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 Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage to the 1967 20th Century Fox film of the same name), as the B-side. The hit "A" side, The Miracles' "The Love I Saw In You Was Just A Mirage," was "also" used in a film, the soundtrack of the 1980 crime drama, "American Gigolo" starring Richard Gere. Gere actually sang along to The Miracles' original recording in the film. The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage "The Love I Saw in You Was Just a Mirage" is a 1967 song recorded by the American R&B group The Miracles on Motown Records' Tamla label. Written by Miracles