Detour #319: Chasing Bullitt on the Streets of San Francisco, USA
Photo Warner Bros
Follow the greatest car chase ever captured on camera on the Bullitt route through San Francisco.
Steve McQueen remains the undisputed King of Cool for petrolheads the world over. The Hollywood hero spent as much of his downtime as possible either behind the wheel of a race car or on two wheels on a dirt track. And given half the chance he’d drive on-screen as well, as evidenced by Le Mans, On Any Sunday and, of course, Bullitt.
In the 1968 movie McQueen played maverick cop Detective Lieutenant Frank Bullitt, tasked with protecting a turncoat Chicago mobster from his former associates.
The film’s most famous scene sees Bullitt in his Ford Mustang in an epic chase with the bad guys in their Dodge Charger R/T starting on the steep streets of San Francisco and culminating in an explosive finale at a petrol station.
Over the course of two weeks of filming director Peter Yates closed down more than 30 city blocks and created the best-loved car chase in movie history. McQueen did as much of the stunt driving as he could, along with stuntmen Max Balchowsky, Bud Ekins, Bill Hickman and Carey Loftin and the result is 11 minutes of unforgettable cinema.
The exact route is hard to follow since Yates cut together numerous different sequences to intensify the action, not necessarily in the right order (which is why you see the same VW Beetle appear on at least four occasions), but to visit the key locations of the chase, here’s what you need to do.
Bullitt climbs aboard his Mustang at Cesar Chavez Street (formerly Army Street), then pulls a U-turn and heads up York. Meanwhile his pursuers in the Charger lose him at Columbus and Chestnut. At Taylor and Filbert the Mustang slides into view again and a Larkin and Chestnut McQueen famously took the turn took hot and wiped out the camera. At Larkin and Francisco the Charger side-swipes the guardrail and loses a wheel trim (it actually manages to lose eight during the chase!).
Next up is a stretch of Marina Boulevard between Laguna and Divisidero, before the scene cuts to Guadalupe Canyon Parkway where Bullitt narrowly avoids a motorcycle rider and then the Charger flies into a petrol station and blows up to end the chase. Look closely and you’ll actually see the car emerge more or less unscathed, but let’s not let that spoil the movie magic!
Although much has changed in almost 60 years since this momentous scene was filmed, there’s enough that’s still recognisable today. So why not rent a Mustang and find out for yourself?
ROADBOOK
CLASS: CAR CHASE
NAME: Bullitt Drive
ROUTE: Cesar Chavez street to Guadalupe Canyon Parkway
COUNTRY: USA
Distance: 20 Miles
Follow the greatest car chase ever captured on camera on the Bullitt route through San Francisco.