Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo
LAST UPDATED: 1-1-2001
This page is all about Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo. It will have mistakes and other Herbie oddities. In my opinion, this is the second best Herbie movie, with The Love Bug first. It again stars Dean Jones as Jim Douglas and stars Don Knotts as Wheely Applegate. Thanks goes to Phillip Smith for lots of info.
The movie begins with a pic of Le Harve, France. You see a nice spread out pic of the city. Then you see a passport being handed to someone. The problem with this scene was that it needed a passport, and it's illegal to fake a passport. Al Williams, the property master at Disney at that time, applied to the State Department in Los Angeles for one. However, the department decided that since Herbie was a Volkswagen, he must be German. They suggested that Disney Studios approach the German embassy for a German passport! Eventually, Disney received got a passport for Herbie. It really was a permit, and it allowed him to re-enter the USA, despite not yet having left! After a struggle, Disney was finally granted a genuine US passport for Herbie. If you can't read the passport, it says:
It's true!
Some places called it " The Love Bug Falls for a Classy Chassis". The credits then roll, showing in the background Herbie travelling through France. Note the aftermarket external fuel filler, in the same spot as the flap in '68 and later VWs. It was essential for the plot (the thieves put the diamond in it). He has aftermarket seats with built-in headrests. What are they for? He also has cal-look side windows. Also, notice the "extra" horn in place of the light from Herbie Rides Again. It is also essential in the plot. When they arrive in Paris, Jim and Wheely get lost. They ask a gendarme for directions. When Herbie squirts oil on his shoes, notice where it comes from. It comes out near the torsion bars! The oil is extraordinarily black. At the "meet" site, Bruno von Stickle is introduced. He drives a Laser 917 GT Coupe. That car was a kit car put out by Elite Enterprises of Cokato, Minnesota, in the 1970s. It was to on a VW chassis, but it looks alot like a Porsche 917 with the flowing wings and "gullwing" doors. But there was something non-917 about it with the tail. Like any other car used in this movie, there is more than one. None of them seem to have a VW motor in them (some of them a V8?). As Herbie pulls up to the gathering, he looks great. That VW motor, on the other hand, is too original to be taken seriously. After the robbery of the jewel, L'Etoile de Joie, or the Star of Joy, here is where the aftermarket fuel filler comes in handy. They drop the diamond into the tank to hide. Notice how Herbie's headlights roll back as if it swallowed something too fast and too big. When von Stickle sprays himself with the hose, see what kind of motor he has. You can't really see it, but it seems to have a Holley carburetor, round air cleaner, and you can just see a radiator hose in the bottom left of the screen. Then Herbie sees the Lancia. Note how caster wheels (the ones that those are on those wheelie-office chairs) are used so he can slide sideways. When he does the wheelie, if you listen closely, he changes to second gear while in the air! They used counterweights to do this scene. If you look closely when he does the wheelie, notice that he DOES NOT have a dashboard! You can also just see the right wheel and axle. You can also see this when Jim says, "I'm listening to the mechanic". The "reverse wheelie" is a studio trick. When he switches on the radio, notice that it's AM-only and the correct US-spec wiper knob (w/ the push button that works the washer). Herbie again uses caster wheels to "glide" back and forth. You can see it at one point, but not very well. We meet Diane Darcy for the second time, and first main time. Notice the racing jacket she's wearing. The "new" Diane Darcy in the Herbie TV series wears the same one! Notice he has stock VW hubcaps on. It's time for Herbie to qualify. The blocking by von Stickle and the DeTomaso would, in real life, be black-flagged. The handbrake turn was good. Also notice the wheels...they're white! Shouldn't they be black, like the Love Bug? There's no bolt visible either. When the two thieves try to brake into Herbie that night, notice that it's a '65 model. However, if you look closely, the passenger door was pre-'65! When Herbie runs away from the showroom, he's back to normal. When he is backing out, though, doesn't it look like a model? When Herbie goes crazy again, you can spot the cloth covering the mechanism that makes the "crazy Herbie" work underneath the hood. Notice you can't see a gas tank, spare tire, or a shelf where the tire would sit on. When he cleans off at the fountain, he has a loose (when he goes over the curb, it bounces open!) later-model decklid. When he works his windshield wipers, it's a '57-before model. You can tell by the windshield shape. When he picks up the flowers at the end of this scene, he has another late-model decklid that doesn't fit! It has a flat bottom like a later model, but with an earlier model lid attached on! The shapes don't match and the number plate is up too high. Also, the license plate doesn't have any stickers on it! (No "expires Sep 77" or anything like that!) When he flashes he taillights, notice how they are the Euro-spec ones with an orange turn signal lens. This could be because this was really taped in France, and Europe demanded the car to have Euro-safety-specs? Who knows? When he flashes them, it is the correct '63 rear lid again. However, it switches back to the very wrong one. In Herbie's qualifying race, he does it successfully with more slides-outs and some more wheelies. He also breaks von Stickle's record. When the Lancia wins her qualifying lap and Herbie sighs from the side, he's an oval again. When the villains chase Jim and Wheely, it's a good chase scene. When the thieves' car crashes into the pipe and rolls out, notice how the front wheel looks unaffected. When Jim goes to visit Diane, Herbie is a '65 again. The car stays a '65 until Fontenoy, the French detective, drives off with it. After Herbie arrives at the true-final Trans-France Race, the car has a V8 (?) and is cut back, literally. It is a number of inches shorter. It has a stripped interior and has no dashboard. Herbie catches up with the rest of the crowd! Hooray! When Herbie goes underwater, that is one of the best tricks of the film! Herbie is driving on the bottom of the lake with Wheely's head above the water. When he comes out of the water, notice that the sunroof is painted on. For a pic of this, check out Dave's site on my main page. Disney uses an underwater cable and harness system for him to stay under. Herbie again catches up with the crowd! Here is a big mistake. When von Stickle looks in his rear view mirror, see how the 53's are the right way around! It should be backwards, since this was a mirror. When the villains lead Herbie off of the main road, notice when he stops, the scenery looks fake and there are some shadows. When rocks and dirt fall on Herbie, notice how that the residue turns into large woodchips. His extra horn (that's where is comes in) brings down more avalanches. He actually seems to be using both that horn and his regular horn, because it sounds like multiple horn tones. When Herbie stops and Wheely reaches into the "fake" gas tank to take out the diamond, he doesn't go in wide enough. It couldn't have been in the gas tank completely, to it could have been stuck in the input pipe. When the villains try to take the diamond from Jim and Wheely, Herbie helps. When you see his pedals, they are in the wrong angle. They should come out from behind the gas pedal. These look like Euro-spec pedals. When Herbie opens his hood, he just has to have rope in his hood. Again, he has no spare tire. When Herbie pulls the Lancia out of the water (he doesn't even connect!) he suddenly gets 4-bolt wheels like a late model. It changes back immediately. His starter doesn't sound like a VW one. Also, the door doesn't close properly when Wheely gets back in. Here, Herbie has a roll cage, but no seatbelts. There is excellent racing in the street of Monte Carlo. The tunnel scene is pretty cool, but defies gravity. What about the oil supply to the motor? Oh well, I guess Herbie took care of that!
EXTRA: "Another Wheel Deal"
Like when he qualifies, his wheels are weird. It's like that more in the movie, and here they are: