Herbie Goes Bananas (1980)

Herbie Goes Bananas (1980) is an American adventure comedy film directed by Vincent McEveety and written by Don Tait. Taking place shortly after the Trans-France Race, Pete Stancheck inherits Herbie from his uncle, Jim Douglas. Together with his friend Davy ‘D.J.’ Johns, they journey to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to retrieve the beloved car. With help from Paco, a mischievous orphaned pickpocket, they locate the car lot. However, due to Paco taking their wallets, they are unable to pay the holding fee and quickly set off in Herbie to find him. Meanwhile, Paco steals from one of three villains who are planning to steal gold from ancient Inca ruins. The trio realizes that the location of the gold is in the stolen wallet and chases after Paco. Fortunately, Pete and DJ are able to catch him first.

Paco stows away in Herbie’s hood and ends up on the Sun Princess cruise ship headed for Rio de Janeiro, where Pete and DJ have plans to race Herbie in the Brazil Grand Prêmio. Along the way, they encounter Melissa, an anthropology student, and her flamboyant aunt Louise, who is determined to find a husband for her niece. When Herbie causes chaos on board, Pete devises a plan to have Melissa’s aunt sponsor their race by pretending to court her. However, Paco is discovered by the crew and locked in the hold under Captain Blythe’s orders. With the help of Herbie (whom Paco calls ‘Ocho’), they manage to escape and accidentally disrupt the ship’s costume party while trying to evade the crew.