shortliner Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Traversée de Paris en FERRARI... Unbelievable - what are a few red lights between friends! For all aspiring "petrol heads" A must see. This little flm of Claude Lelouch was filmed in 1978.. A Ferrari 275GTB drives through Paris from la Porte Dauphine to Sacre Coeur of Montmartre in 8 minutes 15 seconds at sunrise at speeds 324 km/h. Lelouch was arrested following this film that was forbiden to be shown and he has refused to give the name of the Ferrari driver. Fasten your safety belts....... I have never seen anything like it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWVde1pWl24 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted August 26, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 26, 2011 And they say young drivers today are irresponsible! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 This has been a cult film for years. It was recently (5 or so years ago) re-released on DVD. The speed quoted above is a bit off - by my timing the run down the Champs Elysee was more like 120 km/h 102 km/h (see below). A 275GTB won't do 324 km/h. I'm pretty sure that it is generally thought that the driver was Lelouch himself. It spawned a number of copycat movies, not necessarily as well thought out as this one. While it was very irresponsible of Lelouch, he did try to minimize risk by doing it early in the morning - enough light to have good visibility, but early enough that there was minimal traffic. That is the DVD release version, although I don't think my copy has the location subtitles (might be an option on the disc, though) Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Kris Posted August 26, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 26, 2011 Wonder if all the pigeons made it? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff Endacott Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 He did all that on the wrong side of the road! Geoff Endacott 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 May have been early morning, but the number of dustcarts pulling out would have made me change my trousers....I'm not sure what the lady in the white coat was thinking when he dived up the pavement. Have to agree about the speed. He might have hit 160kmh (100mph) in one or two places but nowhere near 324kmh. The distance between the Arc de Triomphe and Place de la Concorde is stated as 1915m or 1.19 miles, so it is easy to calculate his speed. Thanks for that. I hadn't seen it before. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 The distance between the Arc de Triomphe and Place de la Concorde is stated as 1915m or 1.19 miles, so it is easy to calculate his speed. 67 seconds, or an average speed of 102 km/h down that stretch. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nile_Griffith Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Having watched the vid I am fairly certain I know who the driver is!!! A few years back I arrived at CDG for a job in central Paris. Having run the gamut of crazy Parisian taxi drivers before. I managed to forgo my place in the rank to an unsuspecting businessman from the colonies, in order to take advantage of the white haired old lady driving the following aged Peugeot taxi. What followed was potentially the most harrowing taxi ride of my life (I've done most of them Rome, Honk Kong, Beijing, Bombay). In implacable English my geriatric chauffeur informed me that she was one of the oldest taxi drivers still holding a permit to drive in Paris. She proudly told me of the leading dignitaries that she had transported around her beloved city and how so much had changed since her days when first driving around the city during the war. I for my part sat bolt upright in the back seat wondering if part of the torture was the possibility of having to answer questions on madams life history on arrival at my destination close to the Palais de Congress. What was really worrying me however, was just the sheer velocity with which she piloted the ageing Peugeot towards the heart of the French capital. Now I'm not afraid of a bit of speed and if honest my flight was late and anything that helped make up the time had to be welcomed. However my aged driver was of a diminutive stature and I was fairly certain that she would have not been able to see over either dashboard or steering wheel. I say certain, because as at no point in the journey between Charles De Gaule Airport and the Paris Conference Center. Did that beguiling little old lady look in a forward direction through the bl**dy windscreen!!!!!!!!!! Somehow with a combination of experience, intuition and Joi de vie. That little old French lady propelled us at break neck speed without once averting her eyes from mine and breaking our rather one sided conversation. I submit to my worthy colleagues of the forum that I know the true identity of that driver.......... and you can go find her yourselves because I never want to set foot inside that cab of hers ever again!!!!! 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
multiprinter Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 I thought that was the way all Parisians drove. Many years back I sat for half an hour or so by L'Arc de Triomphe watching the passing traffic. In that short time I saw four collisions. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 In 1991 friend & I where staying in Trier, Germany and decided to have a day out in Paris by train. (long way !!). Well we arrived at around 11.45, and walked around, visiting a few "sights" ending with the Arch de Triumph (what where the French triumphant about !!) - I remember seeing 2 Americans trying to WALK across the roundabout to the monument. Saw several cars in minor bangs all over the city. Bloody madmen. Anyway back to the Gare de l'Est for the train to Luxembourg. Left on time around 5.30pm, Electric loco & coaches doing a hell of a speed then WHAM - on with the brakes - full on & harder !! NEVER have i experienced such a quick stop. Then the train stood for well over an hour. Air conditioned sealed coaches meant you couldn't stick your head out & see what was happening. - Eventually the guard came along muttering "Mort" - apparently we had just oblitterated a fellow human. A sad experience. On we went, very late, to Metz where the train split, our half to Luxembourg and the other half to Zurich. Another daft yank talking to his friends in our coach found himself in the wrong section as his "end" of the train departed to Zurich. We had to change again at a small station (Thionville ?) from SNCF to DB for the connecting service to Trier. It was near midnight now - no chance for the connection, what shall we do ? - but DB saved the day, laying on an additional train for the Trier passengers. An eventfull high speed day to Paris, complete with crazy French, crazy Brits, crazy Yanks & dependable Germans. !! Brit15 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium spamcan61 Posted August 26, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 26, 2011 Reckon the pedestrian crossing the road at 6:31 needed clean underwear afterwards :-/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Stationmaster Posted August 26, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 26, 2011 Cor - but why didn't go a shorter way round from Clichy I wonder? (too many dustcarts at that time of day probably) And amazing to see how little some parts of it had changed by the 1990s. Has anyone counted the number of red lights he jumped I wonder? