36 replies to this topic

[Sandy M]

Hi,
The movie Bullit was on TV (would that the Telly in England?) last night. Does McQueen's, oops, sorry, Bullit's Mustang still exist? If so where is it? Or was there more than one used? How about the sinister black Charger. Was it destoryed in the big crash? I was a high school kid when that movie was released. As much as I loved the Mustang I remember being pretty upset when the Charger exploded in the gas station even though it was the Bad Guys. You see, at the time my older brother had a '68 Charger, but it was silver with a dark red vinyl top and matching interior, bucket seats, 383 V-8 with a four barrel. A really great older brother who passed away some years ago who had a really great car.
Thanks, Sandy.

[TooTall]

Don't know about the Charger but there were two Mustangs built for the film. The Mustangs and the Charger(s) were modified and prepped by Max Balchowski. After the fim was completed, one of the Mustangs was crushed because it was considered too damaged to sell. The other was sold to a Warner brothers employee. The car changed hands several times and is now reportedly owned by someone in the midwest who refuses to allow the car to be seen and will not sell.

Cheers,
Kurt O.

[Mark A]

There was a 100 best movie cars or chases or something show on here in the UK a year or so ago which the Bullitt car or chase sequence won and the guy presenting it (Quentin Wilson IIRC) said the whereabouts of the car was known and had been verified by someone with all the correct camera mounting positions etc, but the owner had no plans to sell it or make it known where it was. A shame I think, but at least it does seem to still exist, somewhere.



Edit. Wrote the reply then went to see if I could find a reference to the program and got distracted by this.

http://www.askaprice...e&item=3135#Top

Click view the clip.

[kayemod]

I'm really not sure about some of this. I was talking to a man a few years ago (OK I know, a man in a pub etc....), and he claimed to own one of five or six Mustangs that had been used for the Bullitt car chase sequence. I can imagine what you're all thinking, but I was inclined to believe him, he was working in California at the time, and knew too much to be making it up. He told me that during one jump at an SF intersection that was filmed several times, one 428 grounded and destroyed the engine, and that was the one he'd bought and shipped back to the UK. I've taped the film and re-wound the sequence to watch it again a few times, and I think that's probably true. I'm with Sandy M though, it was the Charger that I was rooting for, but I expect they used five or six of those as well, there never was a single genuine 'Bullitt' example of either car. If you do study the film and know a bit about San Francisco, you'll see that the chase is all wrong geographically, and the cars double back on themselves several times. Completely unconnected with this, I worked in the boat business years ago, and had a very slight involvement with the James Bond film 'From Russia With Love', which was on UK TV a few nights ago. It looked as if some of the boats blew up, but I can assure anyone who lusts after a Fairey Huntress 23', that no boats were harmed during the making of the film, all the blazes destroyed were plywood mockups back home at Pinewood Studios, and the film sequence all took place somewhere in Scotland. Yet more trivia, one of the baddie's boats was driven by one time air speed record holder Peter Twiss, the first man over 1000mph in the Fairey Delta 2, who was one of my childhood heroes.

[David Beard]

Originally posted by kayemod
Yet more trivia, one of the baddie's boats was driven by one time air speed record holder Peter Twiss, the first man over 1000mph in the Fairey Delta 2, who was one of my childhood heroes.

One of mine too. What a name to conjure with....

[Sandy M]

Thanks for the info. Most interesting. So the great green Mustang is squirreled away somewhere. Probably, possibly, and more than likely. Well, I wouldn't doubt it at all. Hopefully, maybe, one day it will show up at Amelia Island, Pebble Beach, or some vintage meet somewhere! Wouldn't that be a blast!
Sandy

[RA Historian]

Originally posted by kayemod
and he claimed to own one of five or six Mustangs that had been used for the Bullitt car chase sequence.

Geez, they are multiplying just like "authentic Mark Donohue Penske Camaros"

[275 GTB-4]

Originally posted by RA Historian
Geez, they are multiplying just like "authentic Mark Donohue Penske Camaros"

Do a google on Max Balchowski and maybe Bud Ekins...they built a few...and destroyed a few before they even started filming.

I like to count the hubcaps lost ;) and the number of times you see the Volksie of course

[stuartbrs]

Wasnt the sound of the Mustang actually from a GT40?

