The Love Bug

The love bug is a series of Disney movies that Volt enjoys.

***The Love Bug*** (sometimes referred to as ***Herbie the Love Bug***) is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Robert Stevenson and the first in a series of films made by Walt Disney Productions and distributed by Buena Vista Distribution that starred an anthropomorphic pearl-white, fabric-sunroofed 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie. It was based on the 1961 book *Car, Boy, Girl* by Gordon Buford.

The movie follows the adventures of Herbie, Herbie's driver, Jim Douglas (Dean Jones), and Jim's love interest, Carole Bennett (Michele Lee). It also features Buddy Hackett as Jim's enlightened, kind-hearted friend, Tennessee Steinmetz, a character who creates "art" from used car parts. English actor David Tomlinson portrays the villainous Peter Thorndyke, the owner of an auto showroom and an SCCA national champion who sells Herbie to Jim and eventually becomes his racing rival.

Four theatrical sequels followed: *Herbie Rides Again*, *Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo*, *Herbie Goes Bananas*, and *Herbie: Fully Loaded*. Some parts of the racing sequences from the film were later reused for Herbie's dream sequence in *Herbie Rides Again*, responding to Grandma Steinmetz's telling Willoughby Whitfield that Herbie used to be a famous racecar.

A five-episode television series, titled *Herbie, the Love Bug*, aired on CBS in the United States in 1982. Directed by Vincent McEveety, the series acted as a continuation of the films, with Dean Jones reprising his role as Jim Douglas. In 1997, there was a made-for-television sequel which included a Dean Jones cameo, tying it to the previous films. A final sequel titled *Herbie: Fully Loaded*, was released on June 22, 2005, by Walt Disney Pictures.

## The love bug

Jim Douglas is a miserable race car driver, reduced to competing in demolition derby races against drivers half his age. Jim lives in an old fire house overlooking San Francisco Bay with his friend and mechanic, Tennessee Steinmetz, a jolly Brooklynite who constantly extols the virtues of spiritual enlightenment, having spent time amongst Buddhist monks in Tibet, and builds "art" from car parts. After yet another race ends in a crash (and Tennessee turns his Edsel into a sculpture), Jim finds himself without a car and heads into town in search of some cheap wheels. He is enticed into an upmarket European car showroom after setting eyes on an attractive sales assistant and mechanic, Carole Bennett. Jim witnesses the dealership's British owner, Peter Thorndyke, being unnecessarily abusive towards a white Volkswagen Beetle that rolls into the showroom, and defends the car's honor, much to Thorndyke's displeasure. The following morning, Jim is shocked to find that the car is parked outside his house and that Thorndyke is pressing charges for grand theft. A heated argument between Jim and Thorndyke is settled when Carole persuades Thorndyke to drop the charges if Jim purchases the car on a system of monthly payments.

Jim soon finds that the car is prone to going completely out of his control and believes Thorndyke has conned him. Tennessee, however, believes certain inanimate objects to have hearts and minds of their own and tries to befriend the car, naming it Herbie. Jim's feelings about his new acquisition soon improve when it appears that Herbie is intent on bringing him and Carole together. He also discovers Herbie to have an incredible turn of speed for a car of his size and decides to take him racing. After watching Jim and Herbie win their first race together, Thorndyke, himself a major force on the local racing scene, offers to cancel the remaining payments Jim owes on Herbie if Jim can win a race where they will both be competing at Riverside later that month. Jim accepts, and despite Thorndyke's underhanded tactics, he and Herbie take the victory. Over the next few months, they go on to become the toast of the racing circuit, while Thorndyke suffers increasingly humiliating defeats. Thorndyke finally loses his composure and persuades Carole to take Jim out on a date while he goes to Jim's house. After Tennessee gets drunk on his own Irish coffee recipe, Thorndyke proceeds to tip the remainder of the alcoholic coffee and whipped cream into Herbie's gas tank. At the following day's race, an apparently hungover Herbie shudders to a halt and backfires while Thorndyke blasts to victory. However, as the crowd admires Thorndyke's victory, Herbie blows some whipped cream out of his exhaust pipe, covering Thorndyke.

