Growing up car obsessed I made it a point to watch every car movie I found out about. This was not so easy back in the 1970s before streaming video, cable channels, DVDs or even VHS tapes. The only way to see films during that period was in the theater when they were released or on late night television. During a discussion with some adult friends about movies with cars I was told I had to see Bullitt. I'd never heard of it, probably because it was released when I was all of four years old. Luckily, not long after being told about it I found it playing on television. I sat through quite a bit of a detective story featuring an actor I'd heard of but knew little about: Steve McQueen. Finally, McQueen gets into his 1968 Mustang fastback and is followed by two thugs in a Dodge Charger. The next ten minutes changed my life.
Much has been written about the chase through San Francisco and how it set the standard for nearly every car chase that followed. I won't elaborate on it here. The most important thing to me was that from that point onward there would only ever be one pinnacle Mustang, a 1968 Highland Green fastback. Over the years I became a bit of an aficionado of car chase movies. I watched and re-watched them, studying the camera angles, the driving prowess and the mistakes. I read everything I could about the cars used and the stunt men who drove them. Naturally, I also had a curiosity to what happened to the original vehicles used in the production. Most often the cars were completely used up and scrapped or sometimes returned to the manufacturer who provided them. The Bullitt Mustangs (there were two), however, were something of a mystery. Nobody seemed to know for certain what their fate was, although somewhere I read a rumor that one existed in a barn in New Jersey. Oh, to be the guy who found that car!
In 2017 the carcass of the Bullitt stunt car was found in a Mexican junkyard. It returned to the U.S. where it was restored but having seen photos of the remains I oddly remained unexcited about it. The 'jump' car had been pretty badly damaged during filming and what remained was mostly a shell with a serial number. I was glad it had surfaced but was never particularly excited about it.
In January of this year I had a completely different reaction when the Bullitt 'hero' Mustang that had been in most of the beauty shots and driven by McQueen was brought into public view after remaining hidden for fifty years. The most incredible thing about the hero car was it had never been restored nor modified. After being exhaustively verified by multiple sources that proved it was THE Bullitt Mustang the car was shown to the world at the Detroit Auto Show. The incredible story of this car can be read here. The intoxicating blend of history, car movie icon and my love of unrestored original vehicles affected me like nothing else I can remember.
The Bullitt Mustang is more than just a car or a movie prop. I have unapologetically referred to it as The Most Famous Car In The World. No other single car in popular culture comes close. I don't count the 'Bandit' Trans Am or 'General Lee' Charger because they were not single cars (somewhere around 300 Chargers were used over the span of the Dukes Of Hazzard television show). There were only ever two Bullitt Mustangs, one of which barely existed before a massive restoration. The hero car was and is an icon. Anyone who knew anything about cars and car movies knew: 1968 Mustang Fastback, Highland Green, GT390, Torq Thrust wheels.
That this car had survived intact was both incredible and inspiring. It was almost as if here was a car that had proven you could cheat death in some way. I'm not sure how else to explain it. The tired patina of dull paint and oxidation is a direct timeline to the days of McQueen smoking the tires in front of the cameras. Bullitt the car is a time machine that takes us back to a different era with different heroes, a time when very daring men drove ill-handling cars at high speeds for no purpose other than to thrill a theater audience. The Historic Vehicle Association who authenticated Bullitt has the motto 'This Car Matters'. All of the cars they authenticate matter...but Bullitt matters to so many of us because it was a pop culture phenomenon.
The story I link to above is a fascinating one. Why it remained hidden for so long may be explained in the upcoming documentary film being done about the car. Many people have criticized the Kiernans for keeping the car secret for so many decades. Having read as much as I could about the car and the family that owned it I have become more understanding. Bob Kiernan--and now his son Sean--have been stewards of a colossal piece of American popular culture. They may not have done as we would have preferred but in the end I think they 'done good'. Sean Kiernan has promised to share the car with the world. That task comes with incredible responsibility. A lesser man would have taken the easy way out and put it on the block at Barrett-Jackson. The value of Bullitt? Certainly in the millions, and that can be a pretty terrifying thing for an average guy from Tennessee to cope with.
Bullitt is to be displayed on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. next month. I will be there to see it.
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