The Secret Of Steve McQueen's Bullitt Chase Scene The Secret Of Steve McQueen's Bullitt Chase Scene Go to permalink This image was lost some time after publication. For all the attention Steve McQueen has received for the famous chase in "Bullitt," he only drove 10% of the scene. Marc Myers got to drive the route with the stuntman who deserves credit for the scene. -Ed. Advertisement As a kid growing up in New York in the late '60s, I had a thing for the movie Bullitt starring Steve McQueen. While I didn't necessarily understand the plot, I was mesmerized by the car chase. At the local candy store, all of my friends talked obsessively about it, probably because watching the sequence felt like being on one of the amusement park rides we loved so much. The you-are-there sensation owed much to the use of cameras in the car. You felt every bump and jolt. This image was lost some time after publication. On Sunday, I had the opportunity to gain teenage closure. On assignment for the Wall Street Journal, I was in San Francisco to drive the original Bullitt chase scene in a new, 2011 Ford Mustang V6.

In the passenger seat was Loren Janes, the fabled Hollywood stuntman and McQueen double who had driven the movie's most exciting scenes. Loren had graciously flown up from Burbank for the day to take the ride. What's more, I had a CD of the Bullitt soundtrack to set the mood. The result is in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal. Advertisement Loren is a very level-headed guy who spent years doing crazy things for a living. Really crazy things. He pulled off hair-raising stunts in more than 500 movies-nearly all of them household names. He also has added excitement to more than 2,100 TV episodes. You realize that without guys like Loren, movies over the past 50 years would be rather static. When I asked Loren if anything scares him, Loren said matter-of-factly: "Not really. I'm asked that often. I'm not really afraid of anything, and I've never broken a bone. I've been a gymnast, a Marine, a diver and Olympic athlete, which was great preparation for stunt work. I was always comfortable in the air." Today's post isn't about jazz, but it's certainly about cool.

For those who share my fascination with Bullitt or have always been curious about stuntmen, especially those who began their careers in the early 1950s, here's what Loren said to me during our conversation leading up to our drive on Sunday: This image was lost some time after publication. "I first met Steve McQueen while working on the TV show 'Wanted: Dead or Alive.' Steve was the star. Apparently, there had been two stuntmen there Steve didn't like, and they were both fired. They called me because they had scenes to film and I lived about five minutes from the studio. Sponsored "When I showed up on the set, I walked past Steve, who was sitting around. We were both taken with how much we looked like each other. He asked me to get him a coffee. I wasn't happy that he was treating me like a gofer. I walked up to him and said, ‘I'm going to make you look better than you can make yourself look.

Just don't blow my close-ups.' "As I walked away, I could hear him scream to the director or someone, 'Fire him.' Apparently they had said to him in response, ‘No, no, he has to do the stunt first. We'll fire him after if you want.' This image was lost some time after publication. "When it was time to do the first stunt, the coordinator told me Steve wanted it done as athletic as possible — meaning realistic and seemingly impossible. The stunt called for me to go through a low window in a barn, roll off the ground, leap up, vault over two horses, land on Steve's animal and ride off. Advertisement Advertisement "I spent some time walking the set to make sure the ground was clean and that there were no surprises. I moved the horses a little closer together and moved a rock that I could use to spring off to go over the horses. "When the director yelled, 'Action!,' I went through the window, did my somersault, ran 15 feet to the horses, leaped over two of them, landed on Steve's horse and took off. Steve couldn't believe it.

I worked out daily on parallel bars and other gymnastic equipment in my backyard, so vaulting over the horses wasn't a problem. "On my way back, I brought him a coffee, and he laughed. From that day forward I worked with him on every movie he made, including his last, The Hunter, in 1980, where I had to hang off the Chicago elevated train traveling at 55 mph. Advertisement "When I broke into the business in the early ‘50s, most stuntmen were gymnasts or ex-Marines. I had been both as well as a diver. I also competed in the 1956 and 1964 Olympics in the modern pentathlon. "One of my favorite stunts was for 'How the West Was Won' in 1962. I was doubling for an actor who was shot. I had to leap off a train going 30 mph, hit a cactus and tumble down a rocky hill. A cactus is like a telephone pole. Hitting it dead on would have sent me back under the train. So I had to figure out the right angle to hit the thing. "I also wanted the cactus to be flexible.

I dug four feet down and cut out the tap root. Then I filled in the hole with the dirt so it would spray up when I hit. I also calculated the angle so I knew when to jump from the train. Next I took a blowtorch to the cactus needles where I had planned to hit to avoid being impaled. Advertisement Advertisement "In the scene, the train sped along, I jumped, hit the cactus just right, the cactus fell over with me and I went down the hill perfectly. This image was lost some time after publication. "In 1968, when I got the call to work on Bullitt from Carey Loftin, who at the time was probably the greatest car man and stunt coordinator in the business, I was working on another picture. So I couldn't be on the set of Bullitt right away. Another stuntman, Bud Ekins, did some of the early driving sequences until I could get there. These scenes with Ekins included one with the Mustang and Charger tearing across the Golden Gate Bridge and through the toll plaza at 80 mph. But it was cut from the film. This image was lost some time after publication.

"When I showed up on the set, Carey explained what he needed me and Bill Hickman, the driver of the Charger, to do when we went down the hill on Taylor Street. That's the hill where our cars are jumping in the air at each intersection. We sat down and went over what was needed and how to execute the stunt. All of the scenes were like that. Careful preparation. Advertisement "It took the crew four weeks to shoot that 10-minute car chase. It didn't unfold the way it does in the film. The scenes were shot street by street, and in a different order from the film. Then the scenes were arranged into a deck of cards in the editing room so there was continuity. So for the stunt driver, it wasn't a car chase as much as a series of block by block enterprises all over town. This image was lost some time after publication. "Before doing the Taylor Street stunt, I drove the Mustang around to get used to it. I did little things like throwing it into reverse and slamming on the accelerator. Or hitting the breaks hard. You want to be sure that everything that's supposed to work does — perfectly — so you can pull off what's needed.

Even the emergency brake is needed for certain things. "But keep in mind, those weren't ordinary cars. Many people who have watched the film think that any fast muscle car can do what we did. No way. Both the Mustang and Charger in Bullitt were heavily worked on. They needed to be faster than street cars but also be able to take an enormous beating. That required heavy-duty parts and additions like race-car shocks, skid bars to protect the underside and special overinflated tires. This image was lost some time after publication. "Most people think Steve McQueen did his own stunts in films. Steve was a hell of a driver, but he was only behind the wheel for about 10% of what you see on screen. He drove in scenes that required closeups — but not in the ones that could kill him. Steve always asked me first whether a stunt was too dangerous for him to take on. If I said 'no,' he listened. He had to. No Steve, no movie, and no studio in its right mind would put its star at that much risk. I always had the final say, for his sake. Advertisement Advertisement "Driving down Taylor was tough business.

