Meet Herb-i-Islami in video - my 1969 Volkswagen Beetle in Kabul. This debut video blog courtesy of expert film maker Sam French is Part 1 of a journey to repair, restore and eventually drive the old girl back to England.

The decrepit VW classic is being expertly and lovingly restored by a team of Afghan workmen. Zia Hassan Faqiri, the lead mechanic, has been working on Beetles (known as Folooks in Kabul) for 45 years.

We are also negotiating with some of Kabul’s best artists to try and get funky paint job once she’s got a fresh coat of classic cream from the body shop. (More on this later).

Bugs (and their Combi-van cousins) flooded Afghanistan in the 1960s and 70s as hippy travellers plied overland routes from Europe to India and Nepal, in search of free-love, weed, enlightenment and whatnot. A few of them were left behind.

A handful of my friends - journalists Jeremy Kelly, Ash Sweeting, Shoib Najafizada and aid worker Jess Stober - came along for second opinions, encouragement and advice.