This myth has been "bugging" me for years now. One of my favorite movies is Herbie, and I noticed on its latest movie "Herbie: Fully Loaded", Herbie defeated a bunch of NASCAR cars. An oldie car defeating modern cars of today... Can it really be done???

No!

The best a classic VW bug can do is around 100 mph . Even with a stronger engine, it can't take turns as fast as modern cars. You have to modify it with modern technology to do the trick.

I owned 6 of the little devils.... They are not sports cars. Mind, you can corner them a lot quicker than you'd think, and a lot of people had a lot of fun (and spent a lot of money) souping them up with improved suspension, tires, brakes, and so forth.
Still, as the guy who wrote "How To Keep Your Bug Alive" said, they just are not meant to go fast.

You know the betele is related to the Porsche, it's true

according to legend, the design of the VW is such that an original Porsche 911 motor and transaxle can be bolted directly into an original VW bug, producing a VW bug that can top 150 MPH.

this leads to the cautionary point: is it really wise to try to go 150 MPH in a volkswagen bug?

It's true that Willy Porsche helped design the Beetle as the "people's car" for the Nazis. The engine design is the same as the Porsche sports cars of the period.

Muir, the fellow who wrote the book I mentioned, said he drove one of those Porsche-engined beetles.
It had been souped up to the nines, and would go 125 MPH or so. He said it scared him to death.

A real Porsche at 150 felt stable and secure.