And I had read that when the Mustang was delivered to the movie set that McQueen thought it looked too "new", so spent awhile walking around it giving it a good kick...

Of course, that could all be complete bollocks.

[SCHKEE T332]

My mother drug me out of the movie Bullitt when I was a kid because of the nude girl laying on the floor in one of the scenes. I was crying because I had never seen such a cool car chase and the nude girl was interesting too.

[Jerry Entin]

Here is some more Trivia. The bad guy chasing Bullitt was Bill Hickman. Bill died at the age of 65 in 1986. He was an old time movie stunt man and friend to many. He was James Dean's vocal coach for the movie Giant. He also was following James Dean to the races in a station wagon when Dean was killed. Bill Hickman also played the part of the driver for General Patton in the movie Patton. He loved motor racing and he attened many races. In real life he drove a Mustang fastback with a 4 speed transmission.

[PonysiteEd]

Some more info is here at our site www.ponysite.de/bullitt.htm

The mystery about the many cars used in Bullitt (in fact 2 only) derives from the saying that obviously car pool employees (and other movie business related shops) organised a few cars extra, that were named original BULLITT cars to make some extra money of the hype. I know of at least 3, even one at an auction was officially sold with a "BULLITT" original car note, but they were not used in the movie anyway.

I think the current owner is right to keep it for his son and from the museums. It maintains the mystery much better McQueen would have enjoyed himself. What do we get from a car in a museum? I can understand the owner very well and share his view meanwhile. Still he is willing to give it to a museum, if there is a some reason in the future or no interest in the car from his family anymore.

[David Shaw]

I recall reading that the producers ordered 2-390GTs from Ford, but when they arrived only one was a GT, so they had to remove all the GT badging.

[HistoricMustang]

Here you go:

http://historicmusta...read=1166315243

[Glengavel]

If you watch the climax of the chase carefully, the Charger goes behind the exploding petrol station and disappears off screen to the left, apparently unharmed. I have heard though that the Charger was driverless - the stunt team linked the Charger to another car, got the ensemble up to speed and released it.

[nmansellfan]

Originally posted by stuartbrs
Wasnt the sound of the Mustang actually from a GT40?

I'd heard that too, many years ago. But nearly every GT40 i have heard sounds like a racing V8 compared to the Mustang GT390's low down growl. I watched the chase clip from Mark A's link and the sound of the Mustang from outside shots when McQueen is cruising at the beginning sounds like the same engine from onboard when he is chasing the Charger.

The same engine noise soundtrack is used in parts of 'Vanishing Point', 'Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry' and some other films (a Ford soundtrack for a Dodge..?!), as well as the Dukes of Hazzard TV show. Particularly in Vanishing Point you hear the section in-car where McQueen guns it up the hill at the start of the chase that you don't actually hear in Bullitt (the camera cuts away to another shot). And boy, McQueen makes the valves bounce for about 5 seconds!

[SCHKEE T332]

The sounds in Bullitt do not sound like a GT40 at all. A GT40 has cross over exhaust.

[JacnGille]

Originally posted by 275 GTB-4
I like to count the hubcaps lost ;)

Me too.

[Stirling]

A French Kiss With Death, Keyser and Williams' book on the making of Le Mans has this to say about McQueen's earlier appearance in Bullitt:

Steve had been in his element in The Thomas Crown Affair, racing across the beach in the dune buggy, but it was in his next film that he clearly managed to express his love for cars and high-speed driving.

Bullitt was the first film Solar [McQueen's own company] produced in association with Warner Brothers, and is undoubtedly best remembered for its hair-raising car chase sequences.

The idea for these came to Steve while he was riding a motorcycle late one night with Don Gordon, his co-star in the film. Steve was jumping his bike off some of the steep hills in San Francisco, and he thought, Why not do the same thing with a car?

Legendary chassis designer Max Balchowsky was the person in charge of putting together the two cars involved in the classic chase - a Ford 390GT Mustang and a Dodge 440 Magnum Charger. Balchowsky's main job was to prepare the cars to withstand the beating they'd take while being raced up and down the hilly streets of San Francisco.

