Car aficionados and classic film lovers alike will be delighted to know that the iconic car from "Bullitt," the 1968 Ford Mustang 390 GT 2+2 Fastback, has been found. One of two Mustangs used in the Steve McQueen film was discovered in Mexico a year ago rotting away in a junkyard.
According to reports, there were two 1968 Ford Mustangs driven during the now iconic car chase scene between a 1968 Dodge Charger 440 Magnum and the Mustang. One of the beat up Mustangs was bought by a Warner Bros. employee working on the film after post-production was finished. McQueen once tried to purchase the Mustang from the employee but was denied. It supposedly sits in the barn today and hasn't been seen in public for around 25 years.
The other Mustang, the primary stunt car, had a more colorful life after the movie. It was supposedly junked after filming just like the two Dodgers. Since then no one knew what happened to it until last year. Hugo Sanchez bought a rotting 1968 Mustang from a junkyard in Baja California Sur. The car had a white body and the original drivetrain was gone.
Sanchez took the remains of the Mustang to a custom car shop with plans of turning it into an "Eleanor" clone. But before they could start recreating the iconic car from "Gone in 60 Seconds", they learned that it was, in fact, the same car that McQueen drove in "Bullitt".
Lucky for Sanchez, Marti Auto Works keeps a record of all Ford cars made from 1967 to 2012. After Sanchez and the owner of the Mexicali custom car shop discovered that the car sported the Highland Green color underneath two layers of paint. According to Fox News, Marti had the vehicle identification numbers or VINs of the two Mustangs in the film and confirmed that the car had an original VIN plate. Marti also stressed that the Mustang still had some of the modifications done for the car chase which is further proof that the long lost car has been found.
Even during the shooting of the film, the cars used were no ordinary Mustangs. The two cars were modified by the late Max Balchowsky, a former street racer, and owner of Hollywood Motors. The so-called Master of Engine Transplants modified the Mustangs for the high-speed chase.
Another iconic car made a comeback late last year. Pre-orders for Doc Brown's time-travelling DeLorean DMC-12 in the "Back to the Future" movie franchise were made available in October with its release expected sometime in 2017.