That evening, Carole comes to Jim's house to help Tennessee repair Herbie. Carole then hears the whole truth about Herbie having a mind of his own and having a great speed for winning races instead of Jim. Jim returns home in a brand new Lamborghini 400GT, and has agreed to sell Herbie to Thorndyke to pay the remaining installments that he owes on it. Jim states his need for a "big and strong car" to drive in the upcoming El Dorado road race, but finds no sympathy from Tennessee or Carole. Carole also angrily confronts Jim to make him realize that he did not care about Herbie, and that he was not winning any of the races he participated in after hearing what Tennessee said to her, and she believed him. Jim also doesn't get sympathy from Herbie who proceeds to damage the Lamborghini, and this angers Jim, causing him to damage Herbie with a shovel. Tennessee tries to stop Jim and says that Herbie was jealous, to which Jim agrees as Herbie gets the credit for winning races. This finally makes Jim realise that Herbie has a mind of his own. By the time Thorndyke arrives to collect Herbie, Jim refuses the money from him and then sees that Herbie has run away. Jim sets off into the night hoping to find Herbie and make amends before the car is seized by Thorndyke's goons. After narrowly escaping being torn apart in Thorndyke's workshop, and a destructive spree through Chinatown, during the Chinese New Year's parade, Herbie is about to launch himself off the Golden Gate Bridge when Jim reaches him. In his attempt to stop Herbie from driving off the bridge, Jim nearly falls into the water. Herbie pulls Jim back to safety after seeing that it is Jim and that he does care about him, but is then impounded by the San Francisco Police Department. There, Tang Wu, (Benson Fong) a Chinese businessman whose store was damaged during Herbie's rampage, demands compensation that Jim can no longer afford. Using the Chinese language he had learned while in Tibet, Tennessee tries to reason with Wu, and learns that he is a huge racing fan who knows all about Jim and Herbie's exploits. Wu is willing to drop the charges in exchange for becoming Herbie's new owner. Jim agrees to this, as long as Wu allows him to race the car in the El Dorado. If Jim wins, Wu will be able to keep the prize money, but will then be required to sell Herbie back for one dollar. Wu replies to this proposal in clear English: "Now you speak my language."

The El Dorado runs through the Sierra Nevada mountains from Yosemite Valley to Virginia City and back. Before the start of the race, Thorndyke persuades Wu to make a wager with him on its outcome. Thorndyke (with his assistant Havershaw acting as co-driver) initiates every trick known to man to ensure that he and his "Thorndyke Special" are leading at end of the first leg of the race. As a result of Thorndyke's shenanigans, Jim (with Carole and Tennessee as co-drivers) limps home last with Herbie missing two wheels and having to use a wagon wheel to get to the finish line. Despite Tennessee's best efforts, it looks as if Herbie will be unable to start the return leg of the race the following morning. Thorndyke then arrives and claims that this makes him the new owner of the car. Wu regretfully tells Jim of the wager and that in accordance with its terms this is true. Thorndyke, thinking he is Herbie's new owner, gloats to Jim about what he is going to do to Herbie and kicks Herbie's front fender, and punches Jim, but Herbie then unexpectedly lurches into life and chases Thorndyke from the scene, showing that he is more than willing to race on. Thanks to some ingenious shortcuts, Jim is able to make up for lost time in the second leg and is neck and neck with Thorndyke as they approach the finish line. In the ensuing dogfight, Herbie's body begins to crack between the front and rear seats. Tennessee attempts to repair these on the fly with a welder, but the cracks appear faster than he can mend them and on the final dash to the finish line, Herbie splits in two. The back half (carrying Tennessee and the engine) crosses the line just ahead of Thorndyke, while the front (carrying Jim and Carole) rolls over the line just behind, meaning Herbie takes both first *and* third place.