As good as Steve was, only stunt pros were qualified to handle the harder scenes. In one scene that they left in, you can see that Steve was unable to make one of the turns and has to back up. The smoke coming off the wheels looked like burning rubber but it was actually a smoke prop placed in the rear wheel wells. "Every car you see on the streets during the chase — including that green VW that pops up a few times on Taylor Street — was driven by stuntmen. Everyone knew exactly what they had to do and how slow to drive so the Mustang and Charger could fly by. We had people stationed at every corner to keep pedestrians from wandering onto the set and prevent someone from suddenly coming out of a garage during filming. Even the cable cars crossing Filbert Street were there on purpose and were operated by stunt guys. This image was lost some time after publication. "Bud Ekins was the guy who falls off a motorcycle on the Guadalupe Canyon Parkway scene, which called for me to veer into a sandy shoulder. I hit that thing at a high speed. I have no idea how fast, since a stuntman never looks at his speedometer. You need to focus on what has to be done.

Your body is doing the driving and your eyes are looking for places where your body has to react. How fast is of little concern. It just has to be very fast. When I hit that sand, I had to fishtail just right to catch the sand and slow down. Otherwise the car would have flipped. Advertisement "We had three identical green 1968 Ford Mustang fastbacks and three black Dodge Chargers in the movie. Many writers have said two, but there were three of each. We needed the extra cars in case one was damaged. The movie's shooting schedule can't be slowed for dents and things like that. Fortunately we only had to use a second Mustang once when the first Mustang had to go in to be fixed up. "Most of the scenes you see from inside the car were shot by a cameraman or a camera tied back into the car. That was director Peter Yates' genius on the film. He put the movie-goer in the car, and it all felt real and exciting. This image was lost some time after publication. "The guy driving the Charger — the bad guy who at one point fastens his seat belt? That was Bill Hickman, one of the finest car stuntmen in the business at the time.

It was great that Peter kept him in the movie. It was probably just easier and more cost effective that way. Peter knew exactly what he was doing and he cared about the stuntmen on the set. He'd always ask me after each stunt, 'Are you OK? Are you ready to move on?' Most directors didn't do that. They only interacted with the stunt coordinators. Advertisement Advertisement "My scenes in Bullitt were more rigorous than the driving I had done in earlier films. Everything about my scenes pushed the envelope beyond what had been done before, especially with muscle cars, which were relatively new. Everything had to be spot on. The same goes for Bill Hickman in the Charger. In one scene, the Charger he's driving comes down a hill and has to hit a car on the corner. He had to just kiss it with the front of his car, which added to the realism. You can do that only if you're very familiar with your car and you're fully conscious of what part of the vehicle you want touch the other one. He was great. "The most difficult part of the Taylor Street chase sequence was when I had to jump a hill and then turn the corner at Filbert Street.

With that kind of momentum — I was probably going around 60-mph — a car wants to go straight rather than turn. So when I'm coming down the hill, I had to know when to turn because the car is going to skid. That's physics. You have to turn early and let the car slide into the turn. Otherwise it would have gone down the street too far and you'd miss. "My scenes were challenging, but I was never afraid. If you experience fear, you can't do the stunt. It's not a macho thing. We just look at it like a job. Fear leads to injury. You erase fear by having experience and by lowering risks through examination and careful planning. The trick is preparation without compromising realism. So you plan, work the set and then throw yourself into whatever has to be done. "I never really had fear while working on all those movies. Many people ask me that. I suspect it's because I had always been physical and had been a gymnast and a diver. I was always in the air and was used to it and conscious of what I had to do when I landed. After all these years, I've never broken a bone.

Advertisement "But I'd never do that Taylor Street scene today. I'm not afraid. It's just that my reflexes just aren't what they used to be and I probably wouldn't react as fast as I would need to." This story originally appeared on Jazzwax.com on Jan. 26, 2011, and was republished with permission. Copyright 2011 (c) Marc Myers/JazzWax.com. All rights reserved. Advertisement Email us with the subject line "Syndication" if you would like to see your own story syndicated here on Jalopnik. Question Page 1 Question Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 What kind of car did Steve McQueen drive in "Bullitt"? He drove a 1968 GTA 390 (S-Code) Mustang Fastback, and the bad guys drove a 1968 440 Magnum Dodge Charger R/T. How good was McQueen in the martial arts? Steve McQueen's personal instructors included Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.

He was good enough to be a third degree black belt but never tested since he didn't want this used against him if he ever got sued for hitting someone. (Bruce Lee called himself the oriental Steve McQueen) Steve McQueen carrying Bruce Lee's casket Which car race was it that McQueen drove with a broken left foot? McQueen had broken his left foot in the Lake Elsinore Grand Prix riding a Motocross Husky, but continued the motorcycle race despite his injury and finished in the top ten. Soon afterwards, with his foot in a cast, he raced in the famous Sebring International Twelve Hour Endurance Race in Florida. His Porsche 908 Spyder was co-driven by Peter Revson. Steve McQueen's Porsche came in first in it's class and second overall, being beaten by a more powerful Ferarri driven by Mario Andretti in a close finish. Andretti later said,"This is the closest race I've run and I'm lucky to have taken it." McQueen told the press," We never expected to do anything against all those bigger machines. We were just trying for a class win, not the overall.

This is fantastic...just fantastic!" (March1970) #48--McQueen driving at Sebring What was Steve McQueen's home address? His most famous home was at 27 Oakmont Drive, Brentwood, CA. Steve McQueen's house is up a narrow street, but it can't be seen. What you will see is a big wooden gate and a stone driveway. What type of gun did Steve McQueen use in Wanted: Dead or Alive? It was a Model 92 Winchester lever-action rifle with a modified stock and a sawed-off barrel. Which issue of Sports Illustrated featured Steve McQueen on the cover? August 23,1971 What type of motorcycle did McQueen use when he was on the American team during the International Six-Day Trials in East Germany? It was a 1964 Triumph 650 TR6 Trophy Bullitt - The Greatest Chase of All THE GREATEST CHASE OF ALL An inside look at how they filmed BULLITT, the granddaddy of car pursuit movies. BY: Susan Encinas (Muscle Car Review, March, 1987) Where were you in 1968?

