You know you’d want to….
Car Nerd Ron here… (Hey, I’m from Detroit!)
Suppose you were a newly successful French film director in the mid ’70’s…
And, because you wanted to, you mounted a camera (with one can of 35mm film, 8 minutes worth) on the front of your car.
Where would you drive? Paris, of course!
So at 5:30AM, you’d make that drive….
ignoring traffic, red lights, pedestrians, and the very idea of limiting your speed at all!
Let ‘er rip! Claude Lelouch’s Rendezvous.
Ambiance 
mockturtle said,
June 14, 2012 at 10:10 am
C’est incroyable! No traffic at all. Try doing that in LA, SF or even Seattle! Cool video, Ron!
pathmv said,
June 14, 2012 at 11:54 am
That’s one of my favorite videos, ever!
Icepick said,
June 14, 2012 at 2:41 pm
I was going to say that Death Race 2000 was more fun, but then I got to the second half of the video! Wow!
Also, what kind of car did they use? I’m assuming it wasn’t a 2CV!
(More on the 2CV later.)
kngfish said,
June 14, 2012 at 3:21 pm
Why do you feel the 2nd half is more interesting? The car is the directors Mercedes…with the audio from his V12 Ferrari!
Icepick said,
June 14, 2012 at 5:27 pm
Why do you feel the 2nd half is more interesting?
A lot of the early driving seemed to be down the famous boulevards, which are wide and were largely empty of traffic. I could drive fast through Paris under those conditions, and I’m no Andretti. Also I didn’t notice many instances of violating red lights in that portion of the ride. But starting with the tight squeeze at the 3:40 mark it starts coming off the rails! The streets get narrower, the pedestrians start coming out (including someone walking her dog), red lights get run with what seemed like increasing frequency, at least once that I remember the driver seemed to have to change course rapidly on account of the chosen path closing rapidly, and … PIDGEONS! Thousands and thousands of pidgeons get terrorized in the second half!
And at the very end we see why the driver was in such a big hurry. (That’s for those of you who aren’t interested in a film with no story….)
The car is the directors Mercedes…with the audio from his V12 Ferrari!
Okay, that’s just cheating!
Donna B. said,
June 14, 2012 at 10:16 pm
Yeah, the pigeons were awesome! Somehow I wish I didn’t know it was a Mercedes with only the audio from a Ferrari, but that does explain why not all shifts/tire squeals were what I would expect.
karen said,
June 16, 2012 at 8:25 am
Yeah- i have a hard enough time driving in my little towns- i stopped watching @ 3:22. Yes, i’m a wuss, but i couldn’t breathe!!! Impending doom freaks me out and the thought of how lucky this guy was(and it’s all timing/luck, as far as i’m concerned)not to freaking kill someone- the disregard for others just rubs me the wrong way.
I’m not really a stick in the mud– hey, i love my fun, but this was– a callous thing to do just because one can.
Totally agree about the cheating Ferrari lip-syncing:0).
O/T- sorta the same thing?… The guy jumping from how many miles above the earth- to break the sound barrier sky diving- is as much a waste of time. The adrenaline rush will be nothing- if he ends up bursting his eyeballs or his brain. i don’t get these types of things, it’s almost suicidal– maybe because i just see so much that’s hurting and wrong in the world. Want a challenge? Give all your material things away and join the Peace Corps.
Am i too preachy this a.m? Sorry. I slept well:0)
It is a cool video, all the same. Just not my cuppa tea:0).
The dancing video of the couple so skilled it looked like liquid sex? Yes!
kngfish said,
June 16, 2012 at 9:07 am
Ha ha, Karen, I see your point! Still, the video wouldn’t be popular if he had actually hit something!
The skydiver? Done already, back in 1960, from 102,000 feet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw8OJJQ_hgk&feature=related (skip to 1:58)
Maybe we’re all loonie space monkeys…..
Which dancing video are do you mean?
karen said,
June 16, 2012 at 9:57 am
The one just a few posts down. Amba’s Neutron post, maybe.
I don’t know the dancers(my bad/my age!).
kngfish said,
June 16, 2012 at 10:16 am
Oh! Yes, Astaire and Charisse! My Duh! I’m glad you like them Karen… Astaire and Rogers are a big theme over at my blog, Fluffy Stuffin… http://fluffystuffin.blogspot.com/ (scroll down a bit for “They All Laughed”)
Maybe I’ll repost “Let’s Face The Music And Dance” here for your dining and dancing pleasure…
mockturtle said,
June 16, 2012 at 11:14 am
When I sent this video to friends most had the same reaction Karen had to the Paris video. A ‘crazy’ guy on his bike doing ‘pointless’ things, a ‘waste of time’. To me, it’s a breathtaking and beautiful rush [did I get it here?]. At least he didn’t endanger anyone but himself. Danny MacAskill: http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=Cj6ho1-G6tw&vq=medium
mockturtle said,
June 16, 2012 at 12:09 pm
I might add that I admire mountain climbers, too, even though climbing is another ‘pointless’ [no pun intended] exercise.
karen said,
June 16, 2012 at 12:55 pm
Wee, mockT- @ least it is exercise.
karen said,
June 16, 2012 at 1:04 pm
-haha- that was supposed to be ~well~…
~Weee~ can be to Fred and Charisse.
Icepick said,
June 16, 2012 at 5:18 pm
Ron, Kittinger didn’t break the sound barrier, which is the biggest part of the new jump. Kittinger has been at least partly involved in the effort. Also funny in you video link is having one of the ground crew flip off Kittinger after he landed. What did Joe say to the guy?!
After his Air Force career Kittinger ended up in Central Florida, where he flew sky writing planes for Bob Snow’s Church Street Station complex back in the day.
Personally, if some maniac wants to do it, let him. They’ve been working at this for several years now, and the money spent has generated commerce that’s helping someone.
BTW, Kttinger’s jump was part of the space flight & space plane programs – they needed to know if someone could bail out at extreme altitudes and survive. The only way to prove it was for someone to do it. So up went Joe, in a helium balloon, and down came Joe, with a pressure suit and some nylon!