Bullitt the chase, just how good was it?

[WuzzaCBXRider]

How about a completely senseless discussion? A few of my opinions and observations, agree or?

I know it’s been ‘proven’ that the Mustang had a 390ci motor in it but the sound effects are what a hypo 289ci with glass packs sounded like back then. The way it handled the SF hill jumps also tell me it had the lighter 289 vs a 390. It landed almost centered, on all fours whereas the Charger, with at least a 383 and more likely a 440 made it front heavy as you can see as it landed nose down during those jumps. The Charger with either engine was the faster car so at the end, if they were trying to lose the Mustang, they should have. After spinning out at the motorcycle crash the Mustang should’ve never been able to catch up. I know I know, artistic license. And how about that transmission in the Mustang? 5 gears or 6? In 1968? And double clutching? WTH? It should’ve had a BW T10 4 speed. Just phony sound effects? The Mustang they prepped for the movie should’ve had positraction and traction bars. That single stripe of rubber and the bouncing rear wheels on take off looked awful. The director certainly wasn’t a gear head. The Mustang had to be towed after the last scene as the right front A arm broke as it came to a rest. Notice that?

I think the chase scene would’ve been better and more believable with actual sound effects, no double clutching, and a properly setup Mustang. Some suspension work had to have been done to the Charger but not the Mustang? Gene Hackman’s car chase in that POS Pontiac was more exciting to me.

 

[ROADTOAD1340]

I heard Steve McQueen picked the Mustang because it was fast and feasible that a cop (Bullitt) on his salary , could of owned . Then , the 390 was extensively tuned to be able to keep with the 426 Hemi Charger . The Mustang was needing a lot of $ to get it up to pace . Heard all this on a doco , and someone else told me it was included in a book about Steve .
Man , I seriously love that movie , I owned a 67 Galaxy , w front grill , same as the taxi and cop car they rolled in . I watch that movie a couple times a year .

 

[Hayabusa Wannabe]

Unfortunately studio sound has been the rule from that initial stunt era until today, and it always tends to be a compromise, lacking the correctness that the subject demands. Too bad.

While nitpicking we must acknowledge with respect to the errors that everything they did, even the high-powered cars of the time (while a Vette enthusiast may happily disagree) it was all a first effort, it was all brand new. Combine that with the constraints of filming and there are bound to be fundamental errors.

This is merely applicable in that it does affect how watchable the movie is for me. The music soundtrack was produced by famous LA studio musicians who played on many of the hit rock records of the 60's. The jazzy track is a continual barrage of noise and is a big detractor to me. The choices make it sound extremely dated, like watching an 80's movie with electronic drum pulses. It is just unbearable. However, I know from statements of the musicians it was a great reprieve personally for them from the easy cutting of the monster rock hits they played on. They were educated jazz/classical musicians and could play through that entire movie track without making a single mistake. Note that they were reading and improvising while creating the movie track in one take. In any case for you fans, beyond the historic car efforts the music has some great history.

 

[sixpack577]

There was really a smoke bomb in the Mustang's trunk for the one wheel peel it did too, sad.

 

[sixpack577]

I heard Steve McQueen picked the Mustang because it was fast and feasible that a cop (Bullitt) on his salary , could of owned . Then , the 390 was extensively tuned to be able to keep with the 426 Hemi Charger . The Mustang was needing a lot of $ to get it up to pace . Heard all this on a doco , and someone else told me it was included in a book about Steve .
Man , I seriously love that movie , I owned a 67 Galaxy , w front grill , same as the taxi and cop car they rolled in . I watch that movie a couple times a year .

The 390gt was under rated at 335 hp(insurance), and it's heads are the same as 427 low risers.
They probably bumped up the timing, made sure the carburetor was set correctly...and burnt the hemi's ass, lol.
The Dodge's extra hp had some more weight to drag along too(it also had a street hemi, not a race hemi, big hp difference).

 

[hayabuser]

The Charger was a stock '68 R/T with the 440 engine.

It also appeared to have eight hubcaps installed when it left the factory.

 

[bigoltool]

Mustang ruled!

 

[Zerks]

What can be said? It was show business Hollywood style.... it was fun watching back in the day when I worked at a drive in theatre... must have watched in dozens of times or more when the movie was first released.

 

[Bumblebee]

Watch any of those '60s, '70's and even '80s car chase scenes, some of the cars are pushing so hard in the corners their bumpers are almost touching the ground....there are many examples..a whole series of "Dukes of Hazzard", "Starsky and Hutch", Knight Rider" and the list goes on and on and on....

I liked watching the "CHiPs" bikes (in the original) turn into dirt bikes when jumping....

My buddy has a picture of his '14 Mustang on a track somewhere in Oklahoma where the inside tire is off the ground in a hard chicane...his new Mustang has the active suspension package so the likelihood of this happening is quite a bit less

 

[Bumblebee]

The 390gt was under rated at 335 hp(insurance), and it's heads are the same as 427 low risers.
They probably bumped up the timing, made sure the carburetor was set correctly...and burnt the hemi's ass, lol.
The Dodge's extra hp had some more weight to drag along too(it also had a street hemi, not a race hemi, big hp difference).

I watched a car show one time where they rounded up all the street shredding engines of the day and put them on a dyno then told us what the company rated them for hp/tq....quite a huge difference...

I wish I could find that episode on You Tube somewhere, it was pretty cool...

 

[sixpack577]

The original Gone in 60 seconds had some cool chases and crashes too.
There is a scene where the driver t-bones a parked Cadillac at a dealer...problem is the scene was even better...he hit 5 Cadillacs instead! lmao!
That scene only went 5 times over budget.
Apparently most of it was filmed in So Cal on Sundays when there was little to no traffic or police, as most scenes were done without permits, lol, why it was so real and good.
The driver clips a telephone pole on an off ramp for a pretty good unscripted crash too.
Not much of a movie other than the driving though.

 

[Bumblebee]

Some more chases..

 

[bigoltool]

Some more chases..

McQ, classic! I still have Dirty Mary and Crazy larry recorded on my DVR too!

 

[ROADTOAD1340]

McQ, classic! I still have Dirty Mary and Crazy larry recorded on my DVR too!

I got that on my mine too bro , my mate in Russia sent me 2tb of movies recently .

 

[hayabuser]

One of my fave chase scenes: