Ford Mustang Bullitt (2018): driving report, information, data, price

1 968 Steve McQueen in the movie 'Bullitt' drove a Ford Mustang spectacularly through San Francisco. For last year's anniversary, Ford launched a new Mustang special model 'Bullitt' as a reminiscence of the legendary movie car. It premiered at the beginning of 2018 at the Detroit Motor Show, a few months later the European version was followed up at the Geneva Motor Show. The current Bullitt special model is already the third of its kind and should actually be strictly limited. After it was sold out quickly, Ford has now apparently decided to extend the construction period. As the British trade journals 'Top Gear' and 'Autocar' report, Bullitt production will not end until 2020.

Data and equipment of the Mustang Bullitt

The 5.0 liter The Mustang Bullitt's large V8 engine has been slightly modified compared to the production model. Thanks to the open air induction system, an intake manifold with a throttle valve diameter of 87 millimeters and the drive control calibration of the Shelby Mustang GT350, the special edition mobilizes 460 hp and a torque of 529 Nm. The top speed should be 262 km /h, the sprint from zero to 100 km /h in 4.6 seconds.

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Anyone who likes chases will love this film: Steve McQueen in 1968 in 'Bullitt'.

The Bullitt also features a manual six-speed gearbox with a gear knob bearing a white billiard ball, an exhaust system with valve control, specially shaped Recaro sports seats, a 1,000 watt B&O sound system and a special paint job in either 'Shadow Black' or that “Dark Highland Green”, in which the famous movie car la was sick. In this tradition, the chrome trim is limited to subtle applications around the black radiator grille and thefront discs. There are also classic 19-inch light-alloy wheels. Inside and out, Ford has greatly reduced the use of logos and emblems. Only in the rear area does the Bullit logo reveal the special specification of the edition model. The new LCD display, which the other Mustang models will only receive in the course of the year, is already working in the cockpit.

This is how the film hero drives

In combination with tires with better grip, the independent suspension including optional adaptive Magne Ride shock absorbers and locked rear axle but probably the most beneficial innovation in the eventful Mustang history. The current Bullitt gets along well with its 460 hp and 529 Nm. Without shrouding its surroundings in smoke or missing branches like the original from 1968, for example. Its power is shamelessly pushed into the asphalt. How he doesn’t push tumb over the front axle, but turns with a good grip. The Bullitt is only a visual and not a technical bow to the original.

Ford

The Bullitt is available in the special paintwork 'Shadow Black' or 'Dark Highland Green', as well the famous movie car was painted, available.

First we blow relaxed along the Côte d'Azur. Unfortunately, there is no Filbert Street here with a gradient of more than 30 percent - that ski jump street from San Francisco, which, among other things, made possible the wonderfully detached scenes of the chase. We briefly considered the Cap d‘Antibes Beach Hotel parking ramp for a spectacular Bullitt tribute; but a jump a little too far would have ended in the opposite garden wall.

The Bullitt speaks eight-cylinder accent-free

Then you'd better drive conventionally to the area around Nice airport. There, the displacement Hullern seems to vibrate even more intensely through the bulkhead, because there is little competition noise - nothing flies at night. So little distraction from the essentials: the original sound of combustion. Unlike our European eight-cylinder engines, the American ones put the archaic grunts in theGenes. Sound design doesn't have to take a long time. The Bullitt speaks eight-cylinder without effort or accent. And in a sympathetic, original slang. Its reassuringly deep piston strokes therefore feel more coherent than the speed shredding that can be elicited from it up to over 7000 rpm. Which is why we usually boom in front of us.

You could also do it differently: The first gear reaches almost 90 km /h, which could be interpreted as a reminiscence of a racing gearbox. Especially since the six-speed box can be clacked through in an outrageously casual manner from the wrist. So you could tear through the six gears with the flatterer and whip up the V8 to shake through the night. He then snorkels with relish through his exposed air filter. And puffs no less with relish through the four floods of its exhaust system.

The Mustang Bullitt is also big and heavy

And you could brake late on the corners, while shifting down while the Rev- Matching automatically gives double-declutching: it sends the exact right speed after clutching so that the next gear slips into it without a load change. All of that could be done. Or leave it. Because when doing it, you quickly notice that the confident rolling is not followed by being pressed into the seat - like every current Mustang, the Bullitt is big and heavy and its steering knows little where to start with decisive movements.

Ford

Original and new edition: Ford Mustang Bullitt from 1968 and 2018.

Movie Mustang accompanies special model

For the Hollywood blockbuster “Bullitt”, which premiered on October 17, 1968, two almost identical Ford Mustang GTs from the 1968 model year were used. The so-called 'Jumper Car' was used for the famous car chase through the streets of San Francisco and the spectacular jumping scenesused, the 'Hero Car' was used for the close-ups with Steve McQueen at the wheel. After filming was completed, the two film cars parted ways. The badly damaged 'Jumper Car' had been sold by the production company Warner Bros to a reconditioner; The “Hero Car”, however, was thought to be lost - now it's back.

Robert Kiernan bought the automotive legend in 1974 as a family vehicle, and in 2014 Sean Kiernan inherited the 1968 Mustang from his father. He recently contacted Ford. At the beginning of the year, 50 years after the debut of 'Bullitt', the automotive film star appeared at the NAIAS in Detroit for the first time in front of the audience alongside the new Ford Mustang Bullitt. Its value should be enormous by now. Incidentally, that of the new edition is already increasing. On January 19, the model with the chassis number VIN 001 was auctioned at a Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. The auction hammer fell at $ 300,000 for lot number 3006.