1978 video, still good today

[Bill Musarra]

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 side of the road and 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

Bill

 

[Rick S.]

I saw this a couple of years ago. The soundtrack is fantastic and the street driving is completely insane. I understood it was filmed early on a sunday morning.

Everyone who is a gearhead should have a copy of this.

 

[Garry]

No way he could do thid today with the traffic in Paris and all of the parked cars filling up the streets. What a ride.
Garry

 

[Ron Earp]

Turns out he didn't do it then either, at least not in a Ferrari. The driver was the film maker himself, not a F1 driver. The true story from Wikipedia and "The Making of the Rendevous":

Production

Shot in a single take, it is an example of cinéma-vérité. The length of the film was limited by the short capacity of the reel, and filmed from a gyro-stabilised camera mounted on the bumper of a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9.<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference">[2]</sup> This model, which could reach a top speed of 235 km/h (146 mph), was only available with a 3-speed automatic transmission. Yet, one can hear gear changes up into 5th, as well as heel-and-toe down-shifting with a high-revving engine indicating speeds of well over 200 km/h. Calculations made by several independent groups showed that the car never exceeded 140 km/h (85 mph)<sup id="cite_ref-imdbtrivia_2-0" class="reference">[3]</sup>, while another<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference">[4]</sup> estimated that the car had peaked at 220 km/h (136.7 mph). Lelouch himself claimed that the top speed achieved was over 200 km/h, somewhere between 230 km/h and 240 km/h.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference">[5]</sup>It is suggested that the sound was dubbed with the noise of Lelouch's 275GTB, which has a corresponding number of gears and a similar engine note.
A making-of-the-rendezvous documentary indicates that Lelouch himself was the driver, that the car driven was the Mercedes, although the sound track is from a Ferrari. One observer was posted close to the Louvre palace at a blind junction (archway) to assist the driver.

 

[czan]

Check this out - no fake

YouTube - Getaway in Stockholm (Porsche 911)

there are alot of racingvideos by night - you just search for :

Getaway in Stockholm

at Youtube - you will find a whole bunch of scaring night-driving.

 

[czan]

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 side of the road and 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

Bill

here is the "original" video: Claude Lelouch : Ferrari @ 140mph through Paris.

Have a look here Dailymotion - Claude Lelouch : Ferrari @ 140mph through Paris - a Auto et Moto video

 

[Ron Earp]

here is the "original" video: Claude Lelouch : Ferrari @ 140mph through Paris.

Have a look here Dailymotion - Claude Lelouch : Ferrari @ 140mph through Paris - a Auto et Moto video

How is that one any different?

Claude Lelouch indicated how the video was made - with a Mercedes and him doing the driving and a Ferrari soundtrack overdubbed. If you watch carefully you'll also see a couple of spots of a film speed increase. One very evident while running through a red light.

Watch the video with no sound. You'll notice other subtle car nuances that seem very un-Ferrari like with respect to motion and turning.

 

[Al Jones]

Check this out - no fake

YouTube - Getaway in Stockholm (Porsche 911)

there are alot of racingvideos by night - you just search for :

Getaway in Stockholm

at Youtube - you will find a whole bunch of scaring night-driving.

Would have watched it but the music was intolerable.

 

[Tom Dulaney]

That was really cool, that drive through Paris made me sweaty and at the end where the blond walked up and hugged him was a perfect finish. My Dad John Dulaney starred in the #2 box office hit of 1978 in Italy, Squaddara anti Chipo AKA "Cop in Blue Jeans" with Thomas Milian and Jack Palance. In the film my Dad and Thomas Milan were under cover motorcyle cops. They had some pretty cool action scenes, but nothing like this. If there had used this in a feauture film, cutting in other shots they could match and shoot later, this would have been the "French Connection" (1971) of 1978. Thanks for the tips on other cool video, Stockholm was cool, I love this stuff!
Thanks,
Tom

 

[Daryl Adams]

The "old timers" in the Ferrari club will always give a knowing smile when the younger guys mention "Rendezvous". It's got cult status, and is the subject of much debate. (I have my own copy at home.) The director has admitted that the car used was a Mercedes sedan, not a Ferrari. The Mercedes he used had a three speed auto trans, so the five speed Ferrari sound track was clearly overdubbed. I personally watched it with a stopwatch and timed his travel from the Etoile to the Place de la Concorde and it worked out to a little over 63 MPH. At one spot he's supposedly flying along in 5th gear, but he barely passes a guy in a Renault 4 on the Champs Elysees. The camera position under the bumper gives a misleading sense of speed and the chosen lens length heightens the "flash-by" of trees and parked cars. Still, considering when it was made and the technology available, it's pretty cool, and fun to watch and listen to. Even at 40 MPH, the risks he took were pretty crazy. He evidently had spotters with radios at intersections along the way to manage traffic, but found out after the fact that one or two had radio failure and were actually powerless to help. Kind of an "Oh s%$t!" moment.

 

[Jack]

Have seen this before. A few things seemed a bit odd, now I know why.

 

[Aaron L.]

Would have watched it but the music was intolerable.

that was my first thought, but the music goes away at a little under 1:00 into the film. from then on all you hear is the flat 6.
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