Recollections of "Bullitt" - Page 2

Flyin_Freddie · #21 (**permalink**) 07-29-2002, 08:57 AM

I know, I know...not a real movie, but there were some interesting car stunts in it, and I love the premise of the whole thing. One of the stunts involves jumping the Firebird through the open doors of a moving boxcar....into one side of the open doors, straight through and out the other side! I've seen a "You Asked For It" kind of program that featured how they did this stunt. Ramps were built, and the train came by several times with each run being timed as accurately as possible. From those timing runs, they calculated just when the car had to start, how fast it had to accelerate and exactly when it had to hit the ramp. After more calculating, the stunt driver said he had it...and then proceeded to do it in ONE TAKE! It was most impressive...cleared the doors, the sides of the rail car, the other doors, etc. Pretty neat...!

On a side note, while picking up a Porsche 944 on the Porsche Club 'Treffen' in 1984, we were tearing across France on our way back to Stuttgart, Zuffenhausen, to have the car prepared for shipping back to USA. Well as we were haulin' butt across France, I let some of the other folks on the tour get a little too far in front of me and my wife, so we were pretty much letting it all hang out trying to catch up to them. The road went down across this valley and we could see a railroad coming into us at about a 30 degree angle from the left. As we approached the crossing, we had to make a slight left then an immediate slight right in order to cross the tracks at a right angle. But, there was also a small road right in front if us that paralleled the tracks. Well, hell, I was doing about 80-85, and when the crossing came up, I had to make an immediate decision whether to jog left, or take the smaller road. So, I just went straight down the smaller road....that turned out to be a dirt road! I jammed on the brakes, dust flyin' everywhere, jammed it into reverse, and nailed the throttle while I sidestepped the clutch...more dust everywhere, tires squallin' in the dirt and then squealin' when I hit the pavement again. My wife is laughing and hollering "SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT! SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT!"...I'm dying laughin' at all this, as I nailed the throttle in first and headed for the railroad crossing to my left. But the funniest part was this little Frenchman, standing on the other side of the tracks sorta leaning on a shovel. He was just to the left of the crossing, and he was laughing and pointing down the road we should have taken...gesturing that "They went that-a-way!" We honked, threw him a wave and as we were all three laughing our asses off, Karen and I flew across the tracks and kept on with the chase. We've often remembered this incident and we always both wind up laughing about it all over again! We've also often wondered about what the little Frenchman said to his wife that evening!

Jamo · #22 (**permalink**) 07-29-2002, 09:55 AM

Flyin
Re the Firebird through the train car--who in the heck would want to do a second take on such a stunt, especially if the first one didn't work? Ouch!

I was driving my Dad's pickup, following a friend in his dad's pickup while we played Smokey through some hillside citrus groves--lots of dust. He knew the route; I didn't. He made the 90 degree turn after the crest of a small hill; I didn't. I landed in the middle of a pond; he didn't.

John Montgomery · #23 (**permalink**) 07-29-2002, 06:52 PM

Anybody know McQueen had a Cobra? The caption under the picture didn't print, but it states, "In June 1963, Steve McQueen paid a visit to Shelby American and a few days later took delivery of his 289 Cobra from Carroll Shelby in front of the Princeton Street race shop".

A couple of months ago there was a special on Speed Channel, or TNN, which said that there were 2 Mustangs: one was destroyed making the movie and the other is owned by a recluse in Chicago who refuses to let anybody see it. Jeez......

Cal Metal · #24 (**permalink**) 07-29-2002, 07:30 PM

A couple of weeks ago at Elkhart, I asked Phil Remington about the actors and other dignitaries that visited the Venice shop. Phil said that many came looking but very few ever bought the cars.

In McQueen's case, he said that McQ was lent the car by Shelby to see if he wanted to buy it or not. According to Rem, he had it a couple of weeks, beat the heck out of it, and then returned it to the shop and passed on buying it. He said that was pretty typical.

bonyhadi · #25 (**permalink**) 07-29-2002, 09:05 PM

Cal,
I heard the same stories of the Shelby demos. Of course everyone laughed about what the renters did to abuse the Hertz GT350H except Hertz management and their stockholders.
Nevertheless, McQueen was great for our sport and built quite a stable. Now Nicolas Cage seems
to be a buyer and seller. Have watched his cars go accross the block and he seems to have a very'
diversified taste, including some replicas like a JagD.

