The Need For Speed!

[vintageracer]

On an August morning in 1978, French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized camera to the bumper of a Ferrari 275 GTB and had a friend, a professional Formula 1 racer, drive at breakneck speed through the heart of Paris early in the morning . The film was limited for technical reasons to 10 minutes; the course was from Porte Dauphine , through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit.

The driver completed the course in about 9 minutes, reaching nearly 140 MPH in some stretches. The footage reveals him running real red lights, nearly hitting real pedestrians, and driving the wrong way up real one-way streets.

Upon showing the film in public for the first time, Lelouch was arrested. He has never revealed the identity of the driver, and the film went underground. If you haven't seen this before it is a classic, if you have seen it I apologize, but it's still a classic. Turn on your sound and enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqHrCLt3Geo

[slowcamaro]

Hah...wonder if this will get locked?

[Young Gun]

wow...

[WS6]

Great video! The drive is nuts for doing it but wow can he drive. The story behind it is great as well.

[romar 02 SS]

Next to the movie LeMans that is my favorite vid.

[NOT A TA]

Thanks for posting! I'd never seen it.

[mpozzi]

If it's the film I think it is, the title's "Rendezvous."

Cheers,
Mary Pozzi

[vanzuuk1]

The drivers name is said to be Jaque laffite, noted as driver for the ligier/gitanes F1 team.

Its a classicand I love to see it resurfacenow and then...my all time faves are this and the hans stuck video at the ring,also the ken block/subaru video.


Also bullittmadmaxthesevenupsrenchconnectiondirtymarycr azylarryvanishingpointlemansgranprix......

[oestek]

That's killer.

[-The Stig-]

I heard it wasn't mounted on a Ferrari, it was mounted on like a Volvo of some sort and the Ferrari sounds were dubbed in. Judging by the speeds that are claimed, it looks nothing like it 140mph.

Plus, if traffic is doing say 30-40mph, if he's doing 100mph faster he would be flying past, not 'casually' passing them.



But... with that said, it's still a cool video to watch. I've always wanted to my own version of it here locally, but... I know my towns, there are way too many cops around to complete it. hahah

[fantasygoat]

It was revealed that it wasn't a Ferrari, it was a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9, a fine car in it's own right.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%27%C3%A9tait_un_rendez-vous

[-The Stig-]

Ah, yes... I knew it was something Non-Ferrari. I still love the concept of the movie though.

[cityofthesouth]

There is a white car on the right side of the screen at the 5:39 mark. It's not a Mustang right? At full speed as it goes by it seems to have the right lines for a 71+ but paused, there is something not quite right in the rear. It's not clear though so I dunno.