Trama

The adorable little VW helps its owners break up a counterfeiting ring in Mexico.

Pete Stancheck inherits from his Uncle Jim Douglas a race car being stored in Puerto Vallarta. With his friend Davy Johns (D.J. to his friends) accompanying him to P.V., Pete is dismayed to learn that the car is an older model Volkswagen Beetle. But when Pete and D.J. see what the car can do and learn that it somewhat has a mind of its own, they decide to enter it into the Brazil Grand Primeo formula one race. En route to Rio de Janeiro, Herbie, the car, gets Pete and D.J. into one predicament after another as it tries to help its new friend, a streetwise orphan named Paco, who Pete and D.J. encountered in P.V. and who stowed away in Herbie's trunk. Because of these predicaments, Pete and D.J. end up requiring a quick influx of cash and slyly enlist the help of wealthy Louise Trent and her bookish niece, anthropology doctoral candidate Melissa, to be their financiers. Pete's role in the scheme is to woo the shy Melissa, about which he feels guilty. But initially unknown to all of them, Paco, who picks pockets to survive, is being chased by criminals from who Paco inadvertently stole some film which shows the whereabouts of some Incan treasures. As they collectively and individually work their way to Rio, Herbie must ultimately protect Paco, Pete, D.J., Louise and Melissa from the bad guys, while conversely prevent the bad guys from pillaging the treasures. Through it all, will romance bloom between Pete and Melissa, and between Louise and the object of her affection, a cruise ship captain named Blythe, who is more reminiscent of a captain of a ship called the Bounty than of a cruise kind?—Huggo

Loosely picking up where Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo left off, Pete Stancheck (Stephen W. Burns) has inherited Herbie from Jim Douglas, and travels to Mexico (Puerto Vallarta) with his friend Davy "D.J." Johns (Charles Martin Smith) to retrieve the car. There, they befriend Paco (Joaquin Garay, III), a comically mischievous, orphaned pickpocket, who picks pockets of tourists. Unable to pay the holding fee due to Paco taking their wallets, the pair quickly leave in Herbie to find him. Elsewhere, Paco pickpockets one of the members of a trio of three villains who are planning to steal gold from some forgotten Inca ruins. The trio chase Paco after realizing the film showing the location of the gold is in the stolen wallet, but Pete and DJ catch him first.

Paco hides in Herbie's hood, and is consequently loaded on the Sun Princess cruise ship, bound for Rio De Janeiro. Pete and D.J. board the Sun Princess, a cruise ship, to Rio De Janeiro to enter Herbie in the Brazil Grand Primeo. En route they meet an anthropology student named Melissa (Elyssa Davalos) and her extravagant, eccentric aunt Louise (Cloris Leachman), who is trying to find a husband for her niece. When Herbie wreaks havoc on board, Pete pretends to court Melissa, intending that her Aunt Louise will sponsor their race.

Paco is discovered by the Captain Blythe (Harvey Korman), when he forced to visit the ship's hold in light of the chaos that Herbie has created on the boat. The captain wants Pete to pay for the damages, else he won't release Herbie from its impound or release Paco from the brig. Pete is forced to go with Davy's plan to pursue Melissa so they can press Aunt Louise to fund the release of Herbie, as well as the race. Aunt Louise agrees as she witnesses the proximity and warmth between Melissa & Pete.

Meanwhile, Herbie helps Paco, who has dubbed the car 'Ocho', escape captivity from the brig. When the ship's captain Blythe (Harvey Korman) has his costume party wrecked by the boy and car, he puts Herbie on trial and sentences him to be dropped in the sea. Aunt Louise offers herself to Captain Blythe to get him to pardon Herbie, but he doesn't listen. The ship reaches its destination & Melissa finds out that Pete doesn't really like her & was only pretending to fund his race. They part company. Paco evades the police sent to pick him up, ending up at an inlet.

However later on land, Herbie resurfaces from the water to reunite with Paco, who then goes into business with Herbie as a taxi. Thereafter follow three villains (John Vernon, Alex Rocco, and Richard Jaeckel) seeking to capture an antique gold disc, and to find Paco as earlier he had pick-pocketed their wallets which contained important film (which contained the location of the gold disc). The gold thieves soon find Paco and threaten to use an acetylene torch to cut up Herbie if Paco doesn't give them the film, which Paco put in Pete's wallet by mistake. Paco promises to get the wallet if they promise to spare Herbie.

Meanwhile Pete and Davy are reduced to working as waiters in a local coffee shop to get enough money to go back to the US. Paco manages to steal Pete's wallet again, and while getting away with Herbie, he picks up Captain Blythe & Aunt Louise in a taxi. The villains spot Paco in Herbie & follow, followed by Melissa, who saw Aunt Louise being shanghaied & bought a bus to follow them.

While escaping from the Villains, Herbie enters a matador part in a bullfight; romance brews between Aunt Louise and Captain Blythe. Paco has to abandon Captain Blythe & Aunt Louise as he chased by the villains again. They are picked up by Melissa, Davy & Pete. Pete & Melissa start to bond all over again. Meanwhile Paco is captured by the villains & taken to the gold disc location by plane. Herbie is united with Melissa, Pete, Davy, Aunt Louise & Captain Blythe & they follow Paco.

As a rainstorm hits, the men retrieve a large gold disc from the ruins, planning to melt it down so they can hire equipment to get the rest. They abandon Paco to fend for himself, but Herbie finds him. After Paco explains the thieves' plans to Pete, Herbie chases after the men, catching the gold in his trunk.

Herbie and the group travel to the next major town (using bananas as camouflage) where Blythe and Louise go to get help while the others take the disc to the local university, where they are overpowered by the men. Paco is outside selling the bananas to locals when he and Herbie see the men loading the disc into their plane. Herbie throws the bananas at them before chasing the plane and 'biting' its tail off. After Herbie wrecks the rest of the plane, the villains are defeated by Herbie and Paco and arrested by the police.

The group reunite on the Sun Princess, where Pete and DJ resume their plans to enter a repainted and restored Herbie in the Brazil Grand Premio, albeit with Paco as the driver (Pete conceding that Paco and Herbie have a better connection than Pete would have if he drove Herbie himself). Aunt Louise once again tries to get Blythe to notice her, but he is more interested in a passing schooner. DJ finally asks Paco why he keeps referring to Herbie as "Ocho", since that is Spanish for eight. Paco looks at Herbie's "53" and remarks that 5+3=8.

After that Pete, Davy, Aunt Louise, and Melissa have a toast for Herbie to win the Brazil Grand Premio, with Paco giving a thumbs up.