Hey Guys,
Sorry that my previous post on the subject of "Bullitt" somehow got sent
twice... Must have been an unknown draft copy hanging out somewhere.
Also sorry to play the Grinch here but...
The simple fact is that Steve McQueen did NOT do his own stunt driving in
Bullitt, he did not even do a significant amount for the reasons stated in
my previous post. This is well documented in the contemporaneous literature
as in many interviews Steve himself credited the driving to others. Also
many auto mags have run stories on the chase scene over the years, most
notably Autoweek in the recent past. The best article I ever saw on it was
in one of the "Supercar" mags many years ago.
As I previously stated Steve was an accomplished competition driver. He once
finished the Sebring 12 Hour first in class and second over all to Mario
Andretti! (Well, it seems to me that Peter Revson had some small
involvement...) And McQueen had one foot in a cast while he drove his
Porsche 908. (He busted the foot racing a bike at Elsinore.)
I believe (though I am not certain) that he did his own driving in LeMANS.
(A movie I watched only once.) He also did his own motorcycle stunts in
several movies (he was a big motorcycle racer and fan and owned over 150
bikes at the time of his death). He was rumored to have done the bike stunts
in THE GREAT ESCAPE but I have never seen that authenticated. (That bike, no
matter what the Germans say, was a Triumph.) (It was disguised as a BMW.)
In at least one case (late in the 70's) after he was already a big name he
rode stunts in a cheapie motorcycle flick in which he did NOT act, just
stunted for the hell of it.
He also stunted aircraft though not (so far as I can recall) in the movies.
He owned and flew a Stearman.
He was an accomplished horseman and when he was made an "honorary member" of
the stuntman's union it was on the basis of his horseback stunts.
Incidentally, he became a "born again" Christian shortly before his death.
His first new car, I have been told by folks who were there, was a Porsche.
(I think the car he drove in LeMANS was a 917?) But his favorite ride and
daily driver for many years was a Jaguar... An authentic SS, not a D-Type
clone.
I just finished watching VANISHING POINT for the first time in many, many
years. I had completely forgotten the bit where the Challenger raced the
E-Type which wrecked. A very, very good chase movie but I really got upset
when they had the wrong type wheels on the Challenger they wrecked at the
end. The Devil is in the details...
Cheers!
--Colin Cobb, Las Cruces, NM, USA
'41 Chevrolet Coupe, '65 Sunbeam Tiger, '66 Morgan Plus Four, '89 Alfa Romeo
Spider (FOR SALE)
> From: owner-british-cars-digest@autox.team.net (british-cars-digest)
> Date: Sat, 9 Dec 2000 13:36:04 -0700 (MST)
> To: british-cars-digest@autox.team.net
> Subject: british-cars-digest V1 #203
>
> a whole lot of books have it wrong
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