In accordance with the terms of the wager, Wu takes over Thorndyke's car dealership (hiring Tennessee as his assistant), while Thorndyke and Havershaw are relegated to lowly mechanics. Meanwhile, a fully repaired Herbie chauffeurs the newlywed Jim and Carole away on their honeymoon.

## Herbie rides again

Notorious real estate magnate and demolition baron Alonzo Hawk (Keenan Wynn) is ready to build his newest indoor shopping center, the 130-story Hawk Plaza in San Francisco. His only obstacle is the 1892 firehouse inhabited by "Grandma" Steinmetz (Helen Hayes), widow of its former owner, Fire Captain Steinmetz, and aunt of mechanic Tennessee Steinmetz; her displaced neighbor, flight attendant Nicole Harris (Stefanie Powers); and their sentient machines: a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle known as Herbie, "the Love Bug;" an early 20th-century orchestrion that plays on its own; and a retired cable car from the defunct Clay Street Line, known as "Old No. 22."

Hawk has made numerous attempts at evicting Mrs. Steinmetz, intending to imprison her in a retirement home of his own making; but Hawk's lawyers have been unsuccessful in these attempts, while Mr. Barnsdorf, the construction boss, is growing impatient with Hawk's alleged indecision, reminding him that the whole thing is costing him $80,000 a day (equal to $414737 today). Therefore, when Hawk's lawyer nephew Willoughby Whitfield (Ken Berry) comes to visit him, Hawk sends him to Mrs. Steinmetz in their stead.

Mrs. Steinmetz takes a liking to the young lawyer due to his youthful looks and good manners, in contrast to Hawk's henchmen. It is during her chatting with him that she explains the backstories of Herbie and Old No. 22, which Herbie found on a vacant lot whose owners were using it as a chicken house. She also explains that Tennessee has gone to Tibet to visit his ailing philosophy teacher, while Herbie's former owner, Jim Douglas, has gone to Europe racing foreign cars. On first meeting Willoughby, Nicole punches him in the face upon learning that he works for Hawk, but then tries to make up to him by offering him a ride in Herbie. Herbie goes berserk after Willoughby insults him twice, eventually taking the two to a car version of a joust tournament, which Herbie wins over a character named "The Red Knight" (strongly resembling retired racer Peter Thorndyke from the previous film), earning Willoughby a whopping $3.00 (equal to $15.55 today). The two then go to lunch, but Nicole tells Willboughy an uninterrupted monologue on all the horrible things Hawk has done, including building a parking garage on the very same lot where Joe DiMaggio and his brothers learned to play baseball. Willoughby is upset about this and accidentally tells her that Hawk is his uncle, which enrages Nicole. She hits him with a broiled lobster in response, sending him splashing into the waters of Fisherman's Wharf below.

Having become disillusioned towards his uncle, Willoughby decides to tell him face to face that he will not continue doing his dirty work. However, as he is approaching the office, he overhears his uncle threatening body harm on him for not getting in contact, so he resorts to telling him on the phone instead. Hawk flips out and shouts at his nephew, shattering the glass on the phone booth. Having lost him, Hawk decides to resort to harassment to force Mrs. Steinmetz out, the first act of which is to capture Herbie. Hawk is initially successful with his hotwiring skills, but while driving him on the street, Hawk insults the car who retaliates by causing a series of traffic collisions and jams (even going as far as barging into a police car, which causes a chain reaction of wrecks) and discards Hawk at his own office door, where Hawk orders his subordinates to capture Herbie again, followed by a policeman giving Hawk several tickets for traffic offenses. While Herbie takes Mrs. Steinmetz to market, they are chased by Hawk's men; whereupon Herbie makes several daring escapes culminating in travelling through the 1909 landmark Sheraton Palace Hotel and along a suspension cable on the Golden Gate Bridge, leaving Mrs. Steinmetz unfazed (and unaware) of his activity throughout. Hawk's secretary catches sight of Herbie on the bridge, but Hawk assumes she's getting hysterical and orders her to take two aspirins and lie down.

