Herbie Vs. Horace: The Clash of the 1963 Love and Hate Bugs

The History of Herbie as a super popular VW bug in the movies

There is one vehicle that you can spot driving down the road from blocks away – the Volkswagen Beetle. Whether you play the "punch buggy" game and blast the person sitting next to you or just admire it (we know you play the game), they are a design that no other car can compete with.

The Volkswagen Bug is also known as the "Beetle," "Super Beetle," "Superbug," or "Käifer." The car began manufacturing in 1938 and continued into 2003 for Type 1. Along the way, the Volkswagen New Beetle was manufactured from 1997 to 2010, and the Volkswagen Beetle (A5) from 2011 to 2019. No matter the year it was manufactured, no VW is as famous as a particular 1963 Love Bug model.

The 1963 Volkswagen Beetle

In 1968, Walt Disney Productions brought a fictional sentient anthropomorphic and almost autonomous pearl-white 1963 Volkswagen racing Beetle named Herbie to life. It wore the number 53 in the "gumball" circle pattern and featured the red, white, and blue stripes down the middle. The appearance stayed consistent through the first four films and the 1982 television series, with only minor subtle changes. In 1997, it was given a complete overhaul.

To create the autonomous effect of driving himself, Disney used an intricate system of sprockets and pulleys connected to a second steering column under the front seat for a rear seat driver. There was also a second set of pedal assemblies, clutch cables, and a shifter extension.

1968: The Love Bug

The movie is based on the 1961 Gordon Buford book, Car, Boy, Girl. The first movie in the series, titled "The Love Bug," follows the adventures of Herbie, his driver, Jim Douglas, and his love interest, Carole Bennett.

Additional characters in the movie include Jim's friend, Tennessee Steinmetz, who creates art from used parts. The villainous antagonist of the movie is Peter Thorndyke, the owner of the auto showroom and an SCCA national champion. After he visits the showroom and defends the then-nameless Herbie to Peter, it magically ends up on his doorstep.

Carole, Peter's sales assistant/mechanic, convinces him to drop charges of grand theft auto for the car and allow him to make payments for the Beetle. Shortly after this, he sees that it has a mind of his own and thinks Peter has conned him. Tennessee brings up the possibility that it is a sentient inanimate object that can develop feelings.

Jim then comes home with a new Lamborghini 400GT and intends on selling it back to Peter when the Beetle goes on his rampage. Right before he decides he is going to drive off the bridge, Jim stops him. He shows the that he does have feelings for him and saves them both.

The movie's end shows that the wager made with Chinese businessman Wu comes to life as it wins El Dorado and Wu takes over Peter's showroom. As happy endings go, Jim and Carole are newlyweds who go away on their honeymoon chauffeured by Herbie.

1974: Herbie Rides Again

The next movie in the series came in 1974 and is called "Herbie Rides Again." It follows, "Grandma" Steinmetz (aunt of Tennessee Steinmetz), her displaced neighbor Nicole Harris, and their other sentient machines – a 20th-century orchestrion and a retired cable auto known as Old No. 22.

The antagonist in this movie, notorious real estate magnate and demolition baron Alonzo Hawk is set to build his newest 130-story Hawk Plaza. The only obstacle in his way is the firehouse that Grandma Steinmetz lives in. Alonzo's attempts to evict the woman and her inhabitants leave him empty-handed until his lawyer nephew, Willoughby Whitfield, visits him.

Grandma Steinmetz takes a liking to the lawyer due to his youthful looks and good manners, the opposite of Alonzo and his henchmen. After learning the events that Alonzo has put them through from Nicole, Willoughby tells her his connection to the businessman. Enraged, Nicole hits him with a broiled lobster, landing him in Fisherman's Wharf. He then goes back to his uncle and tells him he will no longer do his dirty work.

By the end of the film, Alonzo tries to pull one over on Grandma Steinmetz Nicole, and Willoughby by making them think that he has come to a truce. While all of them are out, he attempts to bring down the firehouse. It collects Nicole and Willoughby and rounds up several other VW to come after Alonzo and his army of earthmovers, taking advantage of an irrational fear of Herbie that Alonzo has.

Nicole and Willoughby get married and ride through an arch formed by all of his new Volkswagen friends.

1977: Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo

The 1977 movie Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo brings back original driver Douglas and his new riding mechanic Wheely Applegate as they participate in the fictitious Trans-France Race, a road race that spans from Paris, France to Monte Carlo, Monaco.

It feature three major opponents that Jim, Wheely, and Herbie must overcome – Bruno Von Stickle, Claude Gilbert, and Diane Darcy. Diane is the only female driver in the Trans-France and initially hates him for what turns out to be her knee-jerk reaction to her auto Giselle, a Lancia Scorpion. Her attitude changes when Jim and Herbie save her and Giselle from drowning after crashing into the lake toward the end of the race.

Two thieves manage to steal a French diamond and hide it in a fuel tank to avoid capture by police. It thwarts every effort made by the thieves to get the diamond back. It is soon uncovered that the Inspector is "Double X," the code name given to the thieves and mastermind of the entire museum robbery. In the end, it is a true love story where Jim and Diane begin to fall in love, Wheely falls in love with the Monte Carlo trophy girl, and Herbie with Giselle.

1980: Herbie Goes Bananas

Pete Stancheck inherits it from his uncle Douglas. He and his friend Davy "D.J." Johns travel to Puerta Vallarta, Mexico, to retrieve it. They meet Paco, who gives them directions but pickpockets in the process. Paco then pickpockets one of three villains who has plans to steal gold from the forgotten Inca ruins but is soon chased when it is realized that the film showing the location of the gold is stolen from them. Paco stows away in its luggage compartment and is then loaded onto the Sun Princess bound for Rio de Janeiro.

