Ferarri V-12 turned loose in Paris excellent sound and video

Joeaksa · 04-07-2006, 07:43 PM

Anyone who likes "LeMans" will love this 8 minute film clip. The V-12 sound is music to most of our ears.

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.

Upon showing the film in public for the first time, Lelouch was arrested. He has never revealed the identity of the driver, and the film went underground until a DVD release a few years ago.

If you're having trouble watching the video, try copying the following URL into your browser: http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2851488008488190547&q=lelouch%3E&pr=goog-sl

Rendezvous
Claude Lelouch
8 min 39 sec - Jan 2, 2005
www.standardshift.com

legion · 04-07-2006, 07:58 PM

Wow.

Just wow.

Before I watched it, I thought to myself: "Why not mow down a few frogs!"

The first half I thought was cool. The second half I thought was scary.

Joeaksa · 04-07-2006, 08:43 PM

I watched it a second time and saw all the red lights he was running and the people trying to get out of the way....

Could not happen today... but very nice to watch.

HardDrive · 04-07-2006, 08:52 PM

I've seen this many times before, and have it saved. Still as good the 10th time. That sound.....the monuments of Paris flying by....great stuff.

Steve Carlton · 04-07-2006, 08:54 PM

Found some interesting links. Seems the director, Claude Lelouch, admitted to being the driver.

And the car was his own Mercedes, not a 275 GTB:

Some speed analysis of the run.

Steve Carlton · 04-07-2006, 11:54 PM

I don't think Randy's story makes sense. He claims the camera was inside the car, when it clearly was not. He also says he saw the film in 1969, 1972, and once/year through the 1970's. Everything else indicates the film was made in 1976.

It sure doesn't look like the car's going very fast; the acceleration is minimal and the ride quality is smooth and bouncy, like it has very soft shocks. Watch it from the 5:15-5:25 mark, how it bounces and goes over the curb like butter. The whole ride looks a lot more like one taken from a Mercedes to me. Randy's interview of Claude Lelouch is from 1986, supposedly Lelouch confessed to being the driver in 1993.

slow&rusty · 04-08-2006, 03:51 AM

Looks like the camera car was a W116 Benz - my all time favorite...especially in 6.9 format.

Yasin

Joeaksa · 04-08-2006, 07:09 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by slow&rusty
Looks like the camera car was a W116 Benz - my all time favorite...especially in 6.9 format.

Yasin

Not from the sound. The engine is something else and do not believe that it was dubbed.

Mulhollanddose · 04-08-2006, 07:12 AM

It was no ordinary gearbox, to be sure.

Steve Carlton · 04-08-2006, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Joeaksa
Not from the sound. The engine is something else and do not believe that it was dubbed.

Sounds dubbed to me. The thing sounds like it's going flat out and it looks like the guy's going 35 mph half the time.

BGCarrera32 · 04-08-2006, 07:50 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve Carlton
Sounds dubbed to me. The thing sounds like it's going flat out and it looks like the guy's going 35 mph half the time.

That's because you're watching it on google video which is lousy. Watch the DVD.

No way in the world that's a Mercedes...the best thing they ever built doesn't sound anywhere near that good. That is clearly a Ferrari V12.

bryanthompson · bryanthompson's Garage

does anyone have a better quality clip of this?

Steve Carlton · 04-08-2006, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by BGCarrera32
That's because you're watching it on google video which is lousy. Watch the DVD.

No way in the world that's a Mercedes...the best thing they ever built doesn't sound anywhere near that good. That is clearly a Ferrari V12.

I've seen it on a couple of sources besides google, and they all look the same. There was a comment that the film was made in 25 fps and looks slower when played at 24 frps, but that's only a 4% difference.

Obviously the soundtrack is not that of a Mercedes. Claude Lelouch was a professional filmmaker. I'm not an expert on how fast a 275 GTB was, but I find it hard to believe it could have been that slow or sounding like it was working that hard for what I saw.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169173/trivia

Owain · 04-08-2006, 11:23 AM

I have this on DVD, I bought it on eBay a couple of years ago. The sound is definitely dubbed; there are a couple of places where the tone of the engine changes too dramatically (listen to when he gets back on the accelerator after passing the second garbage truck at about the 6 minute mark), and the squeeling of the tires is totally inconsistent with what the picture is showing. The car is also not moving at 150 MPH. Watch as he passes cars on the Champs Elysees; there's not a big speed differential even though there is an even engine tone, implying top- or at least even-speed. The engine does sound good, though.

Asside from all that it is a great film. The driver was obviously in a hurry, although taking chances other than all-out speed. Lots of red lights run and what looks to be several places where he's going the wrong way on one-way streets (oncoming cars flash their high-beams). Very entertaining

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve Carlton
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169173/trivia

Good notes here, thanks for that. Especially the last two.

Tervuren · Tervuren's Garage

Owain, 150MPH was the highest speed reached, not a cruising speed. If you do the math, 11 mile in 11 minutes, is 60MPH Avg. (Although he did it under 10 minutes, and the 11 miles probably isn't 100% Accurate).

There are inconsistancies with what Wayne posted, I find it hard to beleive he was in 3rd under the bridge, count his upshifts and downshifts. The car 275 is a 5speed, yet that would put him in 6th gear at places.

One other note, is a '65 275GTB, has only 280 Peak Horse power, Its not going to have modern supercar acceleration by any means. Also a fairly peaky engine, have to be in the powerband to realy get moving. I do not think the driver was pushing the accleration of the car throughout the video, there are a few places where the acceleration is a bit faster, such as right before the end.

One other rumor not mentioned here, is its also beleived by some to have been a motorcycle, and not a car.

Hugh R · 04-08-2006, 03:03 PM

For those of you that don't know a 16 mm Eclair NPR is a camera for film only, not sound. Sound has to be recorded separately and sync'd to the film. So in that sense, it is dubbed, all sound, unless your using a video or digital recorder, is dubbed in filming. So it could be the same engine recorded at the same time with a separate audio tape or a different engine entirely.

Howard Agency · 04-08-2006, 04:50 PM

Anything the French can do

Ferrari in Westlake Village

Steve Carlton · 04-08-2006, 06:33 PM

Howard, what's the story with that? Sure sounds faster than it looks as well.

Howard Agency · 04-08-2006, 07:42 PM

Friend of mine did it (honest, Officer) and won't reveal details. Pretty sure it has been 'massaged'

stuartj · 04-08-2006, 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Owain
I have this on DVD, I bought it on eBay a couple of years ago. The sound is definitely dubbed; there are a couple of places where the tone of the engine changes too dramatically (listen to when he gets back on the accelerator after passing the second garbage truck at about the 6 minute mark), and the squeeling of the tires is totally inconsistent with what the picture is showing. The car is also not moving at 150 MPH. Watch as he passes cars on the Champs Elysees; there's not a big speed differential even though there is an even engine tone, implying top- or at least even-speed. The engine does sound good, though.

Asside from all that it is a great film. The driver was obviously in a hurry, although taking chances other than all-out speed. Lots of red lights run and what looks to be several places where he's going the wrong way on one-way streets (oncoming cars flash their high-beams). Very entertaining

Good notes here, thanks for that. Especially the last two.

I have it too, you can buy it on DVD form Spirit Level films on the net. I agree with your comments, the sound has been fiddled with (sure sounds like a Ferrari. ) But there are places, IIRC, thru some cobbled alleys as he comes up to Sacre Coure where he simply cannot be flat out in fourth.

Its a great watch tho, and underground classic for years, and great time capsule of Paris.