Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo

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Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977) was the third of a series of films made by Walt Disney Productions starring Herbie - a white Volkswagen racing Beetle with a mind of its own.

The film stars Dean Jones, again as Jim Douglas and Don Knotts as his mechanic, Wheely Applegate. In Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo, the VW takes part in the fictional Trans France Race, from Paris to Monte Carlo, and falls in love with a light blue-colored Lancia Monte Carlo with the number 7. The Lancia also has a name of her own, Giselle (which is revealed at the end of the film) and the lovely young redheaded woman who drives her is aspiring rookie Diane Darcy. Also, two jewel thieves who steal the famous Etoile de Joie hide the diamond in Herbie's gas cap (which was fake, and only used for that film), who, eventually, turns the thieves in. It is also revealed that Inspector Bouchet (Jacques Marin) is the mastermind behind the museum robbery.

In the race itself, Herbie competes with two other sportscars. The black Pantera (#66), driven by Frenchman Claude Gilbert, crashes out in the sharp U-turns above Monaco (where Princess Grace would die in 1982). The other, a red, yellow and black Porsche 917 replica(#17),driven by German Bruno von Stickle, is overtaken by Herbie in the famous tunnel of the Formula One race track - by driving upside down on the ceiling. And as for Diane Darcy and the Lancia, they crash into a watery canal and it's up to Herbie, Jim, and Wheely to save them from drowning (after her salvation from such a horrible fate, Diane explains that she "missed a shift and lost control"). They do so, and Diane urges Herbie and company not to give up in their pursuit of victory in the Trans-France Race. They eventually manage to pull off the victory over Bruno von Stickle, and Jim and Diane begin to fall in love, as do Wheely and the Monte Carlo trophy girl (Katia Tchenko). Most of all, Herbie and Giselle (Diane Darcy's Lancia) fall in love over again, their headlights blinking on and off.

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