You might have opened up the movie section of the newspaper and read a review about the newly released movie BULLITT. One such review, by the National Observer, said, " Whatever you have heard about the auto chase scene in BULLITT is probably true...a terrifying, deafening shocker." Life magazine wrote, "... a crime flick with a taste of genius...an action sequence that must be compared to the best in film history." With reviews like that, and sharing double billing with the hit BONNIE AND CLYDE, BULLITT devastated audiences with incredible scenes of leaping, screaming au tomobiles that seemed to fly off the screen. Among all of Hollywood's road movies, BULLITT unquestionably made film history with its original car chase sequences. There may have been chase scenes before, but nothing before or since has equalled the intensity and impact of BULLITT. The scenes, which were novelty then but classic now, were brilliantly executed. Over the years, fans have asked questions about the two cars used in the movie, a 1968 Dodge Charger and a 1968 Mustang GT.

Of all the musclecars offered in the late sixties, why were these two cars chosen, and how were they modified to survive the torturous driving? It's been 19 years since BULLITT was filmed, however the magic of this special movie has not diminished. We questioned some of the crew who participated in the filming, and asked them how the chase was coordinated and shot, who was involved in the chase scenes and what happened during the filming. Steve McQueen and director Peter Yates brought in some of the best names in the business in preparation for the filming of BULLITT's chase scenes, and we were able to track some of them down. We interviewed Carey Loftin, stunt coordinator for BULLITT and occasional driver of the BULLITT Mustang; Bud Elkins, the main stunt driver of the Mustang, aside from McQueen; and Loren Janes, who had doubled for McQueen for nearly 20 years and stunted for McQueen during the airport sequence at the end of the film. We also interviewed Max Balchowsky, the man responsible for maintaining the Mustang GT and the Charger throughout the filming. Finally, we spoke with Ron Riner, who acted as transportation coordinator for Warner Brothers on the BULLITT set.

We set out to learn what the recipe is for such a successful chase sequence. What we found out was that there is none; it was pretty much a hit and miss thing and, as Ron Riner put it, "other people have tried to put the same combination together to get the same results and haven't really done it. Before we'd shoot a scene, everyone, the location people, the police department, the stuntmen, the director and Steve, would get into discussions. We realized we didn't know what to do because no one had ever done this before." What hadn't been done before was a chase scene, done "at speed"(up to 110 miles per hour) through the city streets and not on a movie studio back lot. Bud Elkins said, "I think it was the first time they did a complete car chase at normal camera speed. What you saw is what really happened. It was real!" McQueen was determined to have "the best car chase ever done," recalls Carey Loftin. "I told Steve I knew a lot about camera angles and speeds to make it look fast. You can undercrank the camera so you can control everything in the scene.

Then when it's run, it'll look like high speed and the car will appear to be handling real well." McQueen refused to hear of it, and advised Loftin that money was no object. "Fine," Loftin replied. "Until you run out of money, you've got to stop me!" In an interview with Motor Trend magazine, Steve McQueen related his desire to bring a high speed chase to the screen. "I always felt a motor racing sequence in the street, a chase in the street, could be very exciting because you have the reality objects to work with, like bouncing off a parked car. An audience digs sitting there watching somebody do something that I'm sure almost all of them would like to do." BULLITT was also the first picture done with live sound (some of which was added later as needed). For example, additional sound was needed because on occasion a tire squeal was not picked up by the microphones. Bud Elkins remembers blowing the rear end of the Mustang at Willow Springs winding the gears for engine noise to be added to the soundtrack. To prepare himself, his crew and the cars for the movie sequence, McQueen and company went to the Cotati race course near San Francisco.

"Steve handled the Mustang real well," recalled Riner. "He flowed well with the car." Also on hand was the late Bill Hickman, the fantastic stunt driver who would handle the menacing Dodge Charger in BULLITT. "Bill came in with the Charger," Riner said. "And he flipped it around and he slid in backwards. He was excellent." The BULLITT chase scenes were shot around Easter of 1968. When city officials were first approached about shooting in the streets of San Francisco, they balked at the proposed high speeds and the idea of filming part of the chase on the Golden Gate Bridge. Eventually, it was agreed to keep the chase within only a few city blocks. McQueen was the prime motivator behind the chase sequence, and then director Peter Yates and Carey Loftin worked out logistics behind the scenes. McQueen hadn't planned on having a stunt driver. Relates Carey Loftin:"The first thing Steve said was, he was going to do his own driving. Well, I wasn't going to argue, so I said, 'okay, fine'." McQueen's stint as a stunt driver didn't last long, however. "He overshot a turn, smoked the tires and everything.

It's in the film," said Bud Elkins. "When Steve did that, it wasn't on purpose. He goofed up, and they said, 'that's it, get him out of the car'. The next morning they were spraying my hair down and cutting it. Consequently, it was Elkins who drove the car down hilly Chestnut Avenue. Also, according to the book entitled The Films of Steve McQueen by Casey St. Charnaz, the other reason for McQueen's removal from the Mustang was that McQueen's wife at the time found out that he wanted to do all his own driving and apparently SHE had some input into the decision not to have him do all the driving. As director Peter Yates prepared to begin filming the chase scenes, there were four drivers, McQueen, Bud Elkins, Bill Hickman, and in a few scenes, Carey Loftin. Loren Janes tells up, "Carey Loftin was easily the best car man in the business. He brought in Bill Hickman to play a part and drive the other car." Loftin recalls: "I asked (the studio) what kind of guy were they looking for?

And they described Bill Hickman, who was working on the LOVE BUG at the same time. Well, I said, he's sitting right here. They really described Bill Hickman." The screenplay of the movie was written by Alan Trustman, based on the novel, Mute Witness by Robert L. Pike. But the story, according to Ron Riner was not the key element to the success of the movie. Riner says, "I think basically the story was long and confusing, so when the chase came along it was so good it gave more substance to the movie. I think it really saved the film, because most people don't remember the story, they remember the chase. You couldn't really remember the complete story, if somebody asked you, unless you read the script, because the script was much better and made more sense." As filming of the chase progressed, Loftin wanted to see the daily work (rushes). He was told that Mr. McQueen wouldn't like that. Loftin insisted, and threatened to quit unless he could view the daily work. "It worked out really good," Loftin said with a smile. "Because as we watched the rushes, you could hear a pin drop.

