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It’s hard to imagine a cop-show or an action movie without a car chase and one of the all-time best chases is the one in the 1968 Movie Bullit. That 10-minute clip is now available on You Tube.

Bullitt Mustang – J-Ham2000

We can’t imagine that any historic Vehicles website visitors haven’t seen the movie, but, if not, the car chase involves an undoubted modern classic: the 1968 Mustang 390 GT.

Warner Bros ordered two identical 1968 Mustangs for filming. Prior to filming, the cars were modified by Max Balchowsky: one for the stunt driving and the other for the star, Steve McQueen’s close-up driving shots.

(McQueen was a world-class race driver himself, but the studio insisted on stunt drivers being used for the riskier shots!)

The close-up car had successive owners and Steve McQueen tried to buy it at one stage, but was unsuccessful. In 2020, the car was sold by Mecum Auctions for US$3.7 million to an unidentified buyer.

The stunt car was badly damaged and sold, ostensibly for scrap, but in 2016, one Hugo Sanchez purchased a pair of Mustang coupes from the backyard of a house near Los Cabos, Mexico. He sent the cars to Ralph Garcia, to start work on turning one into a clone of the Eleanor Mustang from the film Gone in 60 Seconds. 

Realising one of the two Mustangs was an S-code, Garcia had the car authenticated by Kevin Marti. The authentication revealed this to be the lost Bullitt car and it was subsequently restored.

Check out the chase once more:

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