Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

by **halfdome, Danny** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 9:55 am

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..............
YouTube - Rendezvous in Paris

or

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

by **FireLion** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 10:16 am

WOW! What a ride!!! Gotta love them Frenchies. :surrender:

by **mandy** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:28 pm

Whole-ly Cr@p :shock:

That was Awsome. :thumbsup:

by **tddriver** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:37 pm

The first time I saw "Rondezvous" was in 1981 as part of a college photography course. :shock:

It just keeps getting better. It is really impressive on a big screen....and it's fun to watch the audience leaning into the curves!! :lol:

by **teardrop_focus** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:40 pm

Always fascinating to see and hear (what are now-) vintage exotics being driven hard!

Yes, that footage has resurfaced and rec'd some attention within the last few years... I've seen it. I don't like how the red lights were ignored or pedestrians endangered, but I do like the noise.

:ok:

There's also stuff on YouTube like footage from Group B Rallying from the 1980's. The cars were insane; basically 450 HP euro compacts sliding on dirt roads at over 100 MPH... but the pedestrians were there by choice. The roads were closed to public vehicle traffic.

Those fans were insane... Group B's demise came after the death of several spectators within a few days' time... there was no crowd control, and the drivers couldn't see the sides of the road, yet they still had to motor hard. It was nuts.

Sorry for the threadjack, but you can YouTube search anything "Group B".

by **Mightydog** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 1:55 pm

"He drives like he's just run out of cigarettes."
--Gary Mule Dear

I got to see it in an IMax theatre once. The bigger the screen, the more you feel like you need to lean through the corners!

by **Elumia** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 3:09 pm

reminded me of this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwtZOMv7 ... re=related

Guy rides around the paris loop on a motorcycle. 11 minutes, thru traffic for a 21 mile loop

makes the ferrari on empty streets look pretty tame

Mark

by **tonyj** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 4:24 pm

Impressive, but crazy irresponsible driving.

Let's hope the young'uns don't feel a need to recreate these feats. These folk are lucky they didn't hit anything, or get hit. I love fast driving, but, c'mon--not on city streets. You t-bone someone going for a loaf of bread at 80+ and all the fun gets sucked right out of that ride.

by **planovet** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:33 pm

by **Ivar the Red** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:48 pm

That was so cool...I feel like I've seen Paris now. :lol:

by **del** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 6:53 pm

Very cool Danny, almost as cool as the bandits.

del

by **Nitetimes** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 8:08 am

All things considered, that was pretty damn cool!! From the sounds of it if he'd have had a better set of tires and a more modern suspension setup he probably could have cut his time a little!!
Obviously one helluva driver. :thumbsup:

by **angib** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 5:28 pm

Elumia wrote:reminded me of this video
Guy rides around the paris loop on a motorcycle. 11 minutes, thru traffic for a 21 mile loop

It won't surprise anyone to learn that the Black Prince riding that motorcycle is now dead from a motorcycle crash.

I don't think anyone could improve on that Ferrari time as even at 4am, Paris isn't that empty now, like any modern city. The absence of many/any parked cars on most of the streets is amazing.

Andrew

by **halfdome, Danny** » Sat Jun 06, 2009 10:35 pm

I was searching for that car in the video and came across another version of the story

Danny

by **tonyj** » Sun Jun 07, 2009 5:46 pm

halfdome, Danny wrote:I was searching for that car in the video and came across another version of the story Danny

You just can't trust the French!

(Just kidding--it's a line from a movie)

Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Paris In A Ferrari 275 GTB

Paris In A Ferrari 275 GTB

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