I was sitting 3 or 4 rows in front of him (McQueen) and when it was over, he came down, stuck out his hand, and said, 'Mr. Loftin, when you need me for a closeup you WILL let me know, won't you?" As for the cars, Max Balchowsky tells us, "I suggested they get a 390 GT. I had suggested using a Mustang, and a Dodge Charger, or else there would be too may Fords in the picture. I thought we'd mix up the cars." The two 1968, four-speed Mustang GT fastbacks were purchased primarily because, promotionally, they were the best deal at the time. As far as Bud Elkins can recall, he feels the reason they used the Mustang was because "they wanted it to look like a cop car. This was his personal car and he wasn't a rich guy, he didn't have a real nice car. And it was Steve's idea to put the big dent in the fender, to show that it got banged up and he didn't have enough money or the time to fix it." Warner Brothers purchased two four-speed Dodge Chargers...

"at a Chrysler dealership in Glendale California," recalls Ron Riner. He also said the Dodge Chargers had to be purchased without promotional consideration, but after the success of the movie and the increase in Charger sales, Chrysler was more than willing to be generous with their vehicles to Warner Brothers for future projects. Mr. Riner posed an interesting premise: "did you realize that there wouldn't be an 01 car (the General Lee in Dukes of Hazzard) if we hadn't done BULLITT and Dodge hadn't sold so many Chargers?" Before the filming could be done, the Charger and the Mustang required preparation. One of the best wrenchmen in the movie business, Max Balchowsky, recalls the Mustang in particular needed considerable modifications so it could hold up during the relentless beatings it would take during the filming. "Carey said they were gonna do a lot of jumping with it, and he said it had to be strong. So I was a little hesitant. I didn't know if they wanted to go over 50 foot cliffs.

I had no idea what they wanted to do until I got there." To beef up the Mustang, Balchowsky started with the suspension, reinforcing the shock towers, adding crossmembers and reinforcements, exchanging the springs for replacements with higher deflection rates and replacing the stock shocks with Konis. All suspension parts were magnafluxed and replaced where nescessary. The engine also came in for some modifications, including milling the heads, adding an aftermarket high performance ignition system and reworking the the carburetor and adding headers. On the Mustang, Mr. Balchowsky recalls, "everybody suggested I put a Holley on the Mustang, it was better than the Ford carburetor. I've always had good luck with Fords, and didn't want to spend money if i didn't have to putting a Holley on. It ran good, needed just a few little adjustments. I changed the distributor and all, but basically never had the engine apart on the Ford." Ron Riner remembers "the stock Mustang had undercarriage modifications, not only for the movie, but for Steve McQueen. Steve liked the sound of the car and he wanted mags. We hopped it up because Steve wanted the car hopped up.

He was still a kid." Balchowsky remembers "I hardly had to anything to the Dodge's engine, but what I was worried about was the strength of the front end." To shore up the front, Balchowsky revised the torsion bars, beefed up the control arms and added heavy duty shocks. As with the Mustang, all parts were 'fluxed. For the rear end, Balchowsky told us, "I got some special rear springs, what you call a high spring rate, a flat without any arch in it, and using that spring the car would stay low. It's similar to the same springs they use in police cars, which makes a good combination. When the police specify a package, they have more spring here, a little bigger brake there, a little bit more happening in the shocks, and it makes a good car. But the director of BULLITT wanted a brand new car instead of an ex-police car, so I got the springs from a friend at Chrysler. We had to weld reinforcements under the arms and stuff on the Dodge. We did lose a lot of hubcaps on the Charger.

We'd put the hubcaps back on, but I suppose it probably would have been better if we had lest them off." "I'll tell you this," said Max Balchowsky, "I was really impressed with the Mustang after I got done with it. I didn't think it'd make that much difference beefing it up. Later, we took both cars out and went playing around with them over by Griffith Park (near Los Angeles). The Dodge, which was practically stock, just left the Mustang like you wouldn't believe." Ron Riner has similar recollections. "The Charger ran rings around the Mustang. We trimmed the tires down (on the Charger), we practically made them down to bicycle tires to try and handicap Hickman, and Bill just run them." Carey Loftin also recalls," we test ran the car at Griffith Park near the Observatory, up a long hill. and if you can run a car real hard up and down that hill it's working pretty good." "The day before the chase scenes were to be filmed, we went up to Santa Rosa and rented the track,"said Balchowsky. "Steve wanted to test the car. A production manager would have cut your throat if you wanted to do something like that.

An accident would have ruined the cars, and we were slated for Monday morning, 6:00 a.m. to start shooting. Hickman and Steve were buzzing around the tracks, and it was pretty even. McQueen and Hickman were both tickled with the cars. So, fortunately everything worked out." Generally everyone seemed to agree that the chase went smoothly, although filming went a "little bit slow," Bud Elkins recalls. "Yates and Steve were particular. You would rehearse it once- it's got to be choreographed- then you would rehearse it again, and if it looked good, they shot it. You rehearsed at about 1/4 speed or 1/2 speed, then you went in to film it at full speed." For the in-car scenes, two camers were mounted in the cars and painted black. The jarring landings after the cars were airborne are the result of the cameras being tightly secured and not cushion mounted. The effect was more than McQueen had bargained for. "It's a funny thing," he told Motor Trend. "That was what shocked me and I didn't expect it, because we were using a 185 frame which is a very small frame.

We weren't even using a big super Panavision or anything. Even on the 185, they (the audience) jumped out of their seats. I didn't do the shots going down the hill, they pulled me out of the car. Bud Elkins did that." In the Motor Trend interview, McQueen recalled there were some close calls and incidents that looked good on film but weren't exactly planned to happen, some of which occured in the memorable downhill sequences. "Remember that banging going down? That was about 100 mph. I was bangin' into Bill. My car was disintegrating. Like, the door handles came off, both the shocks in the front broke, the steering armature on the right front side broke and my slack was about a foot and a half. The Mustang was really just starting to fall apart." There was an incident which alerted the crew to take extra precautions while doing the car chase. "A child," Riner told us, "maybe five years old, came out of a building and stepped out on to the street. We stopped and brought in more stunt people and more cars and I think the theory was if anybody had a problem, they'd make a barricade out of the vehicles.

The problem never came up again, or I never saw a problem." Incredible, considering there were only two policemen on the scene as compared to the 40 policemen utilized for the chase in MAD MAD WORLD. Carey Loftin says, "the extras were a big help. If there was an alley or any place that wasn't covered, they'd come and tell me. They were real good." Because some of the stunts were so well orchestrated, they did not look like stunts at all. Recalls Carey Loftin: "Several years after BULLITT, an extra (on another set) was talking about BULLITT, and he was saying how it was amazing how accidents get into films and he said that the best one he ever saw was the scene where Bud Elkins did the spill off the motorcycle. I let him go ahead and tell it.