Willoughby initially tries to go home in disguise, but is convinced by Nicole to stay after she hears him criticize his uncle while talking to his mother on the telephone. Mrs. Steinmetz asks Nicole and Willoughby to pick up some more groceries for her, and then suggests that they ought to drive to the beach. Nicole insists that they will just go and get some broccoli, which Willoughby later confesses he doesn't like, but Herbie still goes to the beach as a result of Hawk's personal chauffeur chasing him, leading Nicole to think that Mrs. Steinmetz talked him into doing it. They enjoy a nice moment at the beach, with Willoughby and Nicole falling for each other.

While heading home, they discover that the roadway has been blocked (due to Hawk's chauffeur having bribed a man to do so), so Herbie resorts to surfing through the coastal bay to find an alternate route. On their return to the firehouse after dark, they find that every item of furniture has been removed by Hawk; whereupon Mrs. Steinmetz, Willoughby, Nicole, and Herbie track the theft to a warehouse. The four break in and recover Steinmetz's belongings, all of which had been loaded into "No. 22." Upon hearing Willoughby's voice, the orchestrion attracts their attention by playing "Pomp and Circumstance." Hawk's hired security guards catch them in the act, but Herbie's acts of pushing other items off the warehouse shelves trap them and allow the trio to escape. Mrs. Steinmetz rides in "No. 22," while Willoughby and Nicole follow in Herbie.

An inebriated old-timer named Judson (John McIntire) joins Mrs Steinmetz aboard "No. 22," thinking himself on a public cable car. Hawk pursues upon discovering the trio escaped, but Herbie distracts him and later rescues Mrs. Steinmetz and Judson from a potential crash after "No. 22" rolls down a hill (as well as into a building during a special dinner party) by getting Willoughby close enough so that he can jump aboard and use the handbrake. During this time, Mrs. Steinmetz becomes enamored with Judson (while being entirely oblivious to the fact the car is rolling down the hill).

The next morning, Mrs. Steinmetz decides to confront Hawk herself. Accompanied by Willoughby in spite of Nicole telling him not to let her do this, Mrs. Steinmetz drives Herbie onto the window-cleaning machine of Hawk’s skyscraper to reach his 28th-floor office (after Hawk fired his window cleaner), where they overhear a telephoned conversation with Loostgarten (Chuck McCann), an independent demolition agent, about the deal to demolish the firehouse. In response, she activates the window cleaning machine to fill the office with foam and water. This done, Herbie pursues Hawk around the building's perimeter (in response to Hawk throwing an ashtray at him) - even following him outside onto a ledge - until Mrs Steinmetz orders him to desist by mentioning a used car lot, and saying she would have to hate to call the used car man, Mr. Honest Al.

Disguising his voice to resemble his uncle's, Willoughby directs Loostgarten to demolish Hawk's own house. Late that evening, Loostgarten telephones Hawk to confirm the demolition, waking Hawk from several nightmares showing himself at the mercy of Herbie; Hawk then gives confirmation, but realizes too late that he has condemned his own residence, and subsequently attacks Loostgarten after a portion of his house is collapsed from a wrecking ball.

In the morning, Hawk calls a truce with Mrs. Steinmetz (as well as plant a phony story in the newspaper with the headline "HAWK GIVES UP"!), and thinking him to be sincere, Willoughby and Nicole go for dinner (to the same restaurant they were before when Nicole hit Willoughby with the broiled lobster), while Mrs. Steinmetz invites Judson to a similar meeting; in spite of this, Hawk violates the truce by sending earthmovers to crush the firehouse and its inhabitants, prompting Herbie to go in search of Nicole and Willoughby. In the absence of Herbie, the only means of defense is an antique fire hose, which Judson uses against the earthmovers, until it explodes and sprays all over him.

