Finding Bullitt

[Hudson]

Hudson here. I've been a bit quiet on the forum of late, as my day job and other projects have taken up my riding time.

Anyway, wanted to share a fun McQueen project and enlist your help. You may have read about the recent claim that a Bullitt Mustang was located in Mexico. Maybe so, maybe not - there is still a bit of sleuthing to be done. And that's the project McQueen Racing (the company formed by McQueen's only son) has started - a search to find the missing Mustangs from the iconic film "Bullitt".

Yes, there was more than one Mustang that went missing. The first car, the "jumper" car, was scrapped. That's the one the Mexico car is claimed to be, except that many of the parts of the car that would help identify it as a Bullitt car were removed. There's two VIN numbers on the car and a few other potential clues, but to our knowledge, no one who originally worked on those cars or knows about their modifications has seen or verified them, and the sole claim to authenticity was having a Mustang expert examine the car and claim the car's tags are real. Better would be to have other experts join and analyze the car, and perhaps subject the car to some additional testing and scrutiny. Hopefully the claim bears out - it would be nice to know one of the cars is still here.

However,there's another one, alleged to be in hiding in the Midwest, stored by a collector who is alleged to be zealous in guarding his privacy. A few folks claim to know him, but nobody's talking.

The 50th Anniversary of Bullitt is coming up next year, and we are in pre-production on a documentary about the film, but it would be AMAZING if we could find and validate the second car. Ford and Warner Bros. have graciously opened their archives to help us in the research. We have Matt Stone, the former head of Motor Trend, leading the investigation and doing a more thorough review and research. But we need more eyes on this search.

I figured that in the venn diagram of car guys and motorcycle guys, there are more than a few folks in the middle. If you live in Kentucky or Tennessee and have heard any tales about a Bullitt Mustang supposedly stored in a nearby barn, well...would love to hear from you.

The site we set up is Finding Bullitt, which contains several posts and FAQ's with links about information on the two cars, and a form to submit any tips. We also have a Facebook page to update on the search progress. Time is ticking by. If you know of something, or know someone who might, please send our way.

 

[exskibum]

Very, very cool, Hudson! Looking forward to what comes out of this. (In '69, I owned a '67 fastback w/ 289 and C4 auto, but saw Bullitt and just coveted that '68 GT with stick and 390.)

 

[eflyguy]

I've shared this with the folks who run Caffeine and Octane, the largest monthly show in North America. Their FB page has close to 40,000 followers - that might lead to something.

 

[JamesW]

Admirable undertaking, glad to see your still about.

 

[dave k]

In regards to Exskibums post 41 years ago I was a lot boy and there was a black 68 390 4 speed mustang on the lot and yes I did drive it regularly what blast ! and there was a few light too light contests held on rainier ave in Renton Wa. That all Folks.

 

[Hudson]

I've shared this with the folks who run Caffeine and Octane, the largest monthly show in North America. Their FB page has close to 40,000 followers - that might lead to something.

Thanks EflyGuy - the ability nowadays to crowd source online really makes it much more likely that the cars can be located.

More eyes and ears on this is great!

 

[Hudson]

If you were watching coverage of the Detroit Auto show today, you heard about the news - Ford surprised the press by introducing the missing 1968 Mustang - the hero car that Steve drove in the original film - with Steve's granddaughter Molly McQueen announcing the car just after unveiling the 2019 Bullitt Mustang. This was the culmination of our Finding Bullitt project which started nearly a year ago. The show crowd was incredulous - the whereabouts of this car had been a myth for 40 years.

Original Car Unveiled:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Q5pHm2Cfq4

The story of the original 1968 is wonderful. It was purchased by a Warner Bros employee after the filming ended, then sold to a police officer in Jersey. The third owner bought it in 1974 for $6,000 after being the only one to respond to an ad placed in Road & Track. While Steve McQueen tracked him down and made several offers to buy the car, the owner declined. He and his wife drove the car as their only car until 1977 and parked it in 1980 after the birth of their son. It sat until 2014 - after the owner died, his son began the task of getting it running.

Full story:



It's mostly original - no restoration and with its original patina. Hagerty's estimates the car to be worth at least $4M, and likely much higher.

We're working on a documentary that will tell the full story of Bullitt, and with chapters on this car and the shell of the stunt car found in Mexico last year, which was supposed to have been scrapped, but is now being restored. Will update the thread when we have more to share.

 

[Niehart]

And at last you get to tell the dang story! It must have been hard to keep that under raps.

 

[Uncle Hud]

Saw the movie the other night on Turner Classic Movies. Loved it 50 years ago; loved it last week.

Another director, William Friedkin, was commenting with Alec Baldwin, and said something like this:

It's a great movie and the chase scenes were groundbreaking. But I screened it a couple of times and realized there were no other cars on the streets; made the chase scenes a little sterile. When I filmed French Connection a few years later, we filmed our chase scenes without closing any streets, so there were cars, trucks, and pedestrians everywhere. Now, I wouldn't dream of doing that again, but I think it made our chase scenes more realistic.

Couldn't decide if he was pulling my leg ....

 

[Auburn]

Saw the movie the other night on Turner Classic Movies. Loved it 50 years ago; loved it last week.
Another director, William Friedkin, was commenting with Alec Baldwin, and said something like this:

It's a great movie and the chase scenes were groundbreaking. But I screened it a couple of times and realized there were no other cars on the streets; made the chase scenes a little sterile. When I filmed French Connection a few years later, we filmed our chase scenes without closing any streets, so there were cars, trucks, and pedestrians everywhere. Now, I wouldn't dream of doing that again, but I think it made our chase scenes more realistic.

Couldn't decide if he was pulling my leg ....

Or could be jealousy that the Bullitt chase is the standard that all others were/are judged to because it was so groundbreaking.

 

[Knifemaker]

Pretty good car chase scene in the movie "Ronin" ....

 

[eflyguy]

Saw it on Jay Leno's Garage yesterday.. very cool!

 

[Bounce]

Technically, McQueen knew where it was (last previous owner to now) for a very long time. He'd made offers to the owner that were declined.

 

[BikerGeek99]

That's pretty damn cool.

 

[El Toro Joe]

Very cool!

 

[Panman]

Pretty cool Dave, just now took the time to watch the clips. Your a blessed man, you get involved in some pretty cool stuff.

 

[Cav47]

Gosh, I thought this thread was about Bourbon.

Glad I was mistaken. I will keep my eyes out around here. Lots of barns that could house pretty much anything

 

[Niehart]

https://youtu.be/Io6n2sGvs7M