The Official "Rendezvous" (C'était un rendez-vous) Thread

A Ferrari 275 GTB piloted by a professional Formula 1 racer drove through Paris at breakneck speed in August of 1978. French filmmaker Claude Lelouch mounted a gyro-stabilized 35mm movie camera to the bumper. The course was from Porte Dauphine, through the Louvre, to the Basilica of Sacre Coeur.

No streets were closed, and the Ferrari completed the course in just over 9 minutes, reaching speeds of nearly 140 mph. He ran red lights and drove the wrong way up one-way streets narrowly avoiding cars and pedestrians.

Upon showing the film in public for the first time, Lelouch was arrested. He never revealed the identity of the driver, and the film went underground. There are no special effects here! The film is just over 9 minutes long. Turn up the volume, fasten your seatbelt, and wait for the ending...

 

I do wish the video showed the car but what an awesome noise, thanks for sharing.

 

I'm sure most of us here have seen this video countless times, always nice to watch it again though. I think the car was determined to be a Mercedes 600 rather than a 275 GTB. Further, I was under the impression that the car was driven by the filmmaker himself?

 

Unfortunately Lelouch used a Mercedes 6.9 and dubbed the film with a ferrari V12.

 

Epic film with a long tale associated..

Some (a lot) say it's a Mercedes SL

 

I never heard it was a Mercedes. Are you sure that isn't just a rumor propagated by an envious Mercedes owner? It's hard to imagine that a Mercedes would sound anything like that!!!

 

One thing you that you cannot dispute is that it is one helluva driving feat - and none of it was faked or edited in any way! That is one long continuous shot at breakneck speed that did not use any special effects of any kind!

 

If it's a Ferrari it's rather slow in accleration.

 

Yes, it was a Mercedes. This video has been posted here more than a million times, and have been discussed to death just as many times. There's been pictures posted of behind the scenes of the movie, where it's clearly seen that its a Mercedes. Repost x100billion.

 

can i just say-repost. and in error.

 

Here is the benz. Google Mercedes 450 6.9l . It was the grand daddy to all those fast AMG you see today.

wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_450SEL_6.9
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http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2005/Rendezvous.shtml
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Oh yeah !,Thanks for sharing. It is such an amazing piece of film, especially for the time. I had forgot how exciting it is........what an adrenalin rush!!!!!!!!! It was a Mercedes though.

 

The movie is available as on DVD but it has never been the same after finding out it was a Mercedes with a dubbing job. From a prior F-chat thread there was a link to a website that detailed the dubbing cuts.

Jeff

 

and the Oscar for sound goes to...

If that was really a Merc then the sound dubbing was brilliant.

I was in Paris just a few weeks ago and I am really envious of this film, now you can't go much faster then 10 on some of these streets due to traffic at all hours of the day, however I did see a Red Enzo being chased by a blue 575 going around the Arc!

 

Man you guys burst my bubble! Not only is it a repost (although some people evidently never saw it), it's also not a Ferrari! Oh well, it's still a brilliant piece of driving!

 

In 2003 I worked at a automotive design studio in LA and the Nissan team did a knock off of 'Rendezvous' called 'The Run'. It was for the introduction of the new 350Z and a DVD was created which featured 'The Run'. I know it's on U-Tube, FYI.

 

Watch it with the volume muted. It changes everything and all of a sudden becomes a normal sedate drive.
I've heard that the car was not speeding through the city, but with the over dub of the motor it give the illusion that it is speeding.

 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169173/trivia

A clue that it is not a pro is how much he lets the car's weight take him straight on as he arrives place de la Concorde: a pro would have known to brake earlier due to the heavy weight of the car, equipment and passengers.
Still a great piece and oh so wonderfully politically incorrect

 

It was really going fast, trust me, I lived 10 years in Paris and you could not dream of doing that nowadays: observe the pedestrians and the movement of everything else. One taxi does go pretty fast too which can be misleading.

 

Actually, I submit that it was mediocre. If you *listen* to the video, you'll note that it's the same tire screeching sounds over and over again.

Nembo - he's going 'fast' considering the traffic density, but he's not really driving that fast overall.



Bushwacker -I think they were also inspired by the Getaway in Stockholm videos. Now, those are some crazy driving clips.

 

I completely agree. If you pick it apart frame by frame, it's not really great. Of course, by the standards of its time, it looks thrilling. Today, we have such incredible CG capabilities as to make this film even less than can be created on your Mac.

Reality aside....it's still pretty cool, if you watch it early in the morning, and let your imagination loose......

 

The film looks as if it was sped up slightly to exaggerate the speed. Wasn't there a documentary about this? Still, always fun to watch no matter how many times you've seen it.

 

I can't speak to whether this was really a Ferrari or a Mercedes SL, but it is pretty clear that the driver is going pretty fast when you see him overtake the other cars.

The hardest part for me to imagine is Paris with so little traffic!

The disclaimer in French at the beginning says that the film is unedited. I think that overdubbing sound effects counts as editing, don't you? I'd love to know the whole story behind this film, with proof, rather than mere previous discussion, that the film was real or faked.

 

First time I've ever seen it.

Great driving, a shame that it isn't a 275 =[