He said 'the cops were watching the action and weren't watching the traffic and this motorcycle guy slipped through, and got into the scene and ended up in the picture.' I said, 'you really think that's what happened?' The extra said, ' I know, I saw it, I was there.' And I said that's the way it's supposed to look, because it wasn't supposed to look like a stunt." Ron Riner comments on the scene, "I didn't know about the stunt and I was supposed to get the information!" There were THREE cars racing wildly through the streets of San Francisco, making car chase history, although only two are seen in the movie. The third vehicle, a camera car, was driven by Pat Houstis, while cinematographer Bill Fraker manned the camera. Said Ron Riner, "Pat Houstis was excellent and he was in his prime at the time." Carey Loftin has nothing but praise for Mr. Houstis and an amusing recollection. "Pat Houstis, a terrific driver, had just built the camera car, and he showed it to me. He did a real good job on it.

It was a Corvette chassis, and he had stripped all the stuff off and built a good suspension, good engine and everything. But it looked like hell." His confidence in Mr. Houstis is evident as he relates another incident. " We had one scene where Pat was following Steve on Guadalupe Canyon Highway, a beautiful road. We wanted some shots of the Mustang really burning the corners. We did it several times. The operator of the first camera said, 'Steve's not getting his foot into it, he's a better driver than that.' I went to Steve and said, 'you know Pat Houstis is a terrific driver.' Steve said 'yeah, yeah he is.' I said, 'he knows responsibility too. You know what that man would do if I was driving the car in front of him and anything would happen? He'd run into a parked car or hit a tree just to miss me. Now think what he'd do for the star? Now get into that car and get your foot into it!' We got the shot on the next take." One particular scene that impressed Max Balchowsky was the gunman in the Dodge firing a shotgun blast at the pursuing Mustang that shatters the right front of the windshield.

"The guy who did special effects devised the chain balls that bust the Mustang windshield. I thought it was terrific when the guy whips the shotgun out and the way the special effects fellow devised how those pebbles cracked the windshield and it made it so realistic like he really shot the windshield. It sure made Ford glass look good." The gentleman in the car, playing Bill Hickman's partner in crime, was actor Paul Genge. According to Ron Riner, Mr. Genge, who played a very realistic tough guy, "seemed like he had hardly ever seen a gun before. They scared the hell out of him. In the scenes in the Charger with Hickman, he was scared to death. After two or three time we almost had to bodily put tranqiulizers in him, and put him in the car. Mr. Hickman was one of the coolest drivers I've ever met." Max Balchowsky tells us, "there was a scene where the Charger passed a truck, and they only wanted to leave so much room on one side, and Hickman did it perfectly when he came by and took the bumper off the truck. That was a super shot.

Throughout the chase sequences, some of them were accidents but, they looked fantastic- Hickman was terrific." To achieve the stunning conclusion to the chase in which the Charger loses control, leaps an Armco fence and plows into a gasoline station, Loftin rigged up a tow and release set up hidden from the camera's view between the Mustang and the Charger. Dressed to double McQueen, Loftin laterally towed the Charger at 90 mph with its two dummy passengers and at the right moment released the Charger into the nitro-loaded gas station. Unfortunately, the Charger missed the station, but the charges were set off and the explosion, thanks to some deft film editing, had the desired effect and was added to the movie. There seemed to be a general atmosphere of professionalism and mutual admiration on the set. Loren Janes tells us, " I loved to see a lot of the little things in Steve's films. The best teeny things came up in it, the best stuff was Steve's ideas.

Like when they're (Hickman and Genge) going up the hill and they're after Steve and all of a sudden he disappears and they can't see him and the guy (Hickman) looks up and Steve appears in his rear view mirror. In other words, he changed it, now he's chasing them. Well that was a great turn of events. It was fantastic. It was WILD reckless driving, but it was planned and coordinated. There was class to the BULLITT chase, there was a reason for it, and that's one of the key things people forget: the greatest stunt in the world is worthless if there isn't a reason or story to it and BULLITT had a story point all the way through and a reason. The enduring scenes of the forboding Charger and the powerful Mustang have etched themselves in film making history. The sequences were the brain child of Steve McQueen; He knew what he wanted and how he wanted it to appear on film. No one has duplicated the electricity or the savage ferocity that manifested itself in BULLITT chase scenes, and it's doubtful any one ever will.

Back to my DeTomaso Pantera home page Last update: 16 July, 1998 Bullitt (1968) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends. Error An all guts, no glory San Francisco cop becomes determined to find the underworld kingpin that killed the witness in his protection. Director: Alan Trustman (screenplay) (as Alan R.

Trustman), Harry Kleiner (screenplay) | 1 more credit » Stars: From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC a list of 46 titles created 13 Mar 2012 a list of 41 titles created 22 Jul 2012 a list of 27 titles created 03 Aug 2014 a list of 29 titles created 03 Dec 2014 a list of 42 titles created 8 months ago Search for " Bullitt " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 1 Oscar. Another 6 wins & 9 nominations. See more awards » Videos A recently released ex-con and his loyal wife go on the run after a heist goes awry. Director: Sam Peckinpah A debonair, adventuresome bank executive believes he has pulled off the perfect multi-million dollar heist, only to match wits with a sexy insurance investigator who will do anything to get her man.

Director: Norman Jewison An up-and-coming poker player tries to prove himself in a high-stakes match against a long-time master of the game. Director: Norman Jewison The story of professional bounty hunter Ralph "Papa" Thorson. Director: Buzz Kulik A man befriends a fellow criminal as the two of them begin serving their sentence on a dreadful prison island, which inspires the man to plot his escape. Director: Franklin J. Schaffner Almost in breadth and depth of a documentary, this movie depicts an auto race during the 70s on the world's hardest endurance course: Le Mans in France. The race goes over 24 hours on 14.5 ... See full summary » Director: Lee H. Katzin An oppressed Mexican peasant village hires seven gunfighters to help defend their homes. Director: John Sturges At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it. Director: John Guillermin Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.

Director: John Sturges A pair of NYC cops in the Narcotics Bureau stumble onto a drug smuggling job with a French connection. Director: William Friedkin A renowned former army scout is hired by ranchers to hunt down rustlers but finds himself on trial for the murder of a boy when he carries out his job too well. Tom Horn finds that the ... See full summary » Director: William Wiard Engineer Jake Holman arrives aboard the gunboat U.S.S. San Pablo, assigned to patrol a tributary of the Yangtze in the middle of exploited and revolution-torn 1926 China. His iconoclasm and... See full summary » Director: Robert Wise Edit Storyline High profile San Francisco Police Lieutenant Frank Bullitt is asked personally by ambitious Walter Chalmers, who is in town to hold a US Senate subcommittee hearing on organized crime, to guard Johnny Ross, a Chicago based mobster who is about to turn evidence against the organization at the hearing. Chalmers wants Ross' safety at all cost, or else Bullitt will pay the consequences.

