Why is herbie number 53

However, for the sequel, VW was onboard to help promote the film, and for sure, this contributed to give the car more prestige. The number 53 could play a trick on some people's minds since the production of the Beetle started in , someone might think that Herbie is a model.

And actually, except for some minor facelifts, the Beetle didn't differ so much from the 's. But the number 53 has nothing to do with the Love Bug's birth year. Herbie wears the number 53 because of Dodger star Don Drysdale. We have lost count of all those beautiful cars that have tragically ended their movie careers driving their last yards into a wall, or off a cliff. One of the vehicles that portrayed Herbie was dropped off a ship and went for a no-return swim.

Right now, somewhere at the bottom of the sea, sits a pearl white Beetle covered with seaweed, plankton, and filled by fish. We have seen Herbie doing impossible things. The era of modern special effects and digital filming was very distant at that time, and the true stars of those epic scenes are the stuntmen. Over the years we've grown accustomed to the idea of modified cars, and of course, the greatly commercialized VW Beetle has been subjected to this trend.

Sometimes only improved in performance, there are also some major modifications that have been done, like this example of a V8 packing Beetle. For some scenes, Herbie was packing with a bigger Porsche engine that made it capable of reaching 90mph in third gear and mph top speed. Herbie's performance was further with Porsche brakes, Koni shocks, and wide wheels with race tires. Despite Tennessee's best efforts, it looks as if Herbie will be unable to start the return leg of the race.

Thorndyke also shows up claiming that he is now his new owner and plans to do terrible things to him angering Jim and everyone else. Herbie then unexpectedly lurches into life and angrily chases Thorndyke, showing he is more than willing to race on. Thanks to some ingenious shortcuts, Herbie and his friends become neck and neck with Thorndyke as they approach the finish line. In the ensuing dogfight, Herbie's welded-together body splits in two.

His back half crosses the line while his front rolls over the line just behind, meaning he takes both first and third place. At the end of the film, Herbie is fully repaired and chauffeurs the newlywed Jim and Carole away on their honeymoon. Herbie continues to live in the old firehouse with Mrs. Steinmetz Tennessee's aunt and Nicole Harris , while his driver is in Europe driving foreign cars.

Herbie first met Willoughby Whitfield when he came over to try and convince Mrs. Steinmetz to move out so Alonzo Hawk can proceed with construction of his new building. Both Herbie and Nicole took a dislike towards him especially when he didn't believe Herbie was alive.

Willoughby's tone towards Herbie soon changed when he took him for a joyride and entered a chicken jousting tournament. They made up and became friends when Willoughby came back the next day and gave him a gentle pat. Hawk tried to kidnap him, little did he know the little car was alive and imminently stopped in the middle of the street when he called him a Cylinder Hair-dryer.

The police tried to tow him and Hawk out of the streets, but Herbie challenged them in a tug of war and drove off the moment the rope snapped. He drops Hawk outside his office building and drove off home.

He arrives home in time to take Mrs. Steinmetz to market, but is pursued all around San Francisco by Hawk's lawyers. While shopping for some broccoli, Herbie attempts another one of his matchmaking tricks by taking Willoughby and Nicole to the beach. While there, they fall in love and share their first kiss. When they arrive home, they find the house empty and head for Hawk's storage warehouse to get back Mrs. Steinmetz furniture.

For a while, they are pursued by Hawk and his security, until he takes them on a detour around a city block and causes them to crash into one another. He accompanies Mrs. Steinmetz while she goes to Hawk's office to give him a piece of her mind. Instead, he gets a piece of Herbie's mind when he makes him so angry and chases him around his building. When Hawks makes a final attempt to tear down the firehouse, Herbie goes out for help. He picks up Willoughby and Nicole and races back to the firehouse with other Volkswagens in follow.

He arrives with an army of beetles and chase off Hawk and his diggers. Like in the first film, Herbie drives the newly-wed Willoughby and Nicole away on their honeymoon.

Once there, Herbie becomes in possession of a priceless diamond stashed in his gas tank by two jewel thieves and falls in love with a beautiful Lancia named Giselle. As it goes, Herbie becomes more interested being with Giselle than racing, which bothers Wheely while the two jewel thieves, Max and Quincy , try to get back the diamond, but all their attempts failed.

On the day of the big race, Herbie is told by Wheely that Giselle has dumped him and took off into the race like he never excited when in fact, she been waiting for him until Wheely lied to her about him dumping her.

Herbie charges into the race and as they race on, they end up making a few stops. Their first stop is when Max and Quincy put them off course and end up on a mountain road. Herbie ends up half buried in rocks by Wheely's yodeling echoes, but manages to escape Max and Quincy again and buries them under rocks by yodeling another echo with his horn. Their second stop is when the diamond in Herbie's gas tank starts clonking around and Jim and Wheely investigate.

When they find the diamond, they finally understand why those two thieves were after him and engage Max and Quincy in a fist fight. Jim, Wheely, and Herbie win the fight and tie them up. Their third stop is when they see Diane and Giselle in river. At first, Herbie refuses to help, until Jim tells him the truth about Wheely's lies. He quickly turns around and the three of them rescue Diane and Giselle.

Herbie refuses to leave Giselle, until Diane encourages him to finish the race for his friends and for Giselle. He allows Jim to get in, but not Wheely, until he gets down on his knees and apologizes for lying to him.

Herbie makes it to Monte Carlo and catching up with the leading race driver Bruno von Stickle. After a few failed attempts to pass him, he manages to get into first place by driving upside down in a tunnel and wins. When Inspector Bouchet tries to get away with the diamond threatening to kill anyone who tries to stop him, Herbie outsmarts him by rolling onto his foot and smacking the gun out of his hand.

With the diamond safely returned to the museum executive Monsieur Ribeaux, he rewards Herbie with a kiss on the hood and goes all red. Herbie is last seen watching the fireworks with Giselle happily flashing their headlights. At first, he shows no confidence in the little car until Herbie displays his incredible speed, while helping an orphan boy named Paco escape. Paco simply added together the individual numbers in Herbie's 53 , start causing mischief, which gets them into trouble with Captain Blythe.

When they trash the costume party, Herbie is sentenced to be dropped into the sea. Herbie manages to swim all the way to Panama and is rescued by Paco and local fishermen. Being in the salt water for so long has caused his body to go all rusty and becomes completely exhausted that he collapses from his wheels.

At first. The Love Bug has brought smiles to faces of all ages since Herbie the lovable Volkswagen Beetle first turned a wheel on the silver screen in In all good racing movies, iconic cars are featured so prominently that they become characters. Produced by Disney in and directed by Robert Stevenson, the film follows down-on-his-luck race driver Jim Douglas and his adventures with a sentient Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie.

The pair work together to defeat the evil Peter Thorndyke in the grueling El Dorado race. Like many famous movie cars, Herbie has become a cultural mainstay that many think of as soon as they see a classic Beetle.