Driving through Paris at 140 mph. Whoa!

[trof]

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.

Granted, most Parisians take their 'vacanse' in August, so there tends to be much less traffic than during the rest of the year.

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.

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

[flvegan]

1. Oh, the noise of a vintage Italian V12!

I see there are some doubting Marys in the comments section. Whatever. Someone would have to go to a lot of trouble to get the engine revs and gear changes right in the sound dept.

I don't know how they kept windnoise out of it, but man that sounded good.

[trof]

2. Got my testosterone going.

;-)

[flvegan]

3. Couple points during that I'd have pissed myself.

Now granted, F1 drivers are way beyond that.

[Pierre.Suave]

4. I have seen this film many times

and there is a lot of controversy around the specifics.

I have to admit, there are times I doubt its authenticity because the noise and the speed do not seem to match, etc...

[trof]

5. Somebody always rains

on my parade.
:-(

[CaliforniaPeggy]

6. My God!

So amazing!

I watched it full screen, and that really increases its impact.

Hehehe...I said "impact."

Really fun!

Thanks, trof.

*whew*

[no name no slogan]

7. How many tickets did he get?

[trof]

13. Zip.

[pokerfan]

8. Not a Ferrari but a Mercedes according to this site

I remember seeing this years ago.

To dispel a couple of myths, the car used is not a Ferrari as widely believed, but a Mercedes. The likely reason for the confusion is that the sound of a Ferrari was dubbed on later by the Director.

http://worldtv.com/blog/my_favourite_video_clips/claude_lelouch_ferrari_in_paris_1.php">Claude Lelouch - Ferrari in Paris

Still, it's some fast driving.

[trof]

10. Interesting. Thanks.

This came to me in an email.
Didn't snope it.

[flvegan]

12. I'd like to know what pre-1978 Mercedes is that fast and handles like that.

If that's a Merc, the whole film is a fraud. The 300SL and the 6.3 would have been all over the road. I know it wasn't the 450. I had one of them, and even with the Stig at the wheel, no way.

I guess if they seriously modified one, maybe.

[fishwax]

17. The 450SEL 6.9

The same car featured in Ronin--at least according to this website: http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/11/most-radical-car-movie-of-all-time.html

There's info about the car about 1/3 down the page ...

[flvegan]

18. They'd have had to swap the gearing, then.

That car was a high speed cruiser. The torque coming out of that after slowing down...I don't know.

If it is true, I'm very impressed by the dubbing of the sound. It's just perfect.

[tigereye]

9. seems a little silly to have arrested him after the fact..

that was fun to watch - thanks! Luckily no large truck pulled square in front of him, though. A few garbage trucks almost were taken out, though. :D

[pokerfan]

15. trivia from imdb

Trivia for C'était un rendez-vous (1976)...

* The film was shot in a single take, without any special effects or stuntmen, with the director driving the car.

* The idea for this film came to Claude Lelouch after hiring a gyro stabilized camera mount for a film he was working on at the time.

* The film is nine minutes long because the film cartridge in the camera could only hold 10 minutes of film and it was taken in a single shot.

* Lelouch was arrested shortly after the film was screened but was later released without charge.

* The route taken in the film is 10.42 km long (6.48 mi). It takes the driver 7:57 to cover that distance, giving him an average speed of 78.64 km/h (48.86 mph).

* According to recent claims by Claude Lelouch, he was driving his own Mercedes in the film, and later dubbed over the sound of a Ferrari 275GTB to give the impression of much higher speeds. Calculations made by several independent groups using the film show that the car never exceeds 140 km/h (85 mph), which seems to lend credence to his recent comments.

* Three people were in the car, with Claude Lelouch at the wheel.

* Resulting in a notable contrast of moods, the original release of this film in the U.S. was as a short showing before Woody Allen's Interiors (1978).

* Until recently, there was no confirmation of who was driving or what car he was driving. Over the years, various sources claimed an F1 driver was at the wheel of a Le Mans Matra 675, Ferrari 275 GTB, or an Alpine A110. However, Claude Lelouch confirmed on his official website in March 2006 that he was driving, and it was a 6.9 litre Mercedes.

* This footage is now being used as the music video for Snow Patrol's latest single "Open Your Eyes". (March 2007)

[sammythecat]

23. "seems a little silly to have arrested him after the fact."

You might want to rethink that.

I'm pretty sure that's when most all arrests are made. First, you commit a crime. THEN you get arrested.

[tigereye]

24. no, after the FILM was shown long after the fact

sigh.

[sammythecat]

26. "after the FILM was shown long after the fact "

Yes, the FILM, which I imagine authorities considered EVIDENCE. How long a period of time had elapsed since the commission of the crimes would only be relevant if the statute of limitations had been exceeded. Whether or not that was the case, I don't know.

[tigereye]

31. well, art ain't generally the same as crime.

Nevermind, and have a nice day.

[sammythecat]

32. "well, art ain't generally the same as crime."

I agree. It ain't.

Unless it's against the law.

[Auggie]

11. Wow! That is fun. And it has a cool ending, too.

[datasuspect]

14. hauling ass is my personal credo

that gave me wood.

[trof]

16. Yer welcome. For the wood.

I don't think I ever did that before.
:rofl:

[WinkyDink]

19. The yellow car looks like a Jaguar to me!

[sammythecat]

20. Well, I watched to the end

and it was exciting footage, but really...the people who did this are assholes. Other people were put at incredible risk. I don't care who the driver is or how responsive the car, this was an asshole thing to do and they should have been penalized to the max. Twice.

And I'm pretty sure this guy would agree (hat tip to Redqueen for posting this a while back).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=su4ETyW6xho

[NYC_SKP]

21. The most STUPID and Dangerous and Selfish and Careless think I've seen in a while.

Wasn't even that great a driver, some serious downshifting problems there.

How easily someone might have crossed the street and been killed, or one of those little Citroens turned in front of him.

Stupid fucking asshole.

Quite exciting to watch, however!

[kentauros]

28. I'm glad he was arrested.

Too bad the charges didn't stick, though.

I didn't bother to watch as I do not condone such behaviour. Wanna race? Take it to a track!

[Arugula Latte]

30. Yep ...

"What happened to your grandmother?"

"Well, she was splattered by a car going 140 because, you know, this guy wanted to make a movie."

"Oh. Okay."

[pokerfan]

22. More reckless driving

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ty-7bTId5M

[Blue_Tires]

25. i bought the remastered DVD some years back

cost was kinda high (about $33 with shipping)... had i only known a few years later i could see it on youtube for free...:banghead:

and then i found out about the mercedes and dubbed sound much later :dunce:

but still, it's a fun, creative piece of cinematography which took major stones to make...and while I haven't been there (yet), there could NOT been a more beautiful city in the world at that time other than Paris

[DS1]

27. I've seen this a few times. He's not going that fast, it's obviously dubbed

You'd be a clown to think those tire noises are real.

And there's alllll sorts of acceleration noise, but no actual acceleration. The engine dubbing sucks monkayballs. Sorry 5gan, it blows.

[Ohio Joe]

29. WTF?

I thought this had to be about Paris Hilton :P