Herbie, the Love Bug is a sentient 1963 Volkswagen Beetle racing car which has been featured in several Walt Disney motion pictures starting with "The Love Bug" in 1969. He has a mind of his own, being capable of driving himself and often becoming a serious contender in auto racing. Throughout most of the films he is distinguished by red, white, and blue racing stripes from the front to the back bumper, a pearl white body, a racing-style number "53" on the front luggage compartment lid, doors, engine lid, and a yellow-on-black 1963 California license plate with the registration "OFP 857".

Herbie's appearance remained consistent throughout the first four film entries as well as the 1982 television series. There were only minor, subtle changes. The 1997 TV movie and "Herbie: Fully Loaded" featured major overhauls in appearance, as there were different production crews working for Disney by this time.

To create the effect of Herbie driving himself, Disney concocted a detailed system of sprockets and pulleys connected to a second steering column under the front seat for a rear seat driver. There was also a second set of pedal assemblies, clutch cables and a shifter extension. In "The Love Bug", the rear seat driver sat low enough to see over the windshield but still out of the view of the camera.

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