Bullitt chase scene via GPS tracks

Any fan of Steve McQueen or movie car chases will love this. Through Seero's geo-broadcasting platform, you can experience the chase scene from McQueen's movie, Bullitt.

Through a veritable mashup of GPS tracks and Google Maps, you can watch the chase unfold while following a virtual Mustang through the streets of San Francisco.

With over 500 movie-house debuts, the Mustang has had its fair share of Hollywood roles. Ford has some interesting Bullitt movie trivia about the car.

• Hollywood pared down the original 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390 to give the car a stealthy appearance for film, removing the driving lights, running pony grille emblem, Mustang lettering and even the GT badges.

• For his role as Frank Bullitt, Steve McQueen was voted “World Film Favorite” by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. But 1968 wasn’t the last time the legendary actor delivered on-screen thrills in a Ford Mustang. Thanks to the magic of special effects, audiences watched McQueen climb into a 2005 Mustang GT and race around a unique cornfield road course built especially for the duo by a farmer in a Ford ad entitled Cornfield. The commercial premiered in movie theatres nationwide in fall 2004 before it appeared on television.

• Two 1968 Mustang GTs with 390 cubic-inch engines were purchased and modified for the making of Bullitt. One was badly damaged by the time shooting ended and was destroyed. In 1972, the remaining car was purchased by its current owner, who bought it under the stipulation that his name remain anonymous. The car was kept at his father’s garage until 1990, when it was moved to a horse farm in the Midwest after a Mustang enthusiast took spy photos. Today, the location of the car remains a mystery. Some say the owner moved that car again to his house where it sits, unrestored, in the garage next to his Porsche.

• An emphasis on realism drove the chase scene in Bullitt to movie greatness – right down to the soundtrack. Rather than opting for high-powered music to support the heart-racing action, Bullitt’s 10-minute car chase showcased the throaty roar of the engine, frenetic downshifting and squealing tires. The natural sound of this quintessential action scene helped earn the film an Academy Award® nomination for Best Sound.

• Steve McQueen (and stunt drivers) buckled up before racing the Highland Green 1968 Ford Mustang GT 390, specially modified to run the bad guys off the road, at speeds of up to 110 mph along the streets of San Francisco. Concerned residents along the film route reportedly called the San Francisco Police Department and City Hall during filming of the now-legendary jump sequence. Some say the San Francisco authorities were led to believe the cars wouldn’t exceed speeds of 35 mph.

• Bullitt’s 390 cubic-inch V-8 introduced big-block performance to the Mustang.

• Driver’s-view shots let audiences in on the thrill of the chase in Bullitt, along with giving them a glimpse of the Mustang GT’s spartan, no-nonsense interior.

• The chase scene in Bullitt took more than two weeks to film, resulting in 9 minutes and 42 seconds of edited footage that helped Frank P. Keller earn an Academy Award® for Film Editing. Filming in a working city, with locations spread out over a considerable part of San Francisco, helped generate a number of continuity lapses that are either overlooked or celebrated by Bullitt aficionados. A few disjointed street sequences emerge when the footage from certain streets is reused. (Audiences are tipped off when a green Volkswagen, yellow cab and white Firebird reappear several times.) The Dodge Charger driven by the villains loses no fewer than eight hubcaps during the chase. Still, for many, no other chase scene before or since has come close to equaling it.

• 1968 was the first year in which vehicle emissions were regulated by the U.S. federal government but cars still burned leaded fuel and catalytic converters were still years away. All 1968 Mustang engines incorporated an exhaust emission control system.

• The original 1968 Mustang GT 390 boasted a 0-60 time of 7.8 seconds and a quarter-mile time of 15.2 seconds at 94.0 mph.

And just in case you need your own copy of Bullitt, you can grab it here through Amazon. Yes, a disgusting plug to buy it through me but, hey, if you're a car nut or in love with Steve McQueen, you need this movie.