Ah, the ‘70s. We had the Oil Crisis and Watergate, microwave ovens and VCRs, Maggie Thatcher and Jimmy Carter. As for cars, well: there were the greats like the Lamborghini Countach, Datsun 240Z and the Dodge Charger. Then there were the not-so-greats like the AMC Pacer, Chevy Chevette and the Ford Mustang Cobra II.
It was the decade that brought us The French Connection, Gone in 60 Seconds and Smokey and the Bandit. It also brought us a relatively unknown (well, to my –ahem- clearly sophisticated tastes) French film called Le Casse (The Burglars).
Oh sure, Bullitt had Steve McQueen in a Mustang and Goldfinger had Sean Connery in a DB5, but you ain’t ever seen a film so brazen to put Omar Sharif behind the wheel of…an Opel Rekord. Well, he is the villain. Surely our hero, Jean-Paul Belmondo, will get to drive something a bit smarter.
“Like a Fiat 124 Special?”
Actually, that wasn’t what I was thinking but that is what Belmondo is driving. Don’t despair though, as this video clip of the infamous car chase from the movie more than makes up for the poor choice of vehicles. Think of it as Ronin, that Robert De Niro movie from a few years back, if it were filmed in French and in Athens circa 1970. It really has to be seen to be believed. Check it out below.
By Tristan Hankins
Hat tip goes to Chris!
VIDEO