Herbie No. 2.
It's not very difficult to make yourself a replica of Herbie the Love Bug, star of four Walt Disney films. Dozens and dozens exist all around the world, and there are probably three or four serious replicas running around in Australia. Get yourself an early '60s VW Beetle, paint it white, add a red and blue stripe and '53' numbers, and you're done.
The more serious replicas would be based on a 1963 US-spec cloth sunroof Beetle, as is the film car, with more detail paid to getting the stripes and '53' numbers looking right. But surely the ultimate would be to find a REAL Disney film car, rather than just make a replica, but they're pretty rare. Greg Carr of Florida, USA, owns not only a genuine Disney-built Herbie, but also the most special of all the existing Disney cars.
Greg used to own a US-spec '65 Herbie replica, and he went to some lengths to make his Herbie look like the real thing. Cloth sunroof conversion ('65s had steel sunroofs), narrower front blinkers, narrower rear number plate light, and the correct Disney stripes and '53' decals. Greg's replica was one of the best around and he travelled extensively in it, even to some of the places mentioned in the first film like the Yosemite Valley and Chinese Camp. The larger windows of the US '65 did look a bit out of place though, even though Disney themselves used some later VWs as well in the sequels.
When Greg heard on the grapevine that a real Herbie was for sale, he sold the '65 and took possession of a rare piece of VW and Disney history. The car he bought was an ex-Disney '63 that had been used in the first film only, and none of the sequels. It was only the second Herbie ever built! Furthermore, the car was one of the original 'racing' Herbies that was actually made for the racing scenes, and had some very special modifications done by Disney's Burbank studios. A Porsche 356 Super 90 engine was fitted, together with magnificent Porsche finned drum brakes, Koni shocks and front and rear stabilisers. During the filming in 1968, this Beetle could top 185 km/h! All this precious gear was still in place when Greg bought the car in 1999, but it was in ratty condition. He has just finished a careful restoration of the special Herbie.
His
Herbie is actually a hodgepodge of several Beetles. The body is built from
parts of a '63 and a '60. The entire chassis and front and side portions
of the body are '63, and the roof and tail sections are from a '60. Due to
the demands of filming and the cost, Disney bought wrecked cars and
literally pieced them together. Darby Milnor's Herbie No. 10 and Greg's
No. 2 apparently share parts from the same donor cars! His was originally
hit in the right side, and Greg's was hit in the left. Whoever built them
did an excellent job, but much of the work was done with gas welding,
which he left alone. It's original. He tried to make No. 2 as accurate as
possible when he restored it. Keen Herbie enthusiasts will notice the
short chrome bonnet strip, which is original. Other Herbie No. 2 features
include body-coloured running boards, blanked-out VW emblem on the hood,
stripes that don't cover the aprons or rear louvers, and body-coloured
rear number plate light gasket (made from an extra piece of fender
beading). The roll bar is a movie original, and Herbie No. 2 has a unique
roll bar corner gusset on the left side that has a rolled bottom, making
him easy to spot in movie scenes. The scenes that Greg has identified him
in for certain are:
1) When Herbie goes berserk early in the film and takes Jim Douglas for a
wild ride, the scene where the right door pops open (Passenger's side in
the US...) and dumps Jim out on the pavement. Herbie No. 2 is identified
by the Saphire V radio, gas gauge and cigarette lighter in the location
formerly occupied by the choke knob.
2) The pit stop scene at Riverside, where Herbie comes skidding into the
pits. Tennessee opens Herbie's hood and tells him "You're making it
look too easy... play it smart!" No. 2 is identified by the roll bar
gusset and lowered suspension.
3) The scene in Virginia City where Jim is sitting in Herbie No. 2 and
tells Mr. Wu "this car gave everything it had to get us here today...
it's got nothing left to give..." No. 2 is identified by the roll bar
in the film, and by the visible Porsche engine in the Viewmaster slides.
4) The wedding at the end. Yep, that's Old No. 2 with the pink bow on the
bonnet! Note the lowered front suspension, and the gap for Wolfsburg crest
on front hood. Disney never showed the VW symbol in the films.
Additionally, the car was completely set up for racing -- it's truly the "Jim Douglas Special" -- and was likely used in some of the actual race scenes, but being the No. 2 Herbie, it saw a fair amount of use in studio with the actors. No. 1 Herbie was the bone-stocker, and the original OFP 857 car, which appears early on in the film, in Thorndyke's car showroom. Nobody knows if No. 1 exists or not, so Greg's car is the earliest-known original Disney Herbie.
Greg says the 356 engine runs great, but it's detuned with lower compression, so it pumps out about 75 hp. It's not really fast, but it's strong, and has a sound to make the hair stand up on your neck. The handling is flat-out unbelievable. He doesn’t know who set it up, but it handles and brakes as good as his New Beetle, he swears. And the Porsche B brakes are fantastic; Greg's other Beetle has front disks, but the Porsche drums stop twice as good, and every bit as good as the New Beetle. Greg says Herbie is the best all-around driving Beetle he's ever driven, and any one of his friends who have been for a drive would agree. Obvious modifications include a rear EMPI camber compensator, Koni shocks (like Dean Jones said it had) and some trick Koni diagonal spring plate tensioners. But the results are far more amazing than the sum of the visible parts used.
For
keen Herbie enthusiasts, Greg has just opened a brand new Herbie chat
board. Feel free to join them at: http://pub94.ezboard.com/babsolutleythebestherbiethelovebugfansite7453
The Herbie Fan Club online is: www.LoveBugFans.com
Phil Matthews