Having obtained Nicole and Willoughby, Herbie rounds up several other Volkswagen Beetles from various places in the city (some of which leave their owners behind), and comes after Hawk and his men as an army and ruin his scheme, taking advantage of Hawk's irrational fear of Herbie. Hawk is pursued from the grounds by Herbie, and after nearly getting knocked down by a police car, Hawk is arrested after telling his bizarre tale of an army of Beetles chasing him. Later, Nicole and Willoughby are married, and ride Herbie through an arch formed by his new Volkswagen Beetle friends.

## Herbie goes to monte carlo

The film stars Dean Jones as returning champion race car driver Jim Douglas, joined by his somewhat cynical and eccentric riding mechanic Wheely Applegate (Don Knotts). Together with Herbie, the "Love Bug", a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, they are participating in the fictional Trans-France Race, from Paris, France, to Monte Carlo, Monaco. According to dialogue, they hope to stage a racing comeback in the event.

For the Trans-France Race, Douglas and Herbie have three major opponents. The first is **Bruno Von Stickle**. (Eric Braeden), a German driver with experience in the "European Racing Circuit". He is deemed to be a formidable contender prior to and during the race. The second is **Claude Gilbert** (Mike Kulcsar), a French driver. His dominance in the race seemed similar to that of von Stickle, until he crashed in the later stages. The third is **Diane Darcy** (Julie Sommars), a very beautiful, if somewhat icy, feminist-minded, young woman and the only female driver in the Trans-France Race. She initially hates Jim for apparently his, but what was actually Herbie's, knee-jerk behavior that ruined her chances of succeeding during the first qualifying rounds. This was because of Herbie sighting and falling in love at first sight with **Giselle**, her Lancia Scorpion. As being a car with whom Herbie falls in love during the film (much as Jim seems to be attracted to Diane herself), Herbie's infatuation with Giselle results in his compromising his full original plan of winning the Trans-France Race, and turning against that same will of his partners, Jim and Wheely. However, the strong-willed Diane does not appear to believe in any cars that can be alive and have a mind of their own.

Diane and Giselle unfortunately crash into a lake towards the end of the race, and with victory in sight. But Herbie and Jim manage to save both car and woman from drowning. Because of this, she soon changes her attitude toward Jim after he saves her life and she witnesses Herbie towing Giselle out of the lake. All three watch as Herbie crawls next to Giselle and the two cars hold doors like holding hands. When Herbie seems to have trouble restarting because of being determined to stay with Giselle, Diane is now fully convinced that cars can have minds of their own because she now knows her own car is alive as well. She encourages the little car not to relent in the quest for victory in the Trans-France Race. With Diane now out of the race (followed shortly thereafter by Claude Gilbert in the aforementioned crash), Jim pursues Von Stickle through the streets of Monte Carlo, combatants in a thrilling duel for the win. In the end, though, Bruno von Stickle is overtaken by the little car in the famous tunnel of the Formula One race track, Herbie outracing him by outsmarting him through driving upside down on the tunnel roof. Jim drives Herbie to victory for (also according to dialogue) the 20th time in their careers.

As the film progresses, two thieves, Max (Bernard Fox) and Quincey (Roy Kinnear), steal the famous *Étoile de Joie* (French for "Star of Joy") diamond and cleverly hide it in Herbie's fuel tank (Herbie was fitted with an external fuel filler cap for this film - a 1963 Beetle's cap actually being inside the front luggage compartment) in order to avoid being captured by a swarm of searching policemen. But little did they know that they picked the wrong car to hide it in, because of one car that was alive and had a mind of its own. That causes them to blow every chance they get in getting back the diamond they hid in him. Because of this, and on a count of an attempt where they at one point tried to threaten Jim and Wheely at gunpoint to relinquish the car to them, an encounter from which Herbie managed to escape, and thanks to a misunderstood conclusion thereafter that Diane would have tried to mastermind the whole event. Subsequently, Herbie is placed under the protection of the French police. It is also revealed not too far in that Inspector Bouchet (Jacques Marin), also known as "Double X" as a code name to the thieves, is the mastermind behind the museum robbery, though the fact of his scheme is revealed near the end of the movie. It is the eager, and somewhat knee-jerk and unpunctual young detective Fontenoy (Xavier Saint-Macary), of whom the Inspector is the superior officer, who unravels the mystery of L'Étoile de Joie, and has Bouchet clapped in handcuffs.

