![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/presto\/2018\/08\/20\/PDTN\/68ccd5f0-fe01-47db-b4f2-c7a33d36c95f-bullitt_fr-bridge.JPG?width=520&height=390&fit=bounds&auto=webp\")
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San Francisco<\/em>\u00a0\u2013<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0Driving downhill on Larkin Street high above San Francisco Bay in a 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt, I understand how \u201cBullitt\u201d star Steve McQueen missed the right-hand turn onto Chestnut Street. Chestnut flattens out, which surely forced McQueen\u2019s galloping \u201868 Mustang Fastback to push wide. The actor stopped before hitting the far curb, stuffed it in reverse, then peeled rubber down Chestnut in continued pursuit of his prey.<\/em><\/p>\n Rather than edit the error, the film’s editors\u00a0liked its authenticity and kept it in the movie. After pausing at the intersection, I burned rubber down Chestnut\u00a0<\/em>\u2014\u00a0following in the legend\u2019s tracks.<\/em><\/p>\n Fifty years ago this October, Warner Brothers released \u201cBullitt\u201d with McQueen and his four-wheel\u00a0co-star. The film, produced by McQueen, was a blockbuster.<\/p>\n It will forever be remembered for its thrilling 12-minute car chase for which it won\u00a0an Oscar for Best Film Editing.<\/p>\n The sequence\u00a0would cement the Fastback coupe as one of cinema\u2019s great cars along with the \u201cBack to the Future\u201d DeLorean and Ferris Bueller\u2019s Ferrari. A \u201860s sales hit and cultural icon, the Mustang fit McQueen\u2019s vision of making an urban Western in which he \u201cwould strap on the car like a gun belt.\u201d<\/p>\n In the 21st century the Bullitt badge has become an essential weapon in the Mustang holster \u2014\u00a0a reminder both of the pony car\u2019s 1960s origins and\u00a0its ferocious performance. The 2019 model is the third Bullitt Mustang, following 2001 and 2008 special editions.<\/p>\n I went to the streets of San Francisco this summer to retrace the \u201cBullitt\u201d chase scene and to strap on the latest Mustang in Ford\u2019s arsenal \u2014 the fastest Bullitt yet made.<\/p>\n Taylor Street parallels Larkin through San Francisco\u2019s Russian Hill neighborhood, but is even steeper, descending like a staircase. McQueen and director Peter Yates \u2014\u00a0both experienced race drivers\u00a0\u2014 ignored Russian Hill\u2019s most famous street, the tight, zig-zagging\u00a0Lombard. They were intent on filming speed, and arrow-straight Taylor showcased the big block V-8s in McQueen\u2019s 6.4-liter Mustang and the 7.2-liter Dodge Charger he was chasing.<\/em><\/p>\n The\u00a02019 Bullitt Mustang has been downsized to 5.0-liters \u2014 yet has gained 155 horsepower (equivalent to adding a Mazda Miata engine) over the original\u2019s 325 horses, thanks to relentless engineering advances.<\/p>\n To separate it from its V-8 powered, $36,000\u00a0Mustang GT stablemate, the $46,495 Bullitt has gained 20 horsepower over the standard 460. That power also comes higher, in the 7,500-rpm\u00a0rev range, in order to feed your need for speed.<\/p>\n Avoiding the city’s clotted morning traffic, I took to the streets at 6.30 a.m. I accelerated hard down Taylor, before easing across the stepped, flat intersections. So steep is Taylor that the crossroads must have looked like approaching walls to McQueen and his top-shelf stunt drivers, Carey Loftin and Bill Hickman. The fronts of the Mustang and Charger slammed into the pavement before vaulting\u00a0\u2014\u00a0airborne! \u2014\u00a0onto the next downhill.<\/em><\/p>\n With its stiff chassis, sophisticated suspension\u00a0and independent rear, the \u201919 Bullitt is a serious performance car. If you want a quiet, silky ride, this is the wrong rodeo. While the Performance Pack One-enhanced Bullitt (stiffer springs\/roll bars, front splitter) lacks the latest tires of the GT\u2019s new Pack Two, the latter\u2019s MagneRide\u00a0shocks are a marvelous complement to the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires.<\/p>\n Though shy of the performance of the current Camaro SS (Hey, Warner Bros, how about a remake of \u201cBullitt\u201d with Tom Cruise chasing a Camaro?), the Bullitt Mustang is ready for battle, rotating eagerly into corners.<\/p>\n After a game of cat and mouse, the \u201cBullitt\u201d chase scene is joined when chasee McQueen becomes the chaser\u00a0<\/em>\u2014\u00a0the Mustang\u2019s menacing, cowl grille looming in the Charger hitman\u2019s rear-view mirror. Spooked, the Charger takes off, shedding eight hub caps (a classic of movie-editing trivia) as it tears around\u00a0 corners.