Bullitt - Shooting The Car Chase To End All Car Chases

Steve McQueen, the streets of San Francisco, Hollywood's top stunt drivers - what could possibly go wrong?!

Philip D’Antoni (producer): Peter Yates had made a British crime film called Robbery (1967) which had a superb car chase in it. When I hired Peter to make Bullitt it was on the unspoken understanding that our film would feature an even better car chase.

Peter Yates (director): At first Steve McQueen had reservations about the chase scene. He wanted to the film to concentrate on his character. But we talked, persuaded, coerced him - and finally he agreed to it.

Don Gordon (actor, Detective Delgetti): Steve and I were out riding our motorcycles one night and he got airborne going over a hill. I slowed down and met him at the bottom and asked him if he was alright. He looked back at the hill and said, “God, wouldn’t it be good to see a car do that?!”

Peter Yates: For years, car chases had been shot by second-unit directors - usually stuntmen who went off on their own and filmed the action shots, later using rear projection and a prop car. Because Bullitt was shot entirely on location and McQueen was an accomplished driver, we decided there would be no trick photography.

Steve McQueen (actor, Detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt): We wanted a gut-buster, something to make an audience yell. That meant we had to do it right in the city. You can’t fake those San Francisco hills. We got tossed out of the mayor’s office the first time we tried to get this okay-ed . They figured we were out to make the cops look bad. Eventually they agreed to block off a few of the streets for us, but they didn’t realise what we were doing. I huddled with chassis designer Max Blachowsky and we worked out some modifications for the two cars in the action: a new 390 GT Mustang which we figured a copy like Bullitt could afford to own, and a 440 Magnum Dodge Charger for the bad guys to drive.