Steve McQueen Sends His Regards

2023 Author: Eric Donovan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 09:36

Not Dodge, but Ford is currently reviving the Bullitt legend. In the streets of San Francisco, North Americans introduce the new Ford Mustang of the same name.

By Stefan Grundhoff

The two automakers Ford and Dodge scramble for the story of Steve McQueen, who wrote automobile history as Lieutenant Frank Bullitt in the film of the same name by director Peter Yates. Even if many have never seen the movie Bullitt in full, there are countless car fans who have been burned into their brains by the roughly ten-minute hunting scene between a Dodge Charger R / T and a Ford Mustang. Films like “Cannonball”, “Hell is going on on the highway”, “The Fast and the Furious” or even the busy policemen from RTL's long-running TV series “Cobra-11” look like they've been struggling when compared to the legendary chase in San Francisco Schoolchildren who follow their idol without color. The name Bullitt still runs down the spine of real car and film fans today.

Reminiscences of the film

The chase through the narrow urban canyons of San Francisco brought the most impressive scenes in an extremely exciting, 113-minute long action thriller. Frank P. Keller received an Oscar for Best Editing for Bullitt in 1969. The chase between the Dodge Charger and the Ford Mustang is still considered a cinematic milestone and so it was only a matter of time which automaker struggled with history in search of image.

Ford has just launched the new Ford Mustang Bullitt on the streets of San Francisco. The Bullitt is not a new car, but rather a version of the popular Ford Mustang coupé that is popular in the USA. So it may not come as a surprise that the test models are painted in a similar dark green metallic, like the 67 Mustang Fastback from film idol Steve McQueen. For Bullitt's birthday next year, Ford is launching a special edition of the Ford Mustang with the image-enhancing addition of "Bullitt".

Company logos are missing

One looks in vain for company logos on the sports coupé, which was made hot by the in-house Ford tuning department, as in its film role model. The grille is simply black and empty apart from the two main headlights. A mighty Bullitt logo is emblazoned on the rear as well as on the spartan three-cylinder leather steering wheel. Inside there is a black leather interior and, compared to the 1968 film model, a navigation system. In terms of appearance, the Bullitt differs more from the well-known Mustang series model due to its subtle restraint.

With its 4.6-liter eight-cylinder with 315 hp, it remains well below the power of the super-Mustang Shelby, which with its 5.4-liter eight-cylinder delivers 368 kW / 500 hp and 650 Nm thanks to its supercharger. It is shifted via a well-known noticeable five-speed manual transmission. However, an enlarged braking system and a stiffer chassis with 18-inch wheels ensure that the winner of the car chases in the hilly downtown of San Francisco is certain beforehand. Compared to the Dodge Charger, which took over the automotive counterpart in Bullitt, the clearly inferior Mustangs built in 1968 had to be heavily tuned for the film in order to keep up.

Limited edition

Similar to the Ford Mustang Shelby, the Ford Mustang Bullitt is also limited. The planned 7700 models are divided between Canada and the USA. European fans of historical car chases are dependent on their own imports. At a US price of $ 31,075, some importing companies should also try to get a handful of vehicles to Europe. After all, Bullitt is also known in Germany.