In the end, Jim and Diane begin to fall in love, as do Wheely and the Monte Carlo trophy girl (Katia Tchenko); even breaking a pact they made in the beginning. Most of all, Herbie and Giselle (which Diane names her car) fall in love again as well.

## Herbie goes bananas

Picking up sometime after *Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo* (1977), protagonist Pete Stancheck has inherited Herbie from his uncle Jim Douglas and travels to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with his friend Davy "D.J." Johns to retrieve the car. They get directions from Paco, a comically mischievous, orphaned pickpocket to the car lot. Unable to pay the holding fee due to Paco taking their wallets, the pair quickly leave in Herbie to find him, and discover some of Herbie's abilities. Elsewhere, Paco pickpockets one of the members of a trio of three villains who are planning to steal the gold from some forgotten Inca ruins. The trio chase Paco after realizing the film showing the location of the gold is in the stolen wallet, but Pete and DJ catch him first. They decide to let Paco go only to realize their wallets have been taken by Paco again. Paco hides in Herbie's luggage compartment, and is consequently loaded on the *Sun Princess* cruise ship, bound for Rio de Janeiro, where Pete and DJ plan to enter Herbie in the Brazil Grand Prêmio. *En route*, they meet an anthropology student named Melissa and her extravagant, eccentric aunt Louise, who is trying to find a husband for her niece. When Herbie wreaks havoc on board, Pete pretends to court Melissa, intending that her Aunt Louise will sponsor their race.

Meanwhile, Paco is discovered by the crew and locked in the hold by Captain Blythe. Herbie (whom Paco calls "Ocho") helps Paco escape, and they ruin the ship's costume party while trying to escape the crew. Captain Blythe has Herbie dropped into the sea, while Pete, DJ, Melissa and Aunt Louise are ordered off at the next port. Paco evades police sent to pick him up, ending up at a inlet, where a rusty Herbie resurfaces from the water. The pair then goes into business with Herbie as a taxi.

The gold thieves soon find Paco, and threaten to use an acetylene torch to cut up Herbie if Paco doesn't give them the film, which Paco put in Pete's wallet by mistake. Paco manages to get Pete's wallet, but as he and Herbie escape the men they are hailed by both Louise and Blythe. Melissa quickly commandeers a dilapidated bus so she, Pete and Davy can go after them, Paco explains the situation to their unhappy passengers. Herbie tries to hide from the men at a bullfight, only for him and two of the men to end up in the ring. After the bull is defeated by Herbie, he and Paco leave without Louise and Blythe, who are soon picked up by Pete, DJ and Louise, where they explain what's happening. Later at a café, Paco is grabbed by the men. After failing to stop their plane taking off, Herbie goes to find Pete and the others, who are stuck in a small village after the bus finally broke down.