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted August 26, 2011 Share Posted August 26, 2011 Have to agree about the speed. He might have hit 160kmh (100mph) in one or two places but nowhere near 324kmh. ..... He wouldn't be the only one. In the mid-80's, a certain car salesman from BMW Park Lane was taken along The Mall in a demonstrator 635CSi by a prospective customer. Said customer touched 100mph. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted August 27, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 27, 2011 He wouldn't be the only one. In the mid-80's, a certain car salesman from BMW Park Lane was taken along The Mall in a demonstrator 635CSi by a prospective customer. Said customer touched 100mph. I recall seeing some clown try to beat a red light in Melbourne, Australia. It was about 5.00pm on a damp Friday afternoon. It was outside Flinders Street Station which has an enormous number of pedestrians crossing the road to get to the station which is amongst the world's busiest. The lights turned amber & there is a roar of a V8 being gunned, I look up and see a car in Flinders Street about half a city block away coming from Elizabeth Street (near Degraves Street entrance to any one who knows the area). Such was the noise that no one stepped into the road. He realised once around Y&J's (a famous pub on the corner with Swanston Street) that he wasn't going to make it (perhaps he remembered that the W Class trams cross there and they aren't known for collision friendliness to other vehicles, being basically a steel girder on wheels), so hit the anchors, sliding sideways into the middle of the intersection. The angry looking copper on point duty came across to exchange pleasantries with him! This would have been about the late 1970s. Kevin Martin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 He wouldn't be the only one. In the mid-80's, a certain car salesman from BMW Park Lane was taken along The Mall in a demonstrator 635CSi by a prospective customer. Said customer touched 100mph. You're far too modest. I seem to recall you had a 635CSi....... B) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timara Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Has anyone counted the number of red lights he jumped I wonder? By my reckoning, a pretty "impressive" (if you can even call it that, which it isn't!) sixteen. Funny how parts of it just haven't changed one bit since then isn't it! Place de la Trinité still looks just the same, though the church is much cleaner since! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium skipepsi Posted August 27, 2011 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 27, 2011 I remember demonstrating my Z900 would go from 0 to 70 in first gear to my pillion............. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
froobyone Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Great clip. Must....resist....temptation...to link to... my R1.....video... Unsure of the statute of limitations on road traffic stuff. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Yes, on the boulevards he could have gone faster. The hairy moment (that's an old phrase, right?) for me was when the yellow Datsun was dithering with his left hand indicator on. Everything else was very doable, except I hate driving fast on cobbles. Actually it would have been fun if he had re-made it but at 9:30am......................................for comparison. Best, Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Trevellan Posted August 27, 2011 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 27, 2011 Wow. I first encountered Parisian taxi drivers during a visit in 1997 and the two I "travelled" with were only marginally slower than the driver in the film. At least that's what it felt like at the time! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 As a petrol head, I had to look at this one again. Great bit of filming it may be, but something still doesn't sit right with me. Right from the beginning, the gear changes, rev bands and visual perception of speed don't seem to hang together. He goes down Avenue Foch and hits fifth gear, but still only seems to be doing say 75-80 visually. OK, it's only my guess, but there's no sign of a change down approaching Arc de Triomphe until he's part way round the circle. From 2.50 he accelerates through the gears to fifth and then seems to hit top whack in fifth yet is still only doing around 80? The top speed for a 275GTB was quoted at 165 and there's no way that's the speed on the film.. Curiouser and curiouser... 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 I had another look - apart from the revs/gear change anomaly the closing speeds to the other cars look wrong particularly in the first few minutes, I mean how fast are those Renault 16's going ferchrissake? Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest dilbert Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 If speed is the name of the game Average speed of 190 kph on the Parisian périphérique - 35kms covered in just under 10 mins... dilbert Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 You're far too modest. I seem to recall you had a 635CSi....... B) Yes, but I didn't have a driving licence until 1989, and I didn't acquire a Six until 1996. So it wasn't me, Guv. Honest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordon s Posted August 27, 2011 Share Posted August 27, 2011 Some more background data I've just come across... http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2005/Rendezvous.shtml http://www.shamozzle.com/onemorninginparis.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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