BritishV8 Forum

I was playing on YouTube and came across this. Haven't seen it in a long time. I thought it was really cool when I saw it the first time and I still do!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a_JYyZ1GJhs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

You sure couldn't do that today. Too much traffic.
Notice how the Charger always lands front first but the Mustang lands balanced? Car? Or driver? Steve was pretty good.
Also, anybody else see the charger drive off into the background on the left of the explosion?

Jim

Jim,

It seems that a lot is going on in the background during the filming and editing of that scene. The Mustangs do appear to handle much better but according to Wikipedia (if you trust the info) the Charger's were much more powerful than the Mustangs.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullitt

Also, and this is discussed in the link above, it seems that the explosion was tripped too early during the filming and the editors used some tricks to fix it.

The hitmen in the Charger look delightfully evil, don't you think?

I was a huge Steve McQueen fan in the 60s & 70s. Plus, he raced motorcycles as well as cars.

It did not appear Bullitt Mustang had LSD due to the "one legged burn marks" ,but cornered well as in FLAT.  Kinda missed the cranking sequence where the Mopar starter did its thing :-) .  Seems now the gear reduction stater is a desired option, but one could all ways tell a Mopar by the starter sound. The Flathead Fords were distinct as were the GMC V6 truck engine.  Don't divulge your age!

I was in the theatre in 1968 when that movie first came out..never got over it. The plot of the movie is kind of hard to follow and it seems I see something new in the plot every time I see it...basically the viewer can kind of interpret it as he so desires...chuckle..There is an interesting back story....the movie was based upon a series of books written by Robert Pike (also wrote under pen name Robert Fish) about a San Francisco detective named Reardon...I believe that was the name of the first book..McQueen wanted more pizzazz in the central character name so they called him Frank Bullitt...also interesting is Pike had never before written a book in his life...he was a plant manager in Akron, Ohio for a major tire company...he was transferred to Brazil to build and run a new tire plant...construction was virtually at a halt for over a year due to heavy rains so he penned the Reardon series as he had virtually nothing else to do...remember, you heard it here first...grin...Also, the same green VW bettle appears in virtually every street scene...and of course, after watching the hub caps fly off  the black Charger during the chase scene, both drivers side hub caps are on the car in the final fiery crash scene...

One other thing, the driver of the black charger was actually a stuntman by the name of  Bill Hickman....he was a close friend of McQueen and before that taught James Dean how to drive...he was behind Dean in the station wagon with a trailer for the 550 Porsche the day Dean crashed and died....I always thought that Hickman and the white haired shotgun toting killer were two of the best cast members in the the movie..

QuoteI always thought that Hickman and the white haired shotgun toting killer were two of the best cast members in the the movie.

Me too Mike. I like when he puts the seat belt on just before the chase. I was reading that he drove the car in the French Connection chase scene too. Sounds like an interesting character.

For our generation, it's got to be the most loved chase scene.
I still get a chill up my spine watching it, mostly at the point when they put the hammer down.
Before YouTube came along, I had a VHS tape with just that segment recorded.
If I was a serious car collector, some sort of a copy of the Mustang would be in it.
Of course, the internet is a source for all the information you want on the chase including google maps for the route.
Timeless.

I always think that people who didn't get to see it on the big screen missed the impact of the chase scene.  You could feel your stomach drop cresting the hills.  Went to see it with a buddy who drove his 68 Dodge R/T and decided he wanted to do his best to reenact the movie afterwards.  At least we didn't go up in a ball of flame.  

Cool story, the Bullitt Healey still exists.  Here it is in the movie:





Here's what it looks like now:



Here's the story:
http://stevesaustinhealey.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=5&Itemid=6

And take a look at Steve Thomton's beautiful build:

http://stevesaustinhealey.com/

I like "Gone in 60 Seconds", for runner-up.

Which one, the original?

I'm Old School-yes

I knew that.   Guess I am, too. I saw the original "Gone in 60 Seconds" at the movie theater when it fist came out.

Hey Carl . I used to be good friends with an English guy who workde in a mortercycle shop in England. One day his boss said Steve Mcqueen had phoned and orderd a bike to ride around on the set of The Great Escape that they were making at the time. They put the bike together just the way McQueen wanted it and when it was done my friend was given the job of riding it out to the location where they were filming.So he did that  and got to meet Steve McQuenn and spent a good half hour or so talking bikes with the famous actor. He said  the actor really knew his bikes and as we know he could ride them.My friend said it was a great experience.Its a nice story to tell once in a while,,hope you enjoyed it .Tim

Great story, thanks!

At the end of the Rally to Reno we drove much of the chase scene route led by some local San Fran MG owners Club members.  It's not a continuos route; a bit here another bit there then some more a few miles away

Very interesting PJ