Down-on-his-luck race car driver Jim Douglas teams up with a little VW Bug that has a mind of it's own, not realizing Herbie's worth until a sneaky rival plots to steal him.
Meet Jim Douglas, a down-on-his-luck race car driver who lives in an old run-down fire house in San Francisco with his friend Tennessee Steinmetz, a occasional drunk mechanic. One day, Jim goes to a luxury car dealer and sees a strange Volkswagen Beetle with a unusual problem: it tends to drive on its own, as if it were sentient. The little Bug follows Jim home but Jim believes that the owner of the car dealership, Peter Thorndyke, is playing a trick on him. Jim decides to try out the car, and experiences its magical nature, fahrvergnügen, if you will, for himself. Jim repairs the little car and Tennessee names the him "Herbie". Behind the wheel of Herbie, Jim becomes more successful in racing. Thorndyke wants Herbie back, but Jim refuses and Thorndyke decides to race against him. Thorndyke sabotages Herbie before a big race known as the "El Dorado" - an obvious parody of the then-new "Baja 1000" race in Mexico. Jim and Tennessee along with Thorndyke's former assistant (and ex-girlfriend) Carol Bennett, repair Herbie before the El Dorado. The trio are determined to beat Thorndyke who will stop at nothing in order to gain a victory - and Herbie.—Andy Crews
Jim Douglas, an experienced race car driver on a long losing streak, is confident that he needs a powerful car to get back to winning days. And just like that, fortune smiles upon him. But when Jim discovers a second-hand Volkswagen Beetle while looking for an affordable car downtown, he gets more than he bargained for. After all, baffling as it may sound, Jim's latest acquisition seems to have a mind of its own. And before long, Jim's temperamental race car wins one race after another. As a result, the haughty previous owner, Peter Thorndyke, wants his old car back. As ruthless Thorndyke gives his all to expose his rival's secret, Jim and his team prepare to win the demanding El Dorado road race. But the question remains. Can Jim and his incredible love bug make automotive history?—Nick Riganas
In San Francisco, Jim Douglas is a has been as a professional driver, he only second rate at his peak as a track racer, and not much better in his recent sojourn as a demolition derby driver. While he is attracted to fast, sporty cars as are most professional drivers, he ends up, out of circumstance, reluctantly purchasing a Volkswagen Beetle. That reluctance is heightened when the car does things outside of his control, which makes him believe it defective. But what endures him to the car is the speed it exhibits in one of those out of control moments. Jim's friend, mechanic and roommate Tennessee Steinmetz, can see that Herbie, as he names the Beetle, does have a mind of its own and has emotions, it which helps those that are kind to it as Jim was in their initial encounter. Jim, with Tennessee by his side, does enter Herbie into races with success. In the process, Carole Bennett, the saleswoman at Thorndyke Import Motors, the upscale dealership where Jim bought the car, also comes to realize the magic that is Herbie. Who may or may not come to that realization - or arguably may not want to admit it - is Jim himself, who wants to believe that his recent racing success is all his own doing, he willing to get rid of Herbie for a more traditionally race appropriate vehicle. Who does not care what is behind Herbie being Herbie is Peter Thorndyke, Carole's snooty boss, a race car driver himself, who ends up being shown up time and time again by Herbie. As such, Thorndyke goes on a mission not only to beat Jim and Herbie, but, using whatever means possible, most underhanded, to destroy Herbie beyond repair.—Huggo
In 1968, Jim Douglas (Dean Jones) is a down-on-his luck racing 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 (Buddy Hackett), a jolly Brooklynite who constantly extols the virtues of spiritual enlightenment, having spent time among 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, Carole Bennett (Michele Lee).
Jim witnesses the dealership's British owner, Peter Thorndyke (David Tomlinson), 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 Beetle 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 buys the car on a system of monthly payments.
Jim soon finds 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 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 that they will both be competing in at Riverside later that month. Jim accepts, and despite Thorndyke's underhanded tactics, he and Herbie take victory. Over the next few months, they go on to become the toast of the Californian racing circuit, while Thorndyke suffers increasingly humiliating defeats.
Thorndyke finally snaps and persuades Carole to take Jim out on a date while he sneaks round to Jim's house. After getting Tennessee drunk on his own Irish coffee recipe, Thorndyke proceeds to tip the remainder of the whipped cream into Herbie's gasoline 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 cream from the coffee out of his exhaust pipe, covering Thorndyke.
Till this point Jim firmly believes that it his driving skills & not Herbie who is winning races. Tennessee takes Carole into confidence & convinces her that Herbie is a special car, who thinks and feels & is the reason behind why Jim is winning all the races.
That evening, Jim returns home in a brand-new Lamborghini 400GT, having agreed to sell Herbie to Thorndyke to pay the remaining installments he owes on it. Jim states he needs a 'real car' for the upcoming El Dorado Road race, but finds no sympathy from Tennessee, Carole, or Herbie, who jealously proceeds to smash up the Lamborghini, proving to Jim once and for all that Herbie has a mind of his own.
By the time Thorndyke arrives to collect Herbie, the Volkswagen is nowhere to be found, and 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, 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 himself nearly falls into the water. Herbie pulls Jim back to safety, but then is impounded by the San Francisco Police Department.
There, Mr. 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 he 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 has to sell Herbie back for a 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 Mr. Wu to make a wager with him on its outcome. Thorndyke (with his assistant Havershaw acting as co-driver) pulls every trick in the book to ensure 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's going to do to Herbie and kicks Herbies front fender, but Herbie then unexpectedly lurches into life and chases Thorndyke from the scene, showing 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 hastily welded-together body splits in two. The back half of the car (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, Mr. 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.
