Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) is a race car driver whose career is going down. As he once was racing with Maseratis and Lamborghinis, all he gets to drive now are destruction derbys, if even that. Jim is living with his mechanic friend Tennessee Steinmetz (Buddy Hackett) at the old firestation in San Francisco. One day at the town Jim is doing a little window shopping at the luxurious sports car dealership when he comes across with a VW Beetle. On Jim’s budget this is pretty much the only car that he can buy at the moment. On the road Jim is having some trouble with the car. It doesn’t always want to go where Jim is going. However, Jim thinks that these problems are caused by mechanical failures, which can all be fixed.
The only thing Jim really notices is the speed. The little car seems to be able to outrun pretty much anything on the road. But Jim’s friend Tennessee thinks that there is something more in this little car than just good performance and starts to call the car Herbie. Soon Jim and Herbie are on the race track. They are successful and take one win after another. Jim is proud of his success at the race track. He believes that his driving and adjustments on the car are the reason for this success. But it is not just Jim who is winning the races, but Herbie has a big part in the success as well and soon even Jim start to understand that Herbie isn’t any normal car, but more like a family member.
The Love Bug is a whole family movie. Even though I have seen this movie quite a few times over the years, it still is very entertaining.
Director: Robert Stevenson
Stars: Dean Jones, Buddy Hackett, Michele Lee, David Tomlinson
Cars: Volkswagen Beetle