Koni shocks and heavy-duty coil springs were added to the Mustang. The shock mounts were reinforced and a cross-beam support bar added. Engine modifications included milled heads and reworked carburetors. The Charger's torsion bars were shortened and the lower arms reinforced. NASCAR springs were added on the rear, as well as special shocks. Both cars were fitted with disc brakes and wraparound interior rollbars. Steve was involved in much of the stunt driving, and Bud Eakins was again called on to perform the jumps in the film.

"Bullitt started a whole series of chase scenes that people did from then on," says Eakins. "Many times we were running better than one hundred miles per hour and that's the first time I know of that they were shooting real speeds."

The day the scenes were shot of the Dodge and Mustang flying off the hills in San Francisco, Steve was given a 10:00 A.M. call instead of one at 7:00 A.M. When he got to the set, they'd already sprayed Eakins's hair blond and he was in the Mustang jumping it down the hill.

Eakins recalls that Steve came up to the car and said, "You've done it to me again."

"What do you mean?" Eakins asked. "Done it to you again?"

"In The Great Escape I had to get up in front of the whole world and tell them that I hadn't done that jump. Now you've done this car jump and the same thing's going to happen."

While Bud Eakins drove the Mustang, actor Bill Hickman, who played the hit man in the film, handled the driving chores in the Dodge during the chase scenes.

Steve's insistence that the car chase sequences be shot on location, using the steep hills of San Francisco as a backdrop, eventually caused Warner Brothers to pull the plug on their six-picture deal with Solar.

Ken Hyman, the new head of Warners, was an ex-marine who was not accustomed to indulging the whims of movie stars, and after one week of shooting in San Francisco he ordered the entire Solar Productions crew to return to Los Angeles and finish filming everything - including the car chase sequences - on Warner's back lot.

Steve refused to comply, arguing that the whole basis for the Warner-Solar contract was autonomy from studio bosses. There was no middle ground, and Warner and Solar agreed to part company when the film was finished.

[dbltop]

In one scene of the chase, the Mustang actually hits a camera. You can see it from the in car shot as well as from the camera that got hit. I also read somewhere that Bud Eakins also did the motorcycle slide near the end of the chase.

[Stirling]

Originally posted by nmansellfan

The same engine noise soundtrack is used in parts of 'Vanishing Point'.

Vanishing Point! What a marvellous, off-beat movie and very much of its time (1971). Although I've never been a great fan of so-called American muscle cars, I've always thought the Dodge Challenger had very pleasing lines and much prefer it to the Charger seen in Bullitt. Vanishing Point was, of course, the Challenger's most iconic incarnation:



ciao,
Stirling

[HistoricMustang]

Originally posted by Stirling
Koni shocks and heavy-duty coil springs were added to the Mustang. The shock mounts were reinforced and a cross-beam support bar added. Engine modifications included milled heads and reworked carburetors. The Charger's torsion bars were shortened and the lower arms reinforced. NASCAR springs were added on the rear, as well as special shocks. Both cars were fitted with disc brakes and wraparound interior rollbars. Steve was involved in much of the stunt driving, and Bud Eakins was again called on to perform the jumps in the film.

Have often wondered why they overlooked or decided not to install a "Detroit Locker" in the Mustang.

Henry

[275 GTB-4]

Originally posted by HistoricMustang
Have often wondered why they overlooked or decided not to install a "Detroit Locker" in the Mustang.

Henry

Why?? they weren't after traction, just tyre shredding exciting camera shots!

[HistoricMustang]

Originally posted by 275 GTB-4


Why?? they weren't after traction, just tyre shredding exciting camera shots!

Yes, I guess the "axle hop" was kinda cool!

Henry

[275 GTB-4]

To be truthful...it is something that has always irked me...I'm sure Steve was just playing the part of the amateur hotfoot to the hilt

I would hope that his natural mechanical sympathy and knowledge as a racer would mean he was horrified deep down with this behaviour!! (it would have been a whole lot quicker to limit wheelspin, smooth transition from reverse to forward and to get going off the line with a blast...)

but not as spectacular....the axle hop sure highlights the agricultureness of the way that rear end was tied down )

[Gregor Marshall]

Originally posted by 275 GTB-4
To be truthful...it is something that has always irked me...I'm sure Steve was just playing the part of the amateur hotfoot to the hilt

I would hope that his natural mechanical sympathy and knowledge as a racer would mean he was horrified deep down with this behaviour!! (it would have been a whole lot quicker to limit wheelspin, smooth transition from reverse to forward and to get going off the line with a blast...)

but not as spectacular....the axle hop sure highlights the agricultureness of the way that rear end was tied down )

Sometimes you have to play to the crowd though and sideways can be sympathetic, especially on those tyres, more so than on something sticky.

