May 9, 2007 at 9:58 pm
I am trying to track down a specific film i saw once on the BBC show ‘top gear’.
Basically it features a car driving through Paris at high speed, taken in the 1970s i believe. I think it is quite well known, but i don’t recall the name. Anyone know if its on youtube or something?
By: steve rowell - 13th May 2007 at 10:14
It doesn’t matter if it was a Mercedes or a Skoda..5.30AM or 5.30PM..he’s still an imbecile
By: kicks - 12th May 2007 at 17:18
i’ve done some digging, and found out that the maker of the film was the driver, and it was in his own Mercedes, not a Ferrari. It was done at 5.30am to avoid traffic.
It was definitly a Ferrari. Also it was not him, I remember reading a piece where he said that he would have ploughed it into the first wall or car.
http://www.axe-net.be/rdv/presentation.php
This photo (in the link) would suggest that it was a benz 450SEL a 6.9lt. with the Ferrari engine dubbed over.
Also in wikipedia there is an article with references to him saying that he was the driver and it was a benz.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Lelouch
This article is where most people get their info from, and claim that wikipedia is reliable. However just yesterday I called a columinst in a national newspaper ‘gay’ and emailed the article to him and it still has not been changed. (Oh and he took it as the joke it was and replied with a frendly e-mail.)
By: J Boyle - 12th May 2007 at 15:38
i’ve done some digging, and found out that the maker of the film was the driver, and it was in his own Mercedes, not a Ferrari. It was done at 5.30am to avoid traffic.
Not to dispute you, but the soundtrack does sound like a Ferrari V-12. A Mercedes, even a V-8 of the period, would not sound like that.
By: jbritchford - 12th May 2007 at 14:48
i’ve done some digging, and found out that the maker of the film was the driver, and it was in his own Mercedes, not a Ferrari. It was done at 5.30am to avoid traffic.
By: Grey Area - 12th May 2007 at 10:55
For some inexplicable reason, the words “what”, “an”, “irresponsible”, “selfish” and “feckwit” are trying to arrange themselves into a sentence in my mind……. :diablo:
By: kicks - 12th May 2007 at 10:30
was it ever leaked who the driver was?
No it has been hinted at but he faces a lifetime racing ban (pointless now, he has probably quit) and jail.
I agree he knew how to control a car but even on F1 the drivers make mistakes so it’s better than boy racers but still dangerous.
By: steve rowell - 12th May 2007 at 06:22
If he wasn’t a professional race driver, he would have killed himself…
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Or some innocent child playing in the street..professional or not he should have been put behind bars for endangering the lives of the general public
By: Jonesy - 12th May 2007 at 04:34
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7503638729249272041
not the version with the music.
Enjoy
That version may not have music but bloody hell what a soundtrack!. The guy may have been bordering on homicidal, obviously not something that could be condoned, but his skills were utterly astounding…was it ever leaked who the driver was?
By: J Boyle - 12th May 2007 at 03:55
If he’s a professional God help us
If he wasn’t a professional race driver, he would have killed himself…
I didn’t say what he did was wise, but I’d trust him more than half the idiots (drunks, most kids, some of the elderly and people who can’t really control a car) on the motorway.
Overall, a great piece of Cinéma vérité.
A bit of vicarious fun from before the day of video games.
By: steve rowell - 12th May 2007 at 00:46
Maybe…
But having a professional race driver in a proper car that can steer and stop sounds less dangerous than some kid in a boy racer GTI, or some teenage girl chatting on a cell phone while driving.
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.
If he’s a professional God help us
By: Ren Frew - 11th May 2007 at 18:39
Sounds like it may have been the inspiration for this very funny movie…
By: J Boyle - 11th May 2007 at 18:31
Sounds like an irresponsible moron to me
Maybe…
But having a professional race driver in a proper car that can steer and stop sounds less dangerous than some kid in a boy racer GTI, or some teenage girl chatting on a cell phone while driving.
By: kicks - 10th May 2007 at 10:43
Sounds like an irresponsible moron to me
That is not in doubt.
By: steve rowell - 10th May 2007 at 01:48
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. 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 until a DVD release a few years ago.
Try this but it may not work.
http://www.automotoportal.com/article/Ferrari_275_GTB_driven_by_Formula_1_driver_through_Paris_at_140MPH
Sounds like an irresponsible moron to me
By: kicks - 10th May 2007 at 00:21
This Will Work!
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7503638729249272041
not the version with the music.
Enjoy
By: kicks - 10th May 2007 at 00:12
Maybe this is it?
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. 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 until a DVD release a few years ago.
Try this but it may not work.
http://www.automotoportal.com/article/Ferrari_275_GTB_driven_by_Formula_1_driver_through_Paris_at_140MPH
By: kicks - 10th May 2007 at 00:11
The one with the man in his ferrari and the camera stuck to the front?