The Love Bug brought to the United States, Walt suggested a different car story for him, which was "Car, Boy, Girl", a story written in 1961 by Gordon Buford. "Car, Boy, Girl;" "The Magic Volksy;" "The Runaway Wagen;" "Beetlebomb;" "Wonderbeetle;" "Bugboom" and "Thunderbug" were among the original development titles considered for the film before the title was finalized as "The Love Bug." Herbie competes in the Monterey Grand Prix, which, except for 1963, was not a sports car race. The actual sports car race held at Monterey was the Monterey Sports Car Championships. Peter Thorndyke's yellow "Special" is actually a 1965 Apollo GT,
The Atomic Space Bug Space Bug. The bug costume (designed and constructed by Scott LoBaido) was made mostly of foam, with little ventilation. Colucci would have to take many breaks from shooting to avoid passing out. Filming was completed June 1999. The black-and-white film premiered in New York City on July 16, 1999 at Anthology Film Archives. The Atomic Space Bug The Atomic Space Bug is a 1999 horror film directed by Jonathan M. Parisen and starring Conrad Brooks ("Plan 9 from Outer Space"). "The Atomic Space Bug" is Parisen's homage to such fifties films as "Robot Monster" and "Plan 9 from Outer Space".