Car chases are one of the most exciting parts of a cinematic experience. Smoking tires, exhaust pipes shooting flames, high speeds, weaving through traffic, drifting corners and one driver coming out on top. Often seen in films like the 007 franchise, The Bourne films, "Mission Impossible," "The Dark Knight," as others like them, almost any action movie will find a way to incorporate a high-speed car chase into the web of action that keep viewers eyes glued to the screen. But as always, there's one such scene that stands out from all the rest. And for most car enthusiasts and action movie fans, that one car chase takes place in the 1968 film, "Bullitt."
Starring the infamous Steve McQueen, "Bullitt" was a crime action movie set in San Francisco, with McQueen starring as a police lieutenant. The climax of the film features McQueen in a 1968 Mustang Fastback, chasing down two men in a Dodge Charger who were previously following him. The car chase lasts just over 10 minutes and goes from the hilly local streets of San Francisco eventually ending up on the highway where the Dodge Charger wrecks into a gas station and causes a massive explosion.
The chase scene in the movie is lauded as one of the greatest ever, and in no small part due to the vehicle that McQueen was driving: the '68 Fastback Mustang. The car immediately became incredibly popular with the public and car enthusiasts alike, with the dark green Mustang becoming the holy grail of movie memorabilia collectors across the world. Even McQueen himself fell in love with the car he used to film the chase, tracking down the original owners of the vehicle, offering to pay them any price they asked as well as replace the car with the same model just so he could be reunited with "his car". The family declined, the car went into hiding, not to be seen again for decades.
But just last year, when Ford was unveiling the new 2019 "Bullitt" Mustang, a brand new make of the Mustang offered in the same dark green color as the '68 version from the film, the actual, original car used in the film was unveiled alongside it, having finally been unearthed after 40 years hidden away. The original car was a bigger attraction than the flashy, brand new machine. Almost immediately, offers began rolling in from collectors and car enthusiasts and movie buffs from around the world, and it was announced the car would go to auction. And so it did.
Selling for a whopping $3.74 million, the Mustang was sold to a mystery buyer, finally leaving the hands of the Kiernan family who kept their secret for so long that even close family didn't know about their ownership of the famous car. So after a long journey from movie stardom to obscurity and back into the limelight, the infamous McQueen Mustang is finally back, and movie buffs and car enthusiasts everywhere are reeling from nostalgia from finally seeing the famous car on the road once again.
