The Love Bug at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, Herbie has been immortalized in the "Love Bug" buildings 6 and 7. A West German film series of five films featuring a similar Volkswagen, called Dudu or Superbug were written and directed by as well as starring Rudolf Zehetgruber. The film was released on VHS on March 4, 1980. It was re-released on November 6, 1985, September 11, 1991 and on October 28, 1994 with "Herbie Rides Again". It was soon re-released again on September 16, 1997 along with the entire "Herbie the Love Bug" film series. It was released on DVD for
Volkswagen Beetle NSU-based and larger K70. None of these models, aimed at more upscale markets, achieved the level of success of the Beetle. The over-reliance on a single model, now in decline, meant that Volkswagen was in financial crisis by 1974. It needed German government funding to produce the Beetle's replacement. Production lines at Wolfsburg switched to the new water-cooled, front-engined, front-wheel-drive Golf designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1974, sold in North America at the time as the "Rabbit". The Golf eventually became Volkswagen's most successful model since the Beetle. It was periodically redesigned over its lifetime, with only a few components