<\/em><\/p>\n The new Bullitt Mustang is no less threatening.<\/p>\n Mustang chief engineer Carl Widmann pitched the Bullitt four years ago as the then-controversial sixth-gen Mustang debuted to the world. With a its sloped front hood and Fusion-like grille, the new pony was a departure from the retro-styled cowl of yore. Buyers embraced the new look, re-establishing Mustang at the top of the muscle car sales charts.<\/p>\n As the \u201cBullitt\u201d movie\u2019s 50th anniversary approached, Ford partnered with Sean Kiernan \u2014\u00a0the owner of the 1968 Mustang used in the movie \u2014\u00a0to parade the two cars together. Shoulder-to-shoulder in San Francisco, the Highland Green Bullitts are unmistakably family.<\/p>\n Stripped of the Mustang logo, both grilles are menacing, dark voids. The \u201968 car\u2019s signature fastback is repeated in the new Bullitt right down to the window angle. The new car\u2019s angled headlights and low front splitter give it menace.<\/p>\n True to its heritage, the 2019 car has the \u201cBullitt\u201d movie logo stamped on the trunk lid.<\/p>\n The original Bullitt Mustang still has camera mounts under the rocker panels and trunk holes that were cut to power the cameras via generator. The punishing movie-chase sequences were shot, then the cars were transported to Willow Springs race track outside LA, where chase scene sounds were recorded\u00a0<\/em>\u2014\u00a0and dubbed in for the movie.<\/em><\/p>\n Inside, the new Mustang\u2019s interior has been transformed with 21st-century electronics offering touchscreen navigation, configurable instrument display, line-lock burnouts, launch control\u00a0\u2014\u00a0features\u00a0that the \u201860s could only dream of.<\/p>\n But just like the original, the new pony only comes with\u00a0a manual transmission. The cue-ball shifter tells a tale.<\/p>\n In the movie car, McQueen \u2014\u00a0a Porsche buff \u2014\u00a0installed a Porsche shift knob. That wouldn\u2019t do for a production Ford Mustang, so Ford adopted the next best thing \u2014\u00a0a replica of the white shifter Kiefer\u2019s father installed when he bought the car in 1974.<\/p>\n That\u2019s OK. When you shift it into first and pop the clutch, it burns rubber down Chestnut Street like it was 1968.<\/p>\n Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne. Catch \u201cCar Radio with Henry Payne\u201d from noon-2 p.m. Saturdays on 910 AM Superstation.<\/em><\/p>\n 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt<\/strong><\/p>\n Vehicle type: Front-engine, rear-wheel drive, four(ish)-passenger coupe<\/p>\n Price: $47,590\u00a0base ($51,385\u00a0as tested)<\/p>\n Powerplant: 5.0-liter V-8<\/p>\n Power: 480 horsepower, 420\u00a0pound-feet torque (with 93-octane fuel)<\/p>\n Transmission: 6-speed manual<\/p>\n Performance: 0-60 mph, 4.2 seconds (Car and Driver est.); top speed: 163 mph<\/p>\n Weight: 3,705 pounds<\/p>\n Fuel economy: EPA fuel economy: 15 city\/25\u00a0highway\/18 combined (Car and Driver)<\/p>\n Report card<\/strong><\/p>\n Highs: Movie-star looks; V-8 baritone<\/p>\n Lows: Stiff daily driver; Camaro SS 1LE would run away from it in a car chase<\/p>\n Overall: 4\u00a0stars<\/p>\n San Francisco\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Driving downhill on Larkin Street high above San Francisco Bay in a 2019 Ford Mustang Bullitt, I understand how \u201cBullitt\u201d star Steve McQueen missed the right-hand turn onto Chestnut Street. Chestnut flattens out, which surely forced McQueen\u2019s galloping \u201868 Mustang Fastback to push wide. The actor stopped before hitting the far curb, stuffed it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22747"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22747"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22747\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\nFord\u2019s engine geniuses accomplished this feat with a new throttle body, plasma-sprayed cylinders\u00a0and a new air intake. The result is a glorious howl of the overhead cam V-8 as I consistently pushed it to 7,000 rpms before downshifting into corners, the quad-exhaust snap-crackle-popping off throttle.<\/div>\n<\/div>\nTo withstand the impact of San Francisco hills, the Bullitt crew upgraded the \u201968 car with stiffer suspension and swaybars. I didn\u2019t go airborne in the 2019 car, but I have no doubt that\u00a0if I did, it would bounce my spine off my pelvis.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"