this footage has spent many years underground

Joined Aug 2004
2K Posts | 1+
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. 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.

When this film was first shown, Lelouch was arrested, and because of
this, the footage has spent many years underground before it began to
resurface on DVD a few years ago.

http://www.hardscience.net/rendezvous20_04.mov
 
THAT WAS AWESOME!!!

When the driver almost hit that woman in the turn, my son jumped next to me.

The driver was fearless!
 
wow....

I know that feeling...

years ago when me and RazorKing were stupid (and had hot rods)
we raced form robinson township PA to Baden PA in the middle of the nite...he had a dodge dart and I had a dodge challenger...down rt 60 at 130...thru red lights at 110 in the middle of town...a trip that should have took 45 minutes...took 19...

Although I'm glad I did it...thru the grace of God, no one died...ahhh!..to be young and wild again hahahah.
 
Yea - I thought it might get some blood a boiling!

Now drive safely - you crazy SOBs!
 
Jeez...that was an awesome flic - I was wondering if the lady at the end was watching the whole thing from a hilltop.

Wow!
 
Thank you for that hish speed tour of 1977 Paris. Now I REALLY don't want to visit!
As for that crazy, insane, suicidal driver, wow.
 
Always wanted to cruise through a narrow archway at high speed!
 
Awesome film, thanks CC. A few notes in regard to the 'legend':
Lelouch has never confirmed or denied the story or rumours. The sound is most likely dubbed in afterwards. The driver is most likely Lelouch, apparently not a professional driver as can be seen by several simple driving errors during the film. Many don't believe it could have been a 275 GTB, the suspension seems too soft. There is no evidence of any arrest or criminal prosecution. There is a legend floating around that Lelouch was issued a ticket that was later torn up by the Mayor. Although certainly not in wide circulation, this has been shown many times in French movie theaters over the years.

Here is an interesting study of the estimated speeds:
Speed of a Car: C'etait un Rendezvous
 
That was hypnotic. Excellent! Watch it again after a double espresso.

I am guessing that this was done at first light on a Sunday morning. The streets were mostly deserted. FWIW his trip through the circle around Arc d'Triomphe seemd about normal compared to what I saw when I was there in 1989.
 
Unbelievable!!!!!!!!!!!
I loved it when he shifted into 5th, you know he was moving then.
 
Man! That was awesome! How many of ya was working the gas and clutch with your feet trying to anticipate the shifting points while watching? I was! I noticed he missed a couple of shifts as well. Having said that...I also believe the sound was dubbed in after the fact. But it was good none-the-less. Simp
 
i dont think the sound of the engine corosponded to how fast he was going, he wasnt going that fast through the whole thing either. if you want to see some serious driving look for get away in stockholm. http://www.getawayinstockholm.com/main.htm there are some clips here driving around in a 911 turbo.
 
I am sure the sound was dubbed on. The tire schreeching sounds are not consistant with the road surface or speed of the turn. The 275GTB* was powered by a 3.3 liter overhead cam V12 fueled by three two barrel carbs. V12 engines have a pretty distinctive exhaust note but it's been awhile since I've had a chance to listen to that kind of music.

I played the video for someone who knows what a V12 sounds like and he agreed with me that the engine noise didn't sound like a V12 and it was inconsistant with the speed and shift points. The traffic circles are a give away, you always downshift and brake before the turn, and accelerate through the turn. In several of the traffic circles it sounded like the driver downshifted after the car was well into the turn. Not something a professional driver would do. The tire screeching was also inconsistant with the road surface and the combination of speed and corner. The size of the circle around the Arc d'Triomphe is huge, there's something like 22 streets that converge on this circle and it's just not a tight enough corner to cause the kind of tire noise heard in the video.

The video is still excellent fun.
 
is it possible to post video on the forum without having a link becuase i have a few videos id put up of my friends and I having fun with a m3 =)