Herbie the Volkswagen Beetle which was featured in the film "The Love Bug", at the 2023 British Motor Show
Herbie, the Love Bug is a sentient 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, who has been featured in several Walt Disney motion pictures starting with the 1969 feature film The Love Bug. He has a mind of his own, is capable of driving himself, and is often a serious contender in auto racing competitions. Throughout most of the franchise, he is distinguished by red, white, and blue racing stripes from the front to the back bumper, a pearl white body, a racing-style number "53" on the front luggage compartment lid, doors, engine lid, and a yellow-on-black 1963 California license plate with the registration "OFP 857". In The Love Bug (1968), Herbie is bought from the showroom of Peter Thorndyke (David Tomlinson) by San Francisco socialite Mrs. Van Luit for her upstairs maid, but returns him shortly afterward due to reliability problems. He is then purchased by race driver Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) after Douglas was falsely accused of stealing him. Tennessee Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett), Jim's best friend, mechanic, and housemate, names him "Herbie" after his Uncle Herb, a middleweight boxer whose nose became shaped like the hood of a Volkswagen Beetle. Jim notices his unnatural performance levels and decide to use him in auto racing, to great success. In addition, Jim pursues a romantic relationship with Carole Bennett (Michelle Lee), an assistant in Thorndyke's showroom who eventually sides with Jim, Tennessee, and Herbie. In the final El Dorado road race, Herbie is damaged and splits in two, but wins when his rear half (with Tennessee inside) beats Thorndyke's Apollo GT. Fully repaired, he takes the newlywed Jim and Carole on their honeymoon. In Herbie Rides Again (1974), Herbie is retired from racing and has been left to Tennessee's widowed aunt, Mrs. Steinmetz (Helen Hayes). Jim has entered foreign racing circuits while Tennessee now resides in Tibet. Mrs. Steinmetz and her displaced neighbor, Nicole Harris (Stefanie Powers), try to save her house from being bulldozed by real estate
Size: 5616px × 3744px
Location: Farnborough International Expo Centre, Farnborough,
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -quarters, 2023, beetle, british, bug, centre, expo, farnborough, front, international, love, marshall, motor, show, view, volkswagen