The plan is for it to be entered into the Brazil Grand Prêmio, but on the way, they meet an anthropology student named Melissa and her aunt Louise. Louise is trying to find a husband for her niece. After it wreaks havoc onboard, Pete pretends to court Melissa in hopes that Louise will sponsor it.

The gold thieves find Paco and threaten to cut up Herbie if he doesn't give them the stolen film, which was accidentally put in Pete's wallet by mistake. They all end up at a bullfight, where it takes out the bull and is later picked up by Pete, DJ, and Louise, who explains what has happened.

They find the others in a small town where the bus that Melissa commandeered finally broke down, and as the rainstorm hits, the thieves retrieve a large gold disc from the ruins. It then "eats" the disc, locates Paco, and all of them travel to the next big city camouflaged by bananas. While trying to take the disc to the university, the thieves steal and put it in their plane when it bites the plane's tail off, allowing the police to catch them. It will eventually enter the race with Paco as the driver, with the closing scene showing all of them toasting, hoping that Herbie and Paco win it.

1982: Herbie, The Love Bug (TV Series)

The five-episode television series aired on CBS from March 17 to April 14, 1982. The mid-season replacement series was the last production until the TV movie in 1997. The theme song, "Herbie, My Best Friend," is performed by Dean Jones, who reprises his role as Douglas.

Jim is now a retired race driver and an instructor at the Famous Driving School with his partner Bo Phillips. Jim and Herbie manage to stop a robbery in progress and rescue a young divorcée named Susan MacLane. Susan works at the bank and is a mother of three – Julie, Robbie, and Matthew. Jim and Susan end up falling in love, to which her ex-boyfriend Randy Bigelow attempts to break up. They get married in the episode entitled "Herbie the Best Man," which aired on April 7, 1982.

1997: The Love Bug (Made-for-Television Movie)

The story's narrator is Douglas (also the original owner of previous movies). He tells of the Volkswagen owned by an egotistical racer named Simon Moore III, who throws it in a junkyard when they lose a race after calling junk. A small-town mechanic, Hank Cooper, enters a junk one and ends up with "the last choice," forcing him to take a broken-down one.

With the help of his friend Roddy, Hank can get it running just before being towed off of the track. Showing his gratitude for Hank's kindness, he manages to win it. To the disbelief of the judges, they demand to know how such a small auto could pull off winning such a race without tricks or hijinx. One of the judges, Hank's former girlfriend Alex, demands to see more, and he takes her for a ride. During this ride, their romance is rekindled – much like the first movie where Herbie drives Jim and Carole.

Simon, wanting to know why it brought him loss and Hank's victory, seeks out the original builder of the motorcar– Dr. Gustav Stumpfel. Dr. Stumpfel built it shortly after World War II. Simon asks him to build another model, only pure black, naming him Horace the Hate Bug.

Simon orders Horace to find it and destroy it, which Horace accomplishes, leaving him in a pile of crushed metal. As Hank catches up, he realizes it is too late to save it, and the group gives him a funeral. At the funeral, Jim shows up with Dr. Stumpfel, who examines the remains and determines that it can be rebuilt. After being rebuilt, it is he who gets the honor of starting for the first time.

Simon then challenges Hank to a race between Horace and Herbie. It ends up being victorious despite the sabotaging on Simon and his part, including slicing it in half with his laser. After attempting to push it over the cliff, Horace falls to his death. Simon and his henchman are both arrested. Hank and Alex drive off at the end of the movie, in love, with Herbie.

2005: Herbie: Fully Loaded

The final installment of the series follows Maggie Peyton, the youngest member of the Peyton Racing team, as her father takes her to the junkyard to buy her a car as her college graduation present. Her father then takes Maggie to her mechanic friend Kevin who agrees to take it to a show to buy parts for him. It tricks Maggie into disguising herself in a racing suit and helmet, challenging NASCAR champion Trip Murphy – a race which it wins by a hair.

Kevin suggests that Maggie should race again, even against her father's negative feelings on the subject after a street racing accident years prior. Maggie and Herbie easily beat all the other autos in the local racing competition, but it becomes jealous when Trip wants to race for pink slips and Maggie's growing desire for Trip's stock one. It intentionally loses it, being towed away while Maggie's father scolds her for racing without permission.

Encouraged by her friend Charisma, Maggie decides to try and get it back from Trip, who has already entered him into a demolition derby. Running onto the field, Maggie begs Herbie to take her back, and the two win the derby, narrowly escaping destruction.

At the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, Trip ominously warns Maggie and Herbie that the race will be dangerous. It starts slowly but soon catches up and begins passing another automobile before making its first pitstop. It is soon boxed in, but Maggie escapes the trap by driving directly over the car in front of her, damaging the oil system. Using a part from a New Beetle that Herbie has been eyeing the entire film, Kevin gets it back on track.

In the end, Trip is taken out by ambulance, Kevin kisses Maggie, and the New Beetle that it is eyeing is found to have a mind of its own as well.

How Big of an Impact a VW Can Make

In terms of cars, you likely wouldn't consider a Volkswagen to be one that would make a big splash on the racing circuit. This may be why Disney chose the auto, because of its likable exterior and unlikely racing capability.

Even though the least-grossing film was Herbie Goes Bananas, the momentum picked back up when the final installment came out in 2005, grossing more than the original movie did at the box office. While there have been no hints as to another movie or series, it has made appearances throughout the years – on television and in the Disney theme parks.

The next time you see one of these VW Bugs on the road, you might admire it for the craftsmanship and potential racing advantage – after all, how do you know if it isn't in disguise?