Many cities want to show off their tourist credentials by driving tour operators around well-maintained, scenic routes and even make a video to lure travellers. But sometimes it pays to take a somewhat different line, as the Californian city of San Francisco did in 2012.
San Francisco’s hilly streets became a global image for the Pacific coast city after the 1968 Hollywood blockbuster movie Bullitt. The star Steve McQueen, driving a fastback Ford Mustang, pursued at breakneck speed the villain, who was driving another iconic American so-called muscle car, a Dodge Charger. Few can forget the thrilling chase through the streets where the cars would become airborne only to slam down on the road with parts falling away due to impact.
If you want a more modern version, <%$Linker:2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal click here Visit Ford Fiesta rally car video false http://www.traffixdevices.com/blog/2013/01/traffix-devices-featured-in-ken-block-video/ false false %> to see a custom-built 485kW (650-horsepower) Ford Fiesta rally car charge through the city’s streets.
According to a New York Times newspaper article in 2012, the video was created for use in the Japanese motorsport genre gymkhana: drivers hurl their cars around obstacles, often in controlled skids or drifts, and are awarded based on the speed with which they dispatch the course’s mandated challenges.
The video is the fifth in a series of gymkhana-style productions financed by DC Shoes, the apparel company co-founded by the driver Ken Block. Watch him execute 360-degree drifts around cones, people, vehicles, moving trolley cars and much more.
To read the New York Times article with an interview of Ken Block, <%$Linker:2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal click here Visit ken block on the making of gymkhana page false http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/11/ken-block-on-the-making-of-gymkhana-5/?_r=1 false false %>.
San Francisco’s hilly streets became a global image for the Pacific coast city after the 1968 Hollywood blockbuster movie Bullitt. The star Steve McQueen, driving a fastback Ford Mustang, pursued at breakneck speed the villain, who was driving another iconic American so-called muscle car, a Dodge Charger. Few can forget the thrilling chase through the streets where the cars would become airborne only to slam down on the road with parts falling away due to impact.
If you want a more modern version, <%$Linker:
According to a New York Times newspaper article in 2012, the video was created for use in the Japanese motorsport genre gymkhana: drivers hurl their cars around obstacles, often in controlled skids or drifts, and are awarded based on the speed with which they dispatch the course’s mandated challenges.
The video is the fifth in a series of gymkhana-style productions financed by DC Shoes, the apparel company co-founded by the driver Ken Block. Watch him execute 360-degree drifts around cones, people, vehicles, moving trolley cars and much more.
To read the New York Times article with an interview of Ken Block, <%$Linker:
