©By Anthony Bologna (published in Mustang & Fords Nov. 99)

Published on this website with permission from Anthony Bologna!

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"I was fortunate enough to have been there for the filming of the Bullitt chase scene. It was during the spring of my sophomore year in high school. The chase begins on Columbus Avenue in San Francisco. Much of it begins when stunt driver Bill Hickman buckles his seatbelt in preparation for jumping the traffic light and blasting through the intersection with tires smoking up Chestnut Street. The Mustang, caught in the web of traffic, finally breaks through with McQueen, rocketing up Chestnut after the Charger.

The San Francisco Police Department blocked off several streets to traffic, keeping spectators at a safe distance. Cars parked on the streets were strategically placed by production people to add realism and to protect private property in the area. In one breathtaking segment, Hickman lost control of the Charger and slammed into a parked car. In front of the parked car was a tripod with a camera to catch the Charger coming off of Leavenworth onto Chestnut. The Charger was badly damaged and the camera was completely destroyed. Great editing shows the Charger rounding the turn at Leavenworth and Chestnut, then taking out the camera at high speed. For a split second, you can hear the impact. I was there to hear it in person.

Traffic control, with the assistance of the police department, used walkie-talkies to coordinate traffic flow around the closed streets. Stunt drivers were used in front of real traffic to help contain it, especially at the beginning of the chase when McQueen has problems making the turn at Chestnut and Columbus.

In between takes, touch-up work had to be done on the Charger. Any obvious damage or scratches were corrected.

With all the setting up of stunt drivers, different camera positions, lighting, and the like, it appeared to take forever to film what turned out to be 10 short minutes in the movie. During one of those lulls between shootings, I approached the black Charger, which was parked in a neighbor's driveway. The closer I came, the more obvious the abuse was. There was a camera mounted on a rollbar that was wired to a small generator mounted in the trunk. The Mustang was similarly equipped.

The scenes were rehearsed before shooting. Steve McQueen made a practice run from the top of the block. The director wanted the Mustang to make a sharp lefthand turn from Taylor Street onto Filbert. McQueen got the Mustang into position, then descended the hill, picking up speed. He then headed toward the left corner of the intersection. As he went into the turn, the car bounced up, and he lost control, causing the Mustang to skid across the intersection.

After two tries, McQueen exchanged places with his stunt double, who also had problems making the turn. What made the stunt so challenging was the steep angle of the hill, (some 45 degrees), forcing the driver, to hug the sidewalk in order to complete the turn. The Charger made the same turn by skidding sideways atl the last quarter of the hill, then accelerating coming out. This one segment of the film is just a few seconds but, took two days to film. In another segment, the Mustang literally came flying over the crest of Taylor Street so hard that it bottomed out, smashing the oil pan and pounding the front suspension. Repairs were made and shooting resumed.

Nearly all of the chase takes place in the North Beach section of San Francisco property. The final spectacular segment was filmed on Guadelupe Canyon Road in Daly City, south of San Francisco. The special-effects crew built a service station set on the vacant lot at the bottom of the hill where the chase ends tragically. An office building occupies that lot today. Toward the end of the chase, the Mustang and Charger were held together by a bracket in order to keep the cars separated while being towed. Then the Charger would be released, sending the car to its fiery doom with two dummies inside. In reality, the Charger missed its mark, which should have been through the service station. Instead, it went alongside of the service station. The big fireball and explosion were set off anyway. Good editing saved this scene, which might otherwise have had to be shot again.

It's funny the things we remember from long ago. Back in the city, I asked a man at the location who looked like he was with the film crew what was going on, if he knew the name of the movie, and who the star was. He looked at me, grinned, and said, "I'm needed down the block-but the movie we're filming is called Bullitt starring Steve McQueen." I didn't realize who he was until the movie was released that fall in the theaters. In the movie, they called this man Frank Bullitt.

Where to find the set locations from "BULLITT"? 

This page was created in 2004 with Anthony Bolognas pics from the mid 90ies

For an update of locations (pics as of 2006) see also our webgallery done for the Bullitt Nationals 2006 (courtesy of Michael Gullery)

Pics from the Motortrend Sept/Oct. 2006 photoshooting here

Google Map data - map created for Bullitt Nationals 2006, courtesy Greg Autry/Michael Gullery (see www.imboc.com) for info on the Bullitt Nationals
Map part 2 and 3 at the bottom of this page

Cruise with us through the hills of SFO! (Numbers in parentheses represent grids from AAA San Francisco map)

	Thanks to David Kunz I got information about the spots, that played a major role in the movie. Most of them have not changed in more than 30 years. There must be a BULLITT maniac sitting around in the city development department. A perfect scene for a future remake. David Kunz added details, which and how those locations have changed as of today. All pictures courtesy Anthony Bologna.
1. Frank's Apartment, Clay and Taylor (C-10) The apartment building looks the same, lower unit has been converted into a garage.
newspaper stand.
2. Union Square Phone Booths, Powell and O'Farrell (D-10) During cab ride with Robert Duvall, McQueen stops to make phone calls. Phone booths are gone, but the street looks the same.
3. Enrico's Restaurant, Broadway east of Columbus (B-10) Also during cab sequence, McQueen meets an informant here. Restaurant hasn't changed at all.
4. Cesar Chavez St.(formerly Army St.), just east of US101 (H-10) This is where the chase scene begins. Unfortunately the car wash is long gone and a self-storage facility has gone up in its place. Hardly recognizable. Some ramps have been added to the freeway interchange as well. This is where McQueen pulls out and heads under the freeway with the Charger in tow. Go west on Cesar Chavez and it'll look familiar.
5. Cesar Chavez and York (H-10) McQueen U-turns here and heads up a narrow hill (York). Gas station on triangular lot still there. The lower picture shows the continuation of York, where the Charger goes after losing the Mustang. At top of York is where guys in Charger can't decide which way McQueen may have gone and make a left up another narrow street. Still looks exactly the same.
6. Columbus and Chestnut (B-10) Guy driving Charger waits on northbound Columbus to turn left, buckles his seat belt, then smokes tires up the hill on Chestnut. Still looks the same.
7. Taylor and Filbert (B-10) This is "The Hill". Stand on corner and look south. You'll see the three blocks where the two cars got airborne. Actually done several times in the film from different angles . The photo atually shows, were the Charger slides sideways, then exhilarates left. Both cars made left turn onto Filbert. Street looks much narrower and steeper in person. Walk to the top and you'll be out of breath.
This is the famous corner, where the Charger slided sideways and had to touch the left side boardwalk almost with its tire to make it. Steve had problems to make this stunt and was replaced by Bud Elkin for this scene after 3 failed trials.
This view is looking up Taylor Street. This block, near the top is were the Mustang crushes the oil pan when he rockets over the crest of the hill.
8. Larkin and Chestnut (B-9) Famous shot of Charger taking turn too hot and wiping out the camera. Then McQueen overshoots turn and locks up brakes, does reverse burnout, then forward.
9. Larkin and Francisco (B-9) Cars careen down a narrow curve to left, beige Firebird nearly hits them head-on (one of several appearances by the Firebird).(picture from 1998) Only little has changed at this location.
View from top to the narrow curve, where the Charger hits the siderail (picture from the '80ies)
The Charger hit the siderail exactly here and looses one of its 8 wheel covers. (picture from the '80ies) ***Bonus: If you watch this scene on a good 4-head VCR or Laser/DVD, there is *one* frame from the fixed camera along the road in which you can see the camera in the back of the Mustang!
10. Marina Blvd btwn Laguna and Divisidero (A-8) Cars go high-speed here, past a Safeway market that's still there. Actually, they do it twice - different angles. Then they shoot past a bunch of cars on the road. Seem like they're passing them awfully quickly? That's because the cars are sitting still on the road! They seem to be heading out of town. ***True fact: The script called for the chase to go across the Golden Gate bridge, but the city said "NO!".
11. Guadalupe Canyon Parkway (off the map a little, but look at N-9) Without use of the bridge, the chase jumps to this road. Go from west to east, from Market and Hillside in Daly City, to the end of Guadalupe at Bayshore Blvd. Still looks mostly the same, but the road was being widened the last time I was there (road runs through the middle of a state park, so it should be free of development forever).
Remember this area, where the motorbike was layed down and Steve had to use the sandy bank to escape.
Vacant lot - where Charger explodes at the end - now contains an office building.
The view back from the "Gasstation lot". The Charger was unhooked at a specified marked spot to hit the gasstation, but as you know it was a little bit to early and the Charger went behind the station. Anyway explosions were ignited and the film cutting later safed this expensive scene.
That covers most of the cool chase locations.  Best bet for sightseeing is to get near intersections, then find a place to park (it's tight parking at most spots), then stare, take pictures, etc. on foot. That way you're not holding up traffic and can take your time. Unfortunately, one of the coolest locations, the dive hotel and adjoining double deck freeway, were victims of the '89 earthquake and were torn down. Hard to even tell where they were now. For 2006 pictures of the locations, see our webgallery (courtesy of Michal Gullery)	Review the Chase Scene (Linked video run by Len Mogge,  responsibility for any copyrights violation is up to him)