As I drove to work the other morning I thought of a great continuing blog post series I could do. That series is Iconic movie cars, I figured I could write about the car and how it got into the movie it was in. Or how the car was used and such, it will be a fun series of blog posts to write and hopefully you all enjoy it!
Our first car to start of this series of posts is the 1963 Volkswagen Beetle from the movie The Love Bug. I grew up watching these series of movie because they were so much fun! The beetle known as Herbie had a life of his own, he would squirt oil on evil doers, or take you for one crazy ride if need be! Volkswagen brand name and logo were not permitted in the first movie; they did not permit Disney to use the name or logos in the movie. The logos did show up a couple of times in the movie though, once on the brake pedals and another time on the ignition key. Later sequels of the movie did have the logos and name only because Volkswagen Beetles stopped selling so well, so why not use it as a marketing campaign for your car? After watching this movie I would love a beetle to look just like Herbie back when I was a kid.
The 1961-65 Volkswagen Beetles were rated at 40 horsepower in factory configuration. Herbie also had the rag top configuration. The Volkswagen beetle was equipped with a rear mounted engine that was air cooled, these engines outlasted copies that were made by Subaru, Fiat, and General motors. In 1960 the beetle faced a lot of stiff competition with other companies making small compact cars, like the Chevy Vega, Ford Pinto and AMC Gremlin. Although those cars didn’t last into this generation I would have to say the Beetle won that fight!
Although I wanted a Beetle back when Herbie was on T.V. the car really never did anything for me. I have to be honest I just don’t like them. I know there are a ton of Volkswagen buffs out there and they are in love with these cars. They make great project cars and I am sure they are fun to drive. Although whenever I see one driving on the road (Older Models) I always have to punch the person next to me while screaming the color of the car. Punch Buggy Red! I have no idea where the game came from but we used to play it 20 years ago while being carted around in my parent’s car.
Please stick around and get ready to read about more iconic movie cars! The next blog post will be a mystery as to the car but please keep an eye out and join us next time!