoor was 16 years old then, spending all his free time in the garage of Dilip Atmaram, who "used to service all the film stars' cars." Kumar's car, a 1975 pistachio-green Beetle, had come in for a check-up, and Thakoor was hooked. Fortunately, he was also loaded.

"We had a company by the name of Oriental Metal Pressing Works, and we had about 14 or 15 cars. My uncles and grandfather were car fanatics. You could drive anything that caught your fancy: from Mercedes to Chevys to Dodges to Ambassador." In 1980, his father also added the Beetle to the collection, as a gift to his son. "It was not in running condition. But the day I took it home, that very evening, I fixed it and it was on the road with me. Of course, then I made a trip abroad and imported all the spares. I restored the car to pristine condition. It featured in many ads, from Cornetto ice cream to Goodknight mosquito repellent. I got some money out of it, which I spent on restoring the car." In the last 40 years, Thakoor has restored about 150 Beetles, but this secondhand Beetle is the only one he's owned. Because sometimes when you're lucky, your first love is also your last love.