Bullitt Mustang unveiled

And about time too…

Yes, this is the one we’re been waiting for, but they had to make it a 2008 car to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Bullitt and the best car chase of all time.

So pull on your turtlenecks; Ford will reveal the new Mustang Bullitt at the forthcoming LA Motor Show, and will sell only 7700 at a reasonable $31,075, from January. You can have it in the original Highland green (unique to this model), or black. Either way the cabin leather is a black as a villain’s heart.

It looks as mean as Steve McQueen in every scene with Robert Vaughan… Just as McQueen frequently used to demand fewer, rather than more lines, chief designer for Mustang Doug Gaffka and his team stripped this car down to essentials. He says: 'It’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing'. We'd have to agree, it looks pretty good.

Like the original, it sheds the pony from its mesh grille. The only badge is a roundel on the trunk. The 18in wheels mimic the original Torq Thrusts, and the turned aluminium dash seeks to evoke the era. The gearlever is a stubby, short-shifter like the one on the soundtrack (although cabin shots reveal an auto.)

So could it catch a Dodge Charger 440 R/T? Only if the plot demanded it. The real Bullitt car was a modified GT, its 6.4-litre V8 delivering 325bhp, while the previous-model 2001 Mustang Bullitt managed only 265bhp. The 2008 car will churn out 315bhp at 6000rpm and 325lb ft at 4250rpm from its 4.6 V8.

The film car was hopped up by racing driver/builder Max Balchowski. This one has been tweaked using upgrades from Ford Racing Performance Parts plus revised cam timing and a unique air cleaner.

Can it corner hard without losing it and smacking the camera? Doug Gaffka reckons this car is all about handling rather than straight-line performance. It borrows the Shelby GT500’s limited-slip rear axle with a 3:73:1 ratio for improved off-the-line acceleration; the ride height has been lowered and it has sport-tuned suspension.

What would McQueen say? Gaffka muses: 'I’d like to think he wouldn’t say anything, he’d just grab the keys and drive off'.

R.I.P. Bud Ekins Stunt driver, Bud Ekins, who made Bullitt’s Mustang fly over the humps in San Francisco, passed away on 6 October 2007 of natural causes. He and Steve McQueen became buddies when the bike-mad star wandered into his California Triumph dealership.

He started a new career doing all the stunts McQueen was prevented from doing by producers and insurance. In Bullitt he also comes off a motorbike ahead of McQueen in the Mustang. His most famous stunt was jumping the wire for The Great Escape.