When you watch this enough times you see weird details. When McQueen starts the
chase the right side of the Mustang is already dented. Then when the Charger is
going down Lombard street its hubcaps are knocked off, but when the Charger
goes off the road into the oil depot the hubcaps fly off again.
In the print I have mcqueen explains he is a rotten stunt driver but claims
to have done the driving. I have heard he did not do any driving.
From what I know, McQueen did about 1/4 of the driving. You can see him in close ups. The rest of the driving of the Mustang was done by Bud Ekins and Loren Janes.
shareI read somewhere that the dent in the front fender of the Mustang was asked to be put there by McQueen, himself, to make it look 'used' from driving around the San Francisco streets.
As to McQueen's stunt driving, the story goes that he started out driving the chase but his past experience driving in races kept him from being too wild or realistic. Then, in the one scene where it is undoubtedly McQueen, he missed the turn and backed up. I think it was right after that they pulled him and Carey Loftin or Bud Elkins drove the car for the most dangerous driving.
It's also been said that you can tell when McQueen was driving based on the interior rear view mirror of the Mustang. When the mirror is up and you can see his reflection, it's McQueen. When it's down, it's one of the other two guys.
So how were they able to change drivers in the middle of the chase?
shareGreat car chase, sure. But why was it that the two bad guys are chasing/following hum, and halfway through they switch and he's chasing them? It doesn't work like that, right? ---It wants no straps. - Karlhttp://www.imdb.com/board/bd0000024/nest/158601447
share...halfway through they switch...
They also overtake the green Volkswagen four times at least - presumably it's the same sequence shot from different angles.
share