> What, you mean McQeen didn't do his own driving in Le Mans either?
>
If he didn't, the a whole lot of books have it wrong. He may not have
driven in every scene, but I've read interviews with pro drivers at the time
who said he really was quite competent.
I've never read what McQueen himself had to say. James Garner did some of
his own driving in "Grand Prix" and commented that he thought he did pretty
well based upon being able to just about keep up with some of the pros on
their way back around the track for retakes at a given location. He seemed
to have no illusions whatsoever that he would be competitive with them in
equivalent cars in a real race. He knew better than that, but he had lots
of fun all the same.
I think there were comments from both movies to the effect that the scariest
place to be was near the camera car. One of his co-stars actually didn't
know how to drive. I think he said it was Brian Bedford but it might have
been Yves Montand. At any rate, the cut one of the cars in half and hooked
it up like a trailer to the camera car (which I think was a Ford GT40 with
much of the body removed). Garner said he wasn't afraid to drive the cars
fast but that the idea of sitting in that little cockpit being towed around
at 150 mph was something he wanted nothing to do with.
Both movies are enjoyable to watch, but I prefer "LeMans" because they had
the good judgement to basically dispense with any plot. "Grand Prix" is
real vintage soap opera stuff, and Garner's character is not easy to like.
I don't remember Paul Newman making any racing films, but I gather he's
still driving race cars at 75 plus. Of course, he's a real race car driver
and can probably make a phone call to friends and get to drive just about
any vintage racing car he'd care to. Can you imagine that? You watch
something on SpeedVision and say to yourself, "Hey, I wonder what it would
be like to drive a McLaren M8a?" Two phone calls and a week later you're
cruisin around Lime Rock in a genuine Kiwi Can Am car....
Glen
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roland Dudley" <cobra@scs.agilent.com>
To: <cobmeister@zianet.com>
Cc: <british-cars@autox.team.net>
Sent: Friday, December 08, 2000 2:07 PM
Subject: Re: Bullitty
> What, you mean McQeen didn't do his own driving in Le Mans either?
>
> One minor correction regarding the GT350. The "real" GT350s ('65 & '66)
> had HiPo 289s- same motor as my Cobra. Of course GT350s were still
> being manufactured in '68 when Bullitt was filmed, but the only
> connection to Carroll Shelby by then was the name. But the 390 was
> was light weight and very hot. Probably a good choice for the this
> flick.
>
> Roland
>
>
> > 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.
> >
> >
> > Cheers!
> >
> > --Colin Cobb, Las Cruces, NM, USA
> > '41 Chevrolet Coupe, '65 Sunbeam Tiger, '66 Morgan Plus Four, '89 Alfa
Romeo
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