Cal Metal · #26 (**permalink**) 07-29-2002, 09:52 PM

One of the offending, according to Rem, was a person associated with the Rip Chords who produced the song, "Hey Little Cobra". According to him, everytime Shelby went over to pick up the lent Cobra, the person was never home. He said that it took him almost a year to retrieve the car.

Randy Klein · #27 (**permalink**) 08-11-2002, 12:41 PM

For those days when you just can't get any traction, here is a link to the 10 "best" car movies...and more!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...253734-5603207
Enjoy folks!

Aussie Mike · #28 (**permalink**) 08-11-2002, 05:51 PM

I bought the DVD of Bullitt a while back and it's well worth having in your collection. There is a whole featurette on the making of the movie which covers a lot of the driving.

It's called "Commitment to realisim" or something like that. They were so serious about the realism that the hospital scenes were filmed in a real hospital and they used the real doctors and nurses in the scenes. Lots of behind the scenes footage and comentary from the actors. Well worth buying.

Cheers

ohekk · #29 (**permalink**) 03-21-2003, 11:12 PM

OH..OH!

Wife is P.O'd and went to bed as I am watching "Bullitt" AGAIN!
...for the hundreth time!

What a great race scene...however...this time I noticed a resemblence between the shooter, the guy with gray hair, and our beloved TURK!

I admit I've never met either in person...though as I watched that scene, the picture of Turk with the Moose antlers flashed before me.

By the way...what was the name of that actor?

I don't recall seeing him in other movies.

Rumor has it he became a bus driver then dropped out of sight.

TerrysSPF · #30 (**permalink**) 03-22-2003, 11:27 AM

My grandfather knew Steve McQueen. Have some great photos of the 2 of them together! My grandpa was a car nut also, and, rumor has it, they would talk cars all night. My uncle has an autographed copy of Bullitt (got it after my Grandpa died). They (my grandpa and McQueen) both had the same doctor (Dr. Kelly)that got kicked out of the states because he had a "cure for cancer". Cancer is BIG business here. They both went to see him down in Mexico. My grandpa survived, McQueen didn't. Supposedly, his cancer was too far along to be cured. My uncle has some neat stories about that Doctor and some of the people (especially celebs) he had for patients! My uncle was also a patient of his and knows his daughter very well. Dr. Kelly died not too long ago. Cause of death was "unknown". He had a lot of people in the states that wanted to see him gone, though!

Cal Metal · #31 (**permalink**) 03-22-2003, 12:16 PM

The master behind the wheel of the Dodge Charger was Bill Hickman, I think. He was a stunt driver of extraordinary talent whose driving skills were also used in the classics, "The French Connnection" and "The Seven Ups".

Paul George, if memory serves, was the gray haired, killer side kick who rode (literally) shotgun in the movie.

Bud Eikens and Carey Loftin did most of the tricky driving with the Mustang. Eikens is the one who also laid down the motorcycle during the chase scene (Terry K correct me if I am wrong) near NBC mountain, in the later scene of the chase.

Here's a great "Bullitt" link...

Bullitt2002 · #32 (**permalink**) 03-22-2003, 12:32 PM

Looks like I've registered at the right time. Hi, guys. This is my first posting.

I own a 2002 Bullitt Mustang with a few goodies added. I also have Steve McQueen posters hanging in the garage and have watched the movie a gadjillion times. I'm really not an impressionable person. Or am I ? Hmmm...

Bud Man · #33 (**permalink**) 03-22-2003, 01:53 PM

Next time you watc the movie, look closely at the scene where the Charger hits the barrier and explodes. If you look carefully, you will see the Charger exit on the other side. Apparently, the camera angle wasn't quite right, and they chose not to reshoot it.

Can't blame 'em!!!

Bud

computerworks · #34 (**permalink**) 03-22-2003, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ohekk

What a great race scene...however...this time I noticed a resemblence between the shooter, the guy with gray hair, and our beloved TURK!

I admit I've never met either in person...though as I watched that scene, the picture of Turk with the Moose antlers flashed before me.

...Turk's a lot older... and shorter.