It would have been great to see Steve (and for that matter Paul Newman too) do more "proper" racing. :

[macoran]

Originally posted by Stirling


Vanishing Point! What a marvellous, off-beat movie and very much of its time (1971). Although I've never been a great fan of so-called American muscle cars, I've always thought the Dodge Challenger had very pleasing lines and much prefer it to the Charger seen in Bullitt . Vanishing Point was, of course, the Challenger's most iconic incarnation:



ciao,
Stirling

which one ?
was it black?

[Bruno]

one of most beautiful (if it is not most beautiful any more) of
movie, with Hackman Gene in “French connection”

une des plus belle (si ce n'est LA plus belle) poursuite du
cinema, avec Gene Hackman dans "French connection"

[Stirling]

Originally posted by macoran


which one ?
was it black?

The Charger? Yes!

ciao,
Stirling

[johndej]

kinda related to this thread, an ex McQueen 1963 Ferrari Berlinetta Lusso was auctioned off today for $2.3M http://news.yahoo.co...queen_s_ferrari;_ylt=AvBaAuUzPhsS5F6vsbWNwtADW7oF Just shows the value that can be still be gained from just having been owned by McQueen.

[Stirling]

Originally posted by johndej
kinda related to this thread, an ex McQueen 1963 Ferrari Berlinetta Lusso was auctioned off today for $2.3M http://news.yahoo.co...queen_s_ferrari;_ylt=AvBaAuUzPhsS5F6vsbWNwtADW7oF Just shows the value that can be still be gained from just having been owned by McQueen.

Mmmmm! And I wonder what his XK SS would fetch if it came up for sale again - that has value enough on its own merit, but with the added cache of having been McQueen's............

[sterling49]

Originally posted by Stirling


Mmmmm! And I wonder what his XK SS would fetch if it came up for sale again - that has value enough on its own merit, but with the added cache of having been McQueen's............

...it would be almost priceless! He was the coolest of them all, I went to SF a few years back, and it was so very special to drive our Sebring (with Lalo Schifrin playing in the CD player ;) ) over the same roads which I saw in the film when I was just 15. A great place to visit, it brought back many fond memories...and then there was Haight Ashbury also

[WDH74]

Originally posted by David Shaw
I recall reading that the producers ordered 2-390GTs from Ford, but when they arrived only one was a GT, so they had to remove all the GT badging.

I heard it was the other way around....that they didn't want a GT. I seem to recall reading that Steve McQueen liked the 390 package without the GT trim, saying it was just the sort of car that Frank Bullitt would drive-focused on the job at hand (going quickly) and not much worried about anything else. I'll have to check the books, but the Mustang badge on the grille is supposed to be in the center, and it was moved to it's final position during the customization of the car for the film (the American Racing Torq-Thrust wheels are obviously not standard either).

-William

[johnny yuma]

Originally posted by 275 GTB-4


but not as spectacular....the axle hop sure highlights the agricultureness of the way that rear end was tied down ) [/B]

In fairness the close-up of axle tramp was when it was given the boot uphill IN REVERSE.If you tie up both ends of a leaf spring to stop reversing tramp too--well--you have no spring at all ! Seemed to work ok going forward.

[AMICALEMANS]

The best about the Bullitt movie is here with pics, vids and update news !

http://www.ponysite.de/bullitt.htm

[Frank S]

Something new from Google Earth:

http://www.seero.com...Steve_McQueen_3

Cool!

--
Frank S
San Diego
Explodeafornia.

[Lee Nicolle]

Having just watched the chase clip it defenitly sounds like a Mustang to me, does not turn much more than 5500 rpm and breaking down at that. Some of it is dubbed ofcourse. I always believed that there was at least 2 cars and one was Windsor powered and one 390. Media blurbs when the film first came out gave me that impression but ofcourse probably not true