Bullitt and his team of Sergeant Delgetti and Detective Carl Stanton have Ross in protective custody for 48 hours over the weekend until Ross provides his testimony that upcoming Monday. Bullitt's immediate superior, Captain Samuel Bennet, gives Bullitt full authority to lead the case, no questions asked for any move Bullitt makes. When an incident occurs early during their watch, Bullitt is certain that Ross and/or Chalmers are not telling them the full story to protect Ross properly. Without telling Bennet or an incensed Chalmers, Bullitt clandestinely moves Ross while he tries to find out who is after ... Written by Huggo Taglines: Detective Lt. Frank Bullitt - some other kind of cop. Pity the guy he works for. See more » Genres: 17 October 1968 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Did You Know? Trivia Steve McQueen based his character on San Francisco Homicide Inspector Dave Toschi, made famous for his work on the Zodiac killings. McQueen had a copy made of Toschi's custom fast-draw shoulder holster.

See more » Goofs During the chase between the Mustang and the Charger, just after the Charger side-swipes the truck and hits the fence, the old man reaches back to roll down the driver-side quarter window. At this point, the sides and doors are rather damaged, yet the two cars do not make contact until a few seconds later. See more » Quotes Walter Chalmers : Lieutenant, don't try to evade the responsibility. In your... parlance, you blew it. You knew the significance of his testimony, yet you failed to take adequate measures to protect him. So to you, it was a job, no more. Were it more, and you had the dedication I was led to believe... Bullitt : You believe what you want. You work your side of the street, and I'll work mine. Featured in Hierarchy (2009) See more » Soundtracks (Danville, Virginia) – See all my reviews McQueen was really the King of Cool. I have read many comments here about this film, and some say it is slow, some say it is an action thriller. Thrilling it is! Steve did not have to jabber in every scene to dominate this film.

The car chase is unequaled to this day. How can anything on the road in later years compare to the "muscle cars" of the late 60s? But Steve was the star, make no mistake, and even though the dialogue was minimal, it was enough. Steve McQueen had that power on the screen. He remains one of Hollywood's best, even though he passed away over twenty years ago. We will not see the likes of him for many more years. Women loved him, men loved him too. If you have not seen many of his films, watch any you can. Watch him in Tom Horn (1980), and Papillon (1973). Try The Getaway (1972), Junior Bonner (1972)and the humorous The Reivers (1969). Of course, The Sand Pebbles (1966) , The Great Escape (1963), and the ever classic The Magnificent Seven(1960) are among his most popular films. You never go wrong with any of these. 55 of 71 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you?

Yes Mustangs in Movies: Bullitt - The Mustang Source Mustangs in Movies: Bullitt T he Movie A Highland Green 1968 Mustang GT 390 Fastback was the car of choice for Steve McQueen's character in 1968's Bullitt. Lieutenant Frank Bullitt chased a black Dodge Charger R/T driven by suspected murderers through the streets of San Francisco in what is considered one of the greatest chases ever caught on film. Bullitt was the first movie to show close-up shots of the driver, adding more realism to the scene. Even now, Bullitt is the yard stick by which all movie chase scenes are measured. Thanks to The Ponysite , The First Steve McQueen Site , and V6Stang.com for some pics and info. back to top W here is the Original Bullitt Mustang? For the filming of Bullitt, two 1968 Mustang Fastbacks were used from the Warner Brothers fleet for actor Steve McQueen's movie character. Once the Mustangs were selected, veteran race driver and builder Max Balchowski was enlisted to modify the cars for the rigors of the high-speed pursuit scenes.

Balchowski added stronger springs and Koni shocks, and he fabricated braces for the inner fenders. He also did some minor tuning to the 390-cubic-inch engine for a little more top-end power. After filming was completed, the primary car was in sad shape. Two weeks of stunt driving had taken its toll on the Mustang, so it was sent to the crusher due to liability concerns. The remaining car, the less-damaged backup, was sold to an employee of Warner Brothers' editing department. In the early 1970s, the car was advertised in a classified ad in The Los Angeles Times for the then princely sum of $6000. A buyer was found and the car eventually made its way to the East Coast. The Mustang went up for sale again in 1974, this time in an ad in Road & Track. It is reported that Steve McQueen himself called the New Jersey number in the ad with a desire to purchase the car for his own collection. He was told the car had been sold, but was given the name and number of the buyer. McQueen tried to persuade the new owner to resell it, but to no avail.

The new owner did promise to contact him if he ever did decide to sell. McQueen died in 1980 with no contact from the owner. Whenever contacted by prospective buyers or media, the owner has refused offers of purchase or publicity. The car has been in non-running condition for some time. The car remained in New Jersey until the mid-1990s, when it was moved to a farm in the Ohio River Valley. Parked in a hay barn, the Mustang remained inoperable, still wearing New Jersey tags. A film company recently made an offer to the owner for its use in a motion picture. The owner declined. Report from The Bullitt Page : "The fellow who spotted it sent me some photos, but I swore they would not be published anywhere. He does not know the owner of the car, but rather the man whose barn the car is stored in. I know it's really *the* car, as the VIN matches that on a letter from Warner Brothers confirming that the surviving car was sold to an employee of the studio. The letter is dated 1970, and is on Warner stationary. As the car sat when the photos were taken, it was in about #4 condition.

Though there was a lot of surface rust on things like fasteners and suspension parts, the body seems to be fairly rust-free. It has spent most of its life in the state of New Jersey, near New York. In the photos, the car still wore its New Jersey license plates.

Here's a quick rundown of the condition: 66,000 miles on odometer; car seems to have been in a minor front collision -- bumper, valance and grill are all missing, radiator support is bent; engine is in place but does not look like it has run in some time; carburetor missing; upper shock absorber mounts missing; many holes in inner fenders where extra bracing had been installed; the interior (Deluxe) is mostly intact, but quite dirty with trash all about the floor; 4-speed transmission still there, but stock shifter has been replaced with a Hurst unit (in the film, the car had a stock Ford shifter); clutch pedal sits on floor -- as if the clutch or linkage are damaged; original American Racing wheels still on car, with rusted lug nuts; a non-sock (cheapie) steering wheel resides where McQueen's favored Nardi unit once served steering duty; Max Balchowski's numerous welded-on camera supports and modified exhaust (with glasspack mufflers) are still in place but badly rusted; extra bracing on rear leaf spring mounts; there is a factory "fog lamp" switch below the ashtray (car in movie had them removed,

 obviously).

