At dawn on a Sunday in August 1976, when most of Paris was fast asleep or away on holiday, Claude Lelouch climbed into a Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL 6.9. For the next eight minutes and five seconds, the director of A Man and a Woman and Live for Life flew through Paris at speeds of up to 140 mph, from Porte Dauphine to Sacré-Cœur Basilica in Montmartre. [Photo above of Claude Lelouch]
The hair-raising drive was for a Lelouch short about reaching a destination. A camera was mounted on the front bumper, and the sound of Lelouch's Ferrari 275 GTB was reportedly dubbed in later. Apparently, the Mercedes moved fast but Lelouch felt it sounded boring. Some believe the Ferrari was indeed used but that the director didn't want it confiscated after the fact, so the Mercedes was the "beard" in his story. Your call.
Before you watch the following, be sure you haven't eaten for a few hours. A map of the route is above. The Mercedes and Ferrari models are below, followed by an image of the camera attached to the Mercedes and the girlfriend, Finnish model Gunilla Friden in 1971.
Here's C'était un Rendezvous (It Was a Date). Enlarge to full screen before you start...
