Story and development Dean Jones credited the film's success to the fact that it was the last
live-action film produced by
Walt Disney Productions under
Walt Disney's involvement, released just two years after his death in 1966. Although Jones tried to pitch him a serious, straightforward film project concerning the story of the first
sports car ever brought to the United States, Walt suggested a different car story for him, which was "Car, Boy, Girl", a story written in 1961 by Gordon Buford.
Car, Boy, Girl; The Magic Volksy; The Runaway Wagen; Beetlebomb; Wonderbeetle; Bugboom and
Thunderbug were among the original development titles considered for the film before the title was finalized as
The Love Bug. Herbie competes in the
Monterey Grand Prix, which, except for 1963, was not a sports car race. The actual sports car race held at Monterey was the
Monterey Sports Car Championships. The 1968 Monterey Grand Prix was in fact a
Can Am Series race and did not feature production cars. Peter Thorndyke's yellow "Special" is actually a 1965
Apollo GT, a rare sports car sold by International Motorcars of
Oakland, California. It used an Italian-built body and chassis from
Intermeccanica paired with a small-block
Buick V8 engine that was installed in Oakland. This car exists today, is in the hands of a private collector, and has been restored as it was seen in the film with its yellow paint and number 14 logo.
"Herbie" Before the film entered production, the titular car was not specified as a Volkswagen Beetle, and Disney set up a casting call for a dozen cars to audition. In the lineup, there were a few
Toyotas, a
TVR, a handful of
Volvos, an
MG and a pearl white Volkswagen Beetle. The Volkswagen Beetle was chosen as it was the only one that elicited the crew to reach out and pet it. The Volkswagen brand name, logo or shield does not feature anywhere in the film, as the automaker did not permit Disney to use the name. The only logos can be briefly seen in at least two places, however. The first instance is on the brake pedals during the first scene where Herbie takes control with Jim inside (on the freeway when Herbie runs into Thorndyke's Rolls-Royce), and it is shown in all the future scenes when Jim is braking. The second instance is on the ignition key, when Jim tries to shut down the braking Herbie. The subsequent films, however, do promote the Volkswagen name (as sales of the Beetle were down when the sequels were produced). The VW "
Wolfsburg" castle emblem on the steering wheel hub is also seen throughout the car's interior shots. Within the script, the car was only ever referred to as "Herbie", "the little car" or "the Bug"—the latter, although a common nickname for the Beetle, was not trademarked by Volkswagen at the time of filming. Volkswagen was nervous of many of the scenes that showed Herbie apparently falling apart or malfunctioning - and thus carefully scrutinized the script of the film ensuring that it did not show the car in a negative light - allegedly sending teams of lawyers to the Disney studios on a regular basis to oversee the production. The car was later given the name "Herbie" from one of
Buddy Hackett's
skits about a ski instructor named Klaus, who speaks with a German accent as he introduces his fellow ski instructors, who are named Hans, Fritz, Wilhelm, and Sandor. At the end of the skit, Hackett would say "If you ain't got a Herbie (pronounced "
hoy-bee), I ain't going." Herbie's trademark "53" racing number was chosen by producer
Bill Walsh, who was a fan of
Los Angeles Dodgers baseball player
Don Drysdale (Drysdale's jersey number, later retired by the team, was 53). Walsh also gave Herbie his trademark red, white and blue
racing stripes presumably for the more
patriotic color and came up with the film's gags such as Herbie squirting oil and opening the doors by himself. Benson Fong, who played Mr. Wu, said that when he and the others were dragged along the dirt by Herbie, it was like being pulled by 40 horses. The 1961–1965 Volkswagen Beetles actually were rated by the
SAE at in factory configuration (though only by the European
DIN system which measured engine output as installed in the car with cooling fan and exhaust system attached). Herbie has his own cast billing in the closing credits, the only time this was done in the entire series of films. Today, only a handful of the original Herbie cars are known to exist. Car #10 was recovered from a warehouse in Pennsylvania and has been preserved—still sporting its original paint from the film.
Deleted scenes The bonuses on the DVD provide two deleted scenes named "Used Car Lot" and "Playground". A scene shot but not included in the final cut of the film, featured Jim calling at a
used car lot prior to his visiting Thorndyke's auto showroom. This missing sequence has long since been lost, and all that remains is the
script and a single
black and white photograph of Jim talking with the salesman at the lot. An unfilmed scene at the end of the story that was scripted and
storyboarded was to have shown Herbie playing with children at a nearby
playground prior to taking the newly married Jim and Carole off on their honeymoon.
Stock footage The opening scene of the demolition derby cars is
stock footage from the film
Fireball 500 (1966). Parts of this scene can also be found in a 1966-model year dealer promotional film by Chevrolet, titled ''Impact '66''.
Shooting locations Some of the racetrack scenes were shot at the Riverside International Raceway in
Riverside, California. Others were filmed at
Laguna Seca Raceway in
Monterey, California,
Willow Springs Raceway in
Willow Springs, California and
Paramount Ranch in
Agoura Hills, California. Additional scenes depicting the El Dorado race were filmed near the
San Bernardino Mountains in
Big Bear City, California.
Cast and crew Andy Granatelli, who was popular at the time as a presence at the
Indianapolis 500 as well as the spokesman for
STP, appears as himself as the racing association president. Announcer
Gary Owens (of ''
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' fame) and
Los Angeles Lakers play-by-play man
Chick Hearn also appear as themselves. The driving scenes were choreographed by veteran stunt man
Carey Loftin. Drivers in the film billed in the opening credits include
Dale Van Sickel, Reg Parton, Regina Parton, Tom Bamford,
Bob Drake, Marion J. Playan, Hall Brock,
Bill Hickman, Rex Ramsay, Hal Grist, Lynn Grate, Larry Schmitz, Richard Warlock, Dana Derfus, Everett Creach, Gerald Jann, Bill Couch, Ted Duncan, Robert Hoys, Gene Roscoe, Jack Mahoney, Charles Willis, Richard Brill, Roy Butterfield, Rudy Doucette, J.J. Wilson, Jim McCullough,
Bud Ekins, Glenn Wilder, Gene Curtis,
Robert James, John Timanus, Bob Harris,
Fred Krone, Richard Ceary, Jesse Wayne,
Jack Perkins, Fred Stromsoe,
Ronnie Rondell, and Kim Brewer.
Cars featured • 1956
Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta (#14) • 1955
OSCA MT4 Barchetta (#18) • 1957
Chevrolet Two-Ten 2-Door Sedan (#23) • 1959
Devin D (#47) • 1959
Austin-Healey 3000 (#64) • 195x
Kellison J4 (#82) • 1960
Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta SWB (#54) • 1963
Apollo 3500 GT (#14 "Thorndyke Special") • 1963
Shelby Cobra 289 (#20) • 1963
Triumph Spitfire 4 (#96) • 1964
Jaguar XK-E (#14) • 1965
Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray C2 (#29) • 1961
Balchowsky Ol' Yaller MkIV (#41) • 1966
Lamborghini 400 GT 2+2 • 1966
Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray C2 (#20) • 1960
Sunbeam Alpine (#67)
Promotion During one scene in the film, Herbie has lost one of his wheels, and Tennessee is hanging out of the passenger side door to balance him. The door opens, and there is no "53" logo on the door. This image was used heavily to promote the film. ==Reception==