Octane Magazine August 2018 Back Issue

BULLITT MUSTANG
In 1967, Steve McQueen was a highly successful thirty seven-year-old actor, already famous for his stunt-driving scene during The Great Escape of 1963. He was an avid racer of both cars and motorcycles, and the owner of his own movie company, Solar Productions, which would release the cult racing film Le Mans in 1971. Meanwhile, the English director Peter Yates had become known for his car chases, being the man behind the TV series The Saint and the 1967 film Robbery. The latter featured a 15-minute chase that so impressed writer Alan Trustman that Yates was his preferred candidate to direct a new movie for Solar, based on the 1963 novel Mute Witness. The movie, Bullitt, starred Steve McQueen, whose portrayal of the fictional detective Frank Bullitt was influenced by real-life SFPD homicide inspector Dave Toschi. And his co-star was a Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang. Bullitt was released on 17 October 1968, became a box office smash and won an Oscar for Best Film Editing. That was fifty years ago, now the Mustang 390GT Fastback is back.