Idiocy - or just a Death Wish?


R

RALPHIE

GT Owner
Mar 1, 2007
7,278
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. Turn on your sound...!

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

(Other reports state that Lelouch drove his own Mercedes, and dubbed in the Ferrari audio - either way, the speed seems real as the birds fly away, and the one slowdown around the bus)
 
I've had this on video for over 20 years. If you turn the sound off, it doesn't look that fast. I suspect the sound is fake, making the car seem like it is going much faster than it really is.
 
As I stated when this was 1st posted, the clown driving that car should S-T-I-L-L be in jail.

It was ONLY by the Grace of God that moron didn't kill somebody regardless of what his actual speeds may have been.
 
Hmmm, I liked it.
 
It's a Classic. What's the fuss about?? :biggrin
 
I have a confession. That was me in my younger days driving a Peugeot 404. I was dating a young french girl that sent me on an errand. I was promised juicy romance upon my return with an Arm Pit Shaver in one hand and Deodorant in the other:ack.
 
centerpunch said:
I suspect the sound is fake, making the car seem like it is going much faster than it really is.
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Agree. My guess is about 50-60 mph thru alot of it.

Easy to find out one way or the other if anyone here knows the exact distance involved vs. the claimed elapsed time. :biggrin
 
I agree with pockets. the center lane stripes are not going that fast and when he passes a car it is not more than 2X their speed. also the blinking trafic lights are not very fast.
 
Beach-GT said:
... the center lane stripes are not going that fast and when he passes a car it is not more than 2X their speed.
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I didn't use the center stripes 'cause I don't know how far appart they are in Europe. I was using both the relative speed of the cars being passed (as you did), the speed of the cross traffic, and the relative speed AT WHICH the trees, etc., APPEARED to be going by...
 
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Empty Pockets said:
...and the relative speed of the trees, etc., going by...
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Are those Whippled or TT trees? Normally aspirated? I wonder what tires they use? hmmm...

:lol :lol
 
RALPHIE said:
Are those Whippled or TT trees? Normally aspirated? I wonder what tires they use? hmmm...
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:skep I hopes yo mama... :skep

Are you now, or have you ever by any chance been a spin artist for any politicians we may have heard of at one time or another? :lol
 
I didn't read the intro. I thought that Lady Di was leaving some hotel in Paris.:willy

Looked Fake to me, or at least enhanced sound. like Empty Pockets said, those stripes were not moving that fast on the straights. :bs
 
I've got the DVD. It's a great film, but the legend and the reality are most likely not quite the same thing - but it's all very interesting nonetheless. If you Google "C'était un Rendez-vous documentary", you'll get some interesting results including these:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHn5Q15kaIA This appears to be a video of Claude Lelouch explaining how he made the film. Any French speakers to give us a summary of this?

http://www.fordforums.com.au/showthread.php?t=11251790 An Aussie Ford forum with the text of a Claude Lelouch interview (translated to English) explaining how he made the film. No source given, so I can't vouch for the authenticity.

http://www.rendezvousdvd.com/ The DVD web page with "The Legend" text which is on the DVD. Deliberately vague, of course - they want to sell you the DVD!
 
From what I recall, the car actually used for the driving was a Gullwing, as the 275 bounced the film around a lot. the sound was spliced later...
 
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