Hey Gang,
I first saw the Bullitt chase scene while sitting in my brand new '69
Roadrunner and my wife still remembers the ride home from the drive-in. The
scene is certainly a classic... Perhaps THE classic car chase! But....
Steve McQueen did NOT do all his own stunt driving. Apparently he wanted and
planned to do it all (much to the dismay and displeasure of the production
staff) but quickly realized he was far out of his depth. Remember at the
very start of the chase scene Steve tries to take a corner in the Mustang
and fishtails through the intersection? Well, that was both real and
unplanned and pretty much ended his high speed driving in the movie.
The chase scene was shot at full speed. That is to say, the cameras were not
set to give the impression of speed, they really shot it that way at speeds
up to 110 mph on San Francisco city streets. The high speed bumper clashes
were real but driven by stunt men. BOTH cars were driven by stunt men, in
the case of the Dodge the guy became an actor and did not use a standin for
anything.
The Mustang was not a (Shelby) GT 350 which offered engine choices of 302
and 428, it was just a new fastback with a GT 390 engine and a four gear.
The GT 390 engine started out at 335 horses and was sorta, kinda, almost
stock... Had bigger heads, bigger valves, electronic ignition, and headers
but kept the stock cam and carb (600 cfm) mainly because those were already
plenty hot enough. It ran good enough to blow the rear end at least once.
Pretty much ALL of the Mustang's suspension was replaced and rewickerd.
They, for instance, went so far as to add cross members to the underside.
Anything they didn't replace they magnafluxed.
The '68 Dodge Charger was a 440, apparently a single four-barrel engine
though I have seen references to it being a 6 Pack. Most of the
undercarriage work was limited to the front suspension though they used
police interceptor rear springs. It was also a 4 speed and in real life just
ate the 'Stang alive at all speeds and under all conditions.
Since they wanted to run the cars all out, they actually reduced tire
size--and eventually shaved off rubber--on the Charger to handicap it. The
440 is indeed a brutal engine.
The 2 Mustangs used in the movie were freebies from Ford. The 2 Chargers
used were actually purchased cars. I don't know what became of the Charger
that survived the movie but the 2 Mustangs not only survived, they have
cloned themselves so often that they now reportedly account for about 25
cars located in California.
Both the Dodge and Mustang were severely damaged during the chase.
Apparently the Mustang got to vibrating so badly that door handles and such
were falling off...
But what about the THIRD car in the chase? The pursuit car was a Corvette
stripped of most of it's bodywork and with cameras hanging all over it. It
survived without incident though it did not have to make those horrendous
jumps.
IMHO maybe an even better chase scene is found in VANISHING POINT. That
movie is basically nothing but a chase scene, running a Hemi Challenger (I
think) against all the cops in the world. (At least I am pretty sure it was
a Hemi.)
Chrysler's purchase of Rootes pretty much doomed the Sunbeam Tiger from the
gitgo. It was just toooo embarrassing for the dealers to have a Ford engined
car sitting there plus the Chrysler dealers had to stock Ford parts.
Supposedly Chrysler toyed with the idea of sticking in the 273 but engine
supply was tight, retooling was extensive, and the Ford engined cars (by
then 289's) would still outrun the 273's so they gave up on the idea. I
kinda doubt that is true, I suspect they knew when they took over Rootes
that the Tiger and Alpine were going to be discontinued which is really a
pity as they are both great cars.
My Alpine (now my daughter's) came with a Chrysler Pentastar on the
fender... Ugh!
Incidentally, my Roadrunner was a ball to drive, a real screamer, and once
the new wore off was probably the most unreliable car I ever owned. It was
also nowhere near as quick as a 340 Duster with cool air package. Trust me,
I know this for a fact having lost both the argument and the race.
Imagine a Sunbeam Tiger with the hot 340!
Cheers!
--Colin Cobb, Las Cruces, NM, USA
'41 Chevrolet Coupe, '65 Sunbeam Tiger, '66 Morgan Plus Four, '89 Alfa Romeo
Spider (FOR SALE)
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