As a rainstorm hits, the men retrieve a large gold disc from the ruins, planning to sell it so they can hire equipment to get the rest. They leave Paco to fend for himself, but Herbie finds them and 'eats' the gold, before locating Paco. Herbie and the group travel to the next major town (using bananas as camouflage) where Blythe and Louise go to get help while the others take the disc to the local university, where they are overpowered by the men. Paco is outside selling the bananas to locals when he and Herbie see the men loading the disc into their plane. Herbie throws the bananas at them before chasing the plane and 'biting' its tail off. The villains are captured by the police, and the protagonists reunite on the Sun Princess. Pete and DJ resume their plans to enter Herbie in the Brazil Grand Prêmio with Paco dressed as the driver (Pete concedes that Paco and Herbie have a better connection than Pete would have if he drove Herbie in the race). DJ finally asks Paco why he keeps referring to Herbie as "Ocho", since that is Spanish for eight. Paco looks at Herbie's "53" and remarks that 5+3=8. Aunt Louise once again tries to get Blythe to notice her, but he is more interested in a passing schooner. After that Pete, Davy, Aunt Louise, and Melissa have a toast hoping for Herbie to win the race with Paco giving Herbie a thumbs up.

## *The Love Bug* (1997 film)

The narrator, (Dean Jones as Jim Douglas), unfolds the story of Herbie the Volkswagen Beetle. Herbie was owned by an egotistic racing driver and car dealer named Simon Moore III (John Hannah). Due to his arrogance, he did not treat Herbie very well. During a race, Simon Moore III called Herbie junk, which caused Herbie to rebel against his owner. They ended up in last place for the race. Simon was not pleased and he threw out Herbie in a junkyard.

Hank Cooper (Bruce Campbell), a small-town mechanic who works in a local garage, enters a junk-car race where drivers select a jalopy and attempt to start and race it. Hank ends up getting "last choice" and is forced to choose the only car left, a broken-down Herbie. Assisted by his "spiritually enlightened" but goofy friend Roddy, Hank manages to get Herbie started just before he is towed off the track. In appreciation for his kindness to the little VW, Herbie manages to win the race, trouncing such junkers as a Cadillac limousine and an early-model Corvair Monza convertible. The judges of the race, Donny Shotz (Micky Dolenz), Alex (Alexandra Wentworth), whom Hank used to date; and Simon, find it hard to believe that such a tiny car could run so fast, and Alex challenges Hank to prove that he didn't try any tricks during the race in order to win. Hank takes Alex for a ride, showing Herbie's speed, and their relationship is re-kindled (with Herbie driving them to an isolated area and locking his doors, as he did with Jim Douglas and Carol Bennett in the first movie). Meanwhile, Roddy tells Hank that Herbie is special, and takes him to an automotive art show. At the show, Simon sees Herbie and attempts to discover why his car, which failed him, took Hank to victory. He discovers that Herbie was built by Dr. Gustav Stumpfel (Harold Gould) shortly after World War II. He asked Dr. Gustav to create another car, but he wants the car to be pure evil and black. He ends up naming the second car "Horace the Hate Bug," using the "magical ingredients" of a picture of Simon, along with Herbie's key.

Simon orders Horace to find Herbie and destroy him, which Horace does, leaving Herbie a heap of crushed metal. Hank catches up with Herbie, but finds it's too late to save him, and Hank, Roddy, and Alex give Herbie a funeral. At the funeral, Herbie's former owner Jim Douglas arrives, with Dr. Stumpfel, and after examining Herbie's remains, informs them that he can be rebuilt, provided they use all of Herbie's original sheet metal. Hank gets Donny Shotz, an auto customizer, to re-shape and paint Herbie's sheet metal. Hank, Roddy, Alex, and Jim work to rebuild Herbie, and when finished, Hank gives Jim the honor of trying to start him. Herbie starts on the first try, and sounds his horn, letting them know that he's the same car that they have come to know and love.

Meanwhile, Simon challenges Hank to a race between Horace and Herbie. Although Simon makes every attempt to sabotage the race, Herbie manages to win (cut in half by Horace's laser). Furious, Horace tries to destroy Herbie again by ramming him off a cliff, but ends up falling into the ravine himself. Simon and his partner Rupert are then arrested for illegally detonating explosives, driving an unregistered "devil car," and illegally dumping said car.

The film ends with Hank and Alex, in love again, driving off in Herbie after finishing up on a magazine article about Herbie.

