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Just rewatched...

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DrEntropy

DrEntropy

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the chase scene in Bullitt. Chrysler loses five hubcaps. Been years since we saw it in a theater but that struck me the first time so I counted again. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif Bisset and a Porsche 356 drop-top, too. Tense flick. Had forgotten how good it was!
 
Oh yeah! Love the sound of that 'Stang throttle being blipped!

And 10-4 on the Bisset/Porsche thing, too!
 
My college room mates and i a few years ago tried to count the number of shifts the cars make, and at all speeds... that how ever does not take away from my favorite car chase sceen ever
 
Hello all,

yes, a film I have watched and enjoyed several times.

Another one is 'Vanishing point' really enjoyable, albeit with one or two slow bits, oh, and better not forget the 'Blues Brothers'.

Alec
 
Yeah but... the chase scene under the rail tracks in "The French Connection" is the most interesting. Go on, go watch it. Really. See how many times they pass the red VW!!!
 
'Vanishing point'? I totally forgot that movie... White Challenger I beleive? what about "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" ? I have trouble remembering it all but I think I remember they had some good chase scenes in it too
 
aerog said:
Yeah but... the chase scene under the rail tracks in "The French Connection" is the most interesting. Go on, go watch it. Really. See how many times they pass the red VW!!!
Click to expand...

Remember the bit where Popeye Doyle (I hope I got the character name right) is careening under the tracks, and just about runs over a woman with a stroller? She wasn't supposed to be there.

In Bullitt there's a bit where the Charger understeers into a parked car and the camera goes blank. Also unplanned-Bill Hickman missed the turn. Same for the bit where Bullitt comes to a stop and smokes the tires in reverse (note the wicked axle tramp). McQueen missed that turn.

-Wm.
 
I saw that and got a chuckle over the axle hoppin'. Lots of tire smokin' there, too.
 
I always wondered if the Mustang that McQueen drove in the Charger chase scene was a 289 or a 390 V8. Since it kept up with the Charger (probably at least a 383), and even nearly passed it at high speed, the Mustang would almost have to be a 390, I assume.

"Bullitt" was lucky the Charger was not a 440 or a Hemi, the chase would have been over as soon as they hit the open highway. Buh-bye Mustang!

Does anyone know what the Mustang had?
 
If memory serves, it was a tweaked 390.
 
aerog said:
Yeah but... the chase scene under the rail tracks in "The French Connection" is the most interesting. Go on, go watch it. Really. See how many times they pass the red VW!!!
Click to expand...

And how about the similar scene in "The Blues Brothers"? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/jester.gif That film held the record for a while (maybe still for all I know) of the most cars destroyed in a movie!!
 
Hello Mike,

I do believe that you are right, I don't remember seeing anything else like it?

I do like the scene where John Candy (I think) calls control from his patrol car after it left the road and ended up in a semi trailer. "this is car ***, -- We're in a truck!"

Apart from the car scenes some great music and comedy lines. The sequels were a great disappointment.

Alec
 
piman said:
Hello Mike,

I do believe that you are right, I don't remember seeing anything else like it?

I do like the scene where John Candy (I think) calls control from his patrol car after it left the road and ended up in a semi trailer. "this is car ***, -- We're in a truck!"

Apart from the car scenes some great music and comedy lines. The sequels were a great disappointment.

Alec
Click to expand...

"Wow, Elwood. They got everything in this mall."

Regarding the Bullitt Mustang, the car(s) was a 390 GT. Apparently the producers wanted a basic Mustang with the big engine, but nothing was available. So GTs were used, and all the badging (except the "Mustang" script across the back) was removed, and the Torq-Thrust wheels added. I don't know why, but it seems like the sort of car Frank Bullitt would own. You know it's going to be fast, you just don't know how fast, and you really don't want to find out the hard way anyway because it'll hurt.

The stunt car had a full rollcage and seriously uprated suspension. Legend has it that at the conclusion of filming, Bill Hickman went to move the stunt car and the driver's side door fell off as he opened it ("That old car is worth money! Call Victory Auto Wreckers for a quote. Victory will tow your car away...."). Watch the end of the chase and you can see the Mustang has a front wheel cocked at a strange angle.

The Hero Car was sold off after filming and ended up in a barn in Ohio. Steve McQueen tried-unsuccessfully-to purchase it in the early seventies. It is supposedly still there.

The Charger(s), if memory serves, were both 440s. The most common 440 made about 370 horses, about fifty up on a stock 390 Mustang, with similar performance and safety mods to the Mustangs. Both cars were bought from a dealer in Glendale. Obviously one was destroyed, and the whereabouts of the Hero Car are unknown.

-William
 
It sounds like McQueen is Double-Clutching near the end of the chase. Had the syncros died from the beating in the early part of the chase?

After he misses the turn and has to back up, he leaves in a cloud of tire smoke. There is a long burnout mark from only the right rear tire - none from the left tire. His LSD clutches seem to have worn out before that scene.
 
piman said:
I do like the scene where John Candy (I think) calls control from his patrol car after it left the road and ended up in a semi trailer. "this is car ***, -- We're in a truck!"
Click to expand...

Smokey & the Bandit?

Also, I think the original Gone in 60 Seconds had the record for cars destroyed at 93 cars in a 40+ minute chase scene.

Ever notive that the Bullit Mustang had no emblems on it whatsoever? /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/wink.gif
 
I just watched "The Transporter" again last night. Some great stunt-driving in that mmovie!
 
Bullitt, The French Connection, Smokey and the Bandit, Gone in 60 Seconds, Duel, The Fast and the Furious, Gumball Rally, American Graffitti...Yup, just checked the collection and they are all there. Funny how many of our movies are about the cars.
 
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