And there are two items which really point to this being the "real deal", besides the VIN. One is a fist-sized hole in the left inner fender inside the trunk. I have surmised that this was used to route exhaust from a trunk-mounted generator (to run lights and camera equipment). Nobody making a replica would likely do this, as water and mud would easily be thrown up into the luggage compartment. The second is the door tag, still in place. Everything fits the circumstances of a car intended for use by Warner Brothers. The build date (late '67), DSO (Los Angeles), and other things confirm that this is, in fact, the car. As far as what it would take to restore the car, I imagine it would need to be a "ground-up" resto. On the other hand, one would not want to disturb the modifications too much, for fear of harming the value. I imagine that if it were mine, I would do my best to get it mechanically sound, including a rebuild of the engine and trans. You'd also need to go through the brakes, and probably replace some of the suspension components that were subject to rotting.

Any car that has sat for so long (I'll estimate 10-15 years) tends to deteriorate from lack of use. Some minor body repair on the front to make it look decent, and a refinishing of the wheels would be in order too. I imagine that not touching the body too much, it would need about $10,000 in repairs." back to top S heryl Crow's "Steve McQueen" Sheryl Crow's 2002 album " C'mon C'mon " included a song called "Steve McQueen". The video featured Sheryl recreating scenes from Steve McQueen movies. The prominently feature Bullitt section showed Sheryl driving David Kunz's Bullitt replica through the streets of San Francisco while being chased by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in a Camaro. The Le Mans part showed Sheryl driving a Ford GT40 while being chased by "Little E". Some Shelbys can be seen in the background of that scene. B ullitt Remake Channel4.com and CHUD (Cinematic Happenings Under Development) report that Brad Pitt will star in a Bullitt remake, but the Internet Movie Database doesn't show that Pitt has officially signed on.

Check back for updates! Bullitt Car Chase Returns, McQueen Bullitt Mustang GT Fastback - YouTube Bullitt Car Chase Returns, McQueen Bullitt Mustang GT Fastback Want to watch this again later? Sign in to add this video to a playlist. Need to report the video? Sign in to report inappropriate content. Rating is available when the video has been rented. This feature is not available right now. Please try again later. Uploaded on Nov 2, 2009 Steve McQueen's Bullitt Mustang Fastback GT Bullitt car chase scenes v Dodge Charger, and identical Bullitt Mustang GT Fastback of today, with Bullitt car chase, Bullitt exhaust, Bullitt startup & close ups Category What Car Did Steve McQueen Drive in Bullitt? Haltham Garage – Top 50 Classic Car Facts Fact 22/50 The car driven by Steve McQueen in the film Bullitt is a dark “Highland Green” 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 CID Fastback. MustangSpecs.com > Bullitt Car Found Credit for this article goes to Brad Bowling.

Visit his website at BradBowling.com The Man Himself The car was a 1968 Mustang 390 GT. The last thing in the world you'd take the green fastback for is a serious collector's item. Gifted with hindsight, it's difficult for us modern-day enthusiasts to consider owning the surviving Bullitt Mustang and thinking of it simply as transportation but, strangely enough, that's exactly how it has been treated by its three owners to this day. Somehow, a great deal of controversy and misinformation has grown up around that car over the years. Several books and magazines have incorrectly reported the stories and facts behind this legendary vehicle and most of them have speculated that it was driven to death, then sent off to be crushed, simply because it had not been located. There has been a long-running debate concerning the number of Mustangs purchased for the movie, what engines they came with and how many were actually used for the strenuous jumping and crashing scenes.

Legends seem to spin off their own myths -- that is certainly true in this case -- but we were able to cut through the muddled facts and dead ends to bring you the real story, as told by the first owner of the car and the man who now owns it (that's right, kiddies, it's been found). The Legend Begins Click here to view the original letter of verification from Warner Bros. to the first owner. Steve McQueen was a hot property in Hollywood in 1968. He had just completed "The Thomas Crown Affair" with Faye Dunaway and he was enjoying the kind of star status leverage every actor works for. Because he wanted more control over the production of his movies, he signed a six-picture contract between his company, Solar Productions, Inc., and Warner Bros. Inc. The first product of that collaboration was "Bullitt," based on the novel Mute Witness by Robert L. Pike. For the film (in which he plays an unconventional police detective), McQueen envisioned the most violent, realistic and dangerous chase scene ever attempted. It is a tribute to McQueen's persuasiveness and credibility that the city of San Francisco agreed to the mayhem he proposed creating on its streets.

(It's easy to picture the meeting in which negotiations took place: "Okay, Mr. McQueen, you'd like to race two cars through our city at 100 miles an hour -- could we interest you in burning down some of our buildings?") Whether the choice of the Mustang was McQueen's idea or not is unclear; all we do now for certain is that two of them were bought for the movie, both were Highland Green fastbacks sporting GT packages and 390/4V motors. Likewise, two new Dodge Chargers were purchased, reportedly with 426-cid motors, for the bad guys to drive. "The man's name is Frank Bullitt. The last thing in the world you'd take Frank Bullitt for was a cop." One Mustang was modified with extra welding, bracing and engine work to handle all of the heavy abuse -- the jumping and crashing -- while the other was used mostly during the high-speed scenes. Several pieces were removed from the cars, including the driving lights, running pony grille emblem, Mustang lettering and even the GT badges. Stock wheels were pulled in favor of sportier custom-made rims from American Racing.

The modified fastback (the jump car) also received a rollbar-mounted camera so that thrill-seeking moviegoers could get a taste of what it was like to fly through the air above San Francisco's hilly pavement. Not only did that Mustang get trashed performing the jump scenes, but it was also the car responsible for the fiery destruction of the Charger at the end of the chase. Special towing equipment was mounted to the passenger side of the Mustang and two dummies were placed in the Charger so that, through clever editing, it would look like the Mustang ran the Charger off the road into the gas station where it blew up. Because the main Mustang was so damaged by the time shooting ended, it is highly unlikely anyone at Warner even considered selling it. Most of the people behind the movie recall that it was sent to a junkyard where it was eventually crushed. But what about the second car? The First Owner An employee of Warner Bros., named Robert M. Ross bought the car after production was finished.

