Toby, a remote-controlled Volkswagen bus, is warming the hearts of Virginia Tech students, staff and community members wherever it goes.
With the help of a Christiansburg hobby shop, sophomores Brendan Smith, an English and creative writing major, and Sophia Spraker, a biological sciences major, built Toby in January. They have since been driving Toby around campus.
“We love that it makes people happy, and we think that’s pretty neat,” said Spraker. “Sometimes the people you don’t expect to smile have the cutest reaction.”
The inspiration behind Toby comes from Smith’s dream to own a red Volkswagen bus one day.
“In sixth grade, I built a VW bus Lego set and have been obsessed with the car ever since,” said Smith. “In late January of this year, Sophia and I were talking and she suggested getting a remote control version of the bus. We started looking into it and found a hobby shop in Christiansburg that specializes in R/C cars. They offered to order one for us and provided any other parts that were not included.
“We got back to our dorm, planned to build it together, but Sophia pretty much built the whole thing,” he said. “Sophia then suggested setting up an Instagram account for it, and the rest is history.”
The most remarkable part of Toby and the Instagram account is how much joy it brings people.
Smith and Spraker have built a considerable following on their Instagram account. The account has a definitive positive energy about it, which is similar to a pet Instagram account, with pictures and videos highlighting Toby’s adventures around Blacksburg.
“Back in February we looked at other accounts and thought, ‘Maybe by the end of our senior year we will be at 1,000 followers,’” Spraker said. “Somehow, in less than nine months we’ve already reached that goal.”
The account has had multiple collaborations with other Virginia Tech community accounts, such as Blacksburg Transit, VT Affirmations, Student Engineers Council, and the Squirrel Watching Club at Virginia Tech.
As for long-term goals, they hope to one day be featured on Volkswagen’s social media.
“With the account, we just hope to make people’s day,” Spraker said. “We want to give them another connection to the Virginia Tech community and even host some events like giveaways and scavenger hunts.”
Story by Mary Desmond
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