## Herbie fully loaded

Herbie, a Volkswagen Beetle with a mind of its own, is towed to a junkyard after losing several races. Maggie Peyton is the youngest member of the Peyton racing clan. Her father, Ray Peyton Sr., takes her to the junkyard to buy her a car as a college graduation present. Ray Sr. takes Maggie to her mechanic friend Kevin who agrees to take Herbie to a car show to buy parts. Herbie tricks Maggie into disguising herself in a racing suit and helmet and challenging NASCAR champion Trip Murphy to an impromptu race, which Herbie wins by a hair.

Kevin happily suggests that Maggie should race again, but Ray Sr. is worried she might repeat an old street-racing accident. Murphy becomes obsessed with Herbie and the mysterious driver. Murphy organizes a local street-racing competition to lure Herbie back for a rematch, which Maggie and Kevin enter. Herbie easily defeats the other cars and qualifies for the final match with Murphy, but when Murphy talks Maggie into racing for pink slips, Herbie becomes jealous over Maggie's desire to win Murphy's stock car and intentionally loses the race. Maggie is publicly embarrassed, Herbie is towed away, and Ray Sr. scolds Maggie for racing without his permission.

However, encouraged by her friend Charisma, Maggie decides to race professionally. She tries to buy Herbie back from Murphy, but Murphy has entered Herbie in a demolition derby. Desperate to save Herbie from destruction, Maggie goes to the derby, runs onto the field while the derby is in progress, quickly apologizes and pleads with Herbie to help her, and an overjoyed Herbie accepts her back as his driver; the two manage to escape destruction and win the derby.

Meanwhile, the Peyton racing team may have to forfeit an upcoming NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race due to financial troubles and two crashes by the team's driver and Maggie's brother, Ray Peyton Jr. Ray Sr. refuses to let Maggie drive for the team, but Ray Jr. decides on his own that she will take his place and sends the Team Peyton crew to help her and Kevin prepare Herbie for the race. At the race track, Maggie and Herbie have a heart-to-heart conversation, and Murphy ominously warns Maggie that the race will be dangerous.

Herbie starts the race slowly, but he eventually catches up and begins passing the other cars before Maggie makes her first pit stop. Meanwhile, Ray Sr., who has been watching the race at home, decides to join the crowd in person. On the track again, Herbie is soon boxed in by some other cars, but Ray Sr. arrives at the track and encourages Maggie over the team radio, and Maggie escapes the trap by driving directly over Tony Stewart’s car in front of her, damaging Herbie's oil system. Maggie makes another pit stop and Kevin hurriedly extracts a replacement part from the yellow New Beetle, which Herbie has been eyeing amorously throughout the film, owned by Sally, one of Team Peyton's few remaining sponsors. The jury-rigged oil system is fragile, and Murphy is intent on preventing Herbie from winning.

With Maggie, Herbie, and Ray Sr. now working together, Maggie and Herbie catch up to Murphy. Murphy, bent on defeating Herbie once and for all, tries to damage Herbie by pushing him into the track wall when Maggie tries to pass him, but he is caught off guard and crashes into the wall when she slams on the brakes during his next attempt, resulting in him hitting Jeff Gordon. Herbie passes Murphy's car, now upside down on the track, by climbing onto the fence above the wall. After landing back on the track, Maggie and Herbie win the race, and Maggie becomes the next Peyton to win a NASCAR race. Maggie is congratulated by her father and brother, and Murphy is driven away in an ambulance, raging furiously about Herbie, as Maggie and Kevin kiss. The film ends with Ray speaking with Herbie and Sally's New Beetle (which is revealed to have a mind of its own as well), telling them not to stay out too long on their date as Herbie has another race coming up.

## Trivia

Volt's favorite film series.

Herbie is real, and the creation mentioned in The Love Bug (1997) was true.

all the beetles from Herbie Rides Again return to help Volt in the final battle.

Volt often quotes lines from the movie.

Volt and Herbie are both Volkswagen Beetles.