When we contacted Ross to interview him for this story, he politely but firmly told us, "It will be a long time before I talk to anyone about the Bullitt car after the last time." Ross went on to explain that a previous interviewer had misquoted him and "printed pure b.s." about the car. Upon presenting him with the news that we had located the Mustang, he offered us some information but was still understandably reluctant to agree to a longer interview. Bill Norton is a longtime friend of Ross' who now owns Valley Ford Mustang in North Hollywood. He is one of the few people who can claim to have driven the Mustang when it was new. "The car was not at all beat up like you might imagine," Norton recalls, "it was very nice because it had not been abused like the Mustang that did all of the jumping." "It was a fun car to drive," he told us, "very powerful but also very squirrely, especially one rainy night on the Ventura Freeway when Bob and I were going home from a party.

It was also really noisy because it didn't have any soundproofing -- apparently the movie people had used that car to make the 'live' recordings (that were later dubbed into the soundtrack)." Ross only kept the fastback for a year or so, according to Norton, before he put it up for sale in Hemmings Motor News. "It was sold to a cop back east who wanted it shipped to him," Norton recalls. "I remember that it was sent by train because that was the cheapest way to transport a car back then and the guy was a little on the thrifty side." It seems that Norton got more from the Bullitt car than just his driving impressions: in a cardboard box at Valley Ford Mustang sit the GT driving lights that were removed before filming. Apparently, they went to Ross along with the car but did not wind up with the second owner. The Second Owner No one seems to have a name for the second Bullitt car owner. Bob Ross did not supply it during our brief conversation; Bill Norton couldn't remember it and no other previously printed material mentions it. Ross thought that he might have been a detective (like Frank Bullitt, perhaps) but didn't mention the city or state, only that it was somewhere on the East Coast.

Near as we can figure, the Bullitt car stayed with that owner for approximately two years before the third and current owner found it for sale in the newspaper. The Third Owner In 1972, a 24-year-old man got the bargain of a lifetime when he happened upon the Bullitt car, with documentation, for what he says was "an unbelievably low price." Because he is now a successful businessman and has no intention of selling the car or considering any offers, we had to promise him total anonymity in exchange for his cooperation -- we'll just call him "Joe." Why do we believe this is the bona fide product? Well, Joe sent us several pages of documentation, including copies of the first owner's card (registered by Bob Ross on Dec. 14, 1968, license plate VVE 590) and the latest (registered by "Joe" in his home state on March 7, 1978, license plate 850 IPZ). Both cards give the vehicle identification number as 8R02S125559, which matches the number from the Warner Bros. letter.

Joe told us that he had not actually seen the car in almost six years because it is stored in a relative's garage on the East Coast, several states away from where he now lives. He was surprised to hear that his car had been the source of such speculation. He is not a hardcore Mustang enthusiast and tells us that his initial interest in the car was a combination of the low asking price and the fact that Steve McQueen had driven it. Joe's anecdotes about driving the car back up Bill Norton's stories about it being a real handful to drive and noisy at any speed. In fact, during a rainstorm, Joe did some Frank Bullitt-style driving when he lost control of the fastback and slid 360 degrees around, resulting in some minor body damage. According to Joe, he has made no changes to the car but it was equipped with an aftermarket shifter and non-stock steering wheel when he bought it 18 years ago and that's exactly how it sits now, with approximately 40,000 miles on the odometer.

"Otherwise," he told us, "the engine compartment, interior and paint all look original." Despite the fact that he doesn't get to drive it much any more, he insists that it will never be for sale. Steve McQueen himself tried to buy it back in 1977 ( click here to view ) but Joe had already promised that it would not leave the family, flattered though he was by the offer. What are Joe's plans for the car? Does he foresee a restoration? Steve McQueen's request not to restore the car matches Joe's own feelings about keeping it in original movie condition. Joe says that the fastback is protected from the elements and should be well-preserved for years to come. Not a Happy Ending for All Three years after attempting to buy back the Bullitt Mustang, Steve McQueen died of cancer and his collection of cars, motorcycles and antique toys was sold off. Bullitt Trivia *For his role as Frank Bullitt, Steve McQueen was voted World Film Favorite by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. *Because "Bullitt" production cost much more than the budget allowed, Warner ended the six-picture agreement with Solar.

*Many studio-owned cars were used in the film to interact with the Mustang and Charger and it is possible to see some of them over and over if you know what to look for. The most obvious repeats are: a yellow cab, a white '68 Firebird hardtop, a green Volkswagen Beetle, a four-door Cadillac and numerous Mustangs. Besides supplying realistic street scenery, company-owned vehicles were placed alongside the road to "catch" the Mustang or Charger in case they lost control. *Through the miracle of movie-making, the Charger loses a total of eight hubcaps during the chase scene. *Steve McQueen's letter attempting to buy back the Mustang is dated Dec. 14, 1977, one month after McQueen and his second wife Ali MacGraw divorced. Credit for this article goes to Brad Bowling.

Visit his website at BradBowling.com Did Steve McQueen Drive In 'Bullitt' Car Chase?|Ford Authority Replica of the 1968 Ford Mustang used in the film 'Bullitt.' Photo: Sicnag Sponsored Links Few films did as much to cement the status of the Ford Mustang as the de facto “good guys” car as the 1968 drama/thriller Bullitt. Its 11-minute car chase scene, in which star Steve McQueen drives a Ford Mustang in pursuit of the baddies’ Dodge Charger through the hilly streets of San Francisco, is one of the most famous, lauded chase scenes in cinematic history. Of course, it’s a well-known fact that Steve McQueen was a diehard gearhead and a fairly accomplished racing driver; as such, he preferred to do as much of his own stunt driving as filming would allow. Thus, predictably, there is a persistent rumor that Steve McQueen himself piloted the pair of dark green Ford Mustang fastbacks used in the creation of Bullitt‘s high-octane car chase. But is there any truth to it? Yes and no.

According to UK website Classic Cars For Sale , Steve McQueen had planned on driving the entire scene by himself, but had difficulty keeping pace with the Dodge Charger. He even spun out on one take, nearly taking out a cameraman, so stuntman Bud Ekins was made to take over for most of the driving – with the obvious exception of close-up shots. Nonetheless, the scene that resulted is widely regarded to be one of the very best vehicle chases ever captured, and it won Frank Keller an Oscar for editing in 1969. As for Steve McQueen, he will always retain his reputation as “The King Of Cool,” even though he’s no longer with us. Sponsored Links

Question: Which type of car did Steve McQueen drive in the film "Bullitt"?
Answer: MUSTANG