Interesting Video

[Jonny B]

While this is not directly related to the 113 cars, it is still a great gear head video. I had seen a couple of reviews and comments about a 70's short video, called "C'etait un rendezvous" approximately, "It's a date". I ordered this from Bentley Publishing in the US, and it is also available from www.spiritlevelfilm.com. It is just awesome. It runs about 10 minutes and was filmed in a single take, no special effects, or film speed ups, in the streets of Paris on an early morning. The best guess is that it was a Ferrari, with the camera mounted on the front. It is a wild ride, a bit pricey for the time of running ($US 30, for 10 minutes, plus a few extra bits) but wow, it is a great run.

Jonny B
1967 250SL Auto

[Mike Hughes]

I have had a bootleg copy of this film for 15 years or so.  Makes a great party film for the car club's holiday party!  It was banned in France for many years and was finally released on video maybe 5 years ago.  I think that the film may begin with the car exiting the same tunnel in which Princess Di and Dodi Fayed met their accident.  This recent release on DVD is much better as the colors and details are much clearer and some of the murky background is more discernable.  One can just watch it again and again!

- Mike Hughes  -ô¿ô-

[Cees Klumper]

There was a sort of remake of this, following the same concept some 10 years ago. This time, someone on a motorcycle did a round on the Periferique (the highway circumferencing the city center) doing around 220 KPH (around 140 MPH) - however this time not early in the morning without any traffic, but during rush hour with the road fully packed!! When I first saw it it seemed like from another planet (the star wars movies came to mind). The motorcycle rider gave comments in this one too, while the drive was in progress. While the traffic was mostly at a standstill (morning rush traffic jams) he would almost literally fly in between the cars. Obviously insanely dangerous. This movie too I understood was highly controversial, probably mostly because copy-cat behavior was feared. I recall the station that broadcast it got into a very intense legal battle with the authorities, because they refused to reveal the source of the film.

Cees Klumper in Amsterdam
'69 white 280 SL automatic

[Peter van Es]

Sorry to all for resurrecting such an old thread... however, some new information came to my attention.

As the story goes, "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.

No streets were closed, for Lelouch was unable to obtain a permit."

However, recently a video about the Making of C'etait un rendezvous has appeared on Youtube. Note... it's in French but worth watching. To my surprise Lelouch indicates that the filming was done in a...

Mercedes 450SEL 6.9L, but that the sound was dubbed with the engine of a Ferrari 275 GTB.

So, all the more reason to go and look again...

 

• Mashup showing the video at the same time as a Google Maps image shows the route...
• High Resolution version of "c'etait un rendezvous".
• Fifth Gear item on the same.

Have fun!

Peter.
Also known as 'admin@sl113.org' and organiser of the Technical Manual (http://www.sl113.org/wiki/pmwiki.php). Check out http://bali.esweb.nl for photographs of classic car events and my 1970 280SL.