Rendezvous with a 6.9

[paulbarras]

Hi all,

I thought this might be of interest to most 6.9 owners. I'm not quite so good with translating French, but from what I can gather, it is a director explaining how he shot a clip of racing across Paris at dawn.

Claude Lelouch Explains 'Rendezvous': http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/retro/claude-lelouch-explains-rendezvous-199552.php

Rendezvous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3cHX9wvGtk

The car he used was a 6.9, and he dubbed over the rather quiet 6.9 with a Ferrari V12 soundtrack. I'm still amazed that the 6.9 is that quiet, I thought it might be noisier after all these years.

[oscar]

I remember seeing this vid a while ago when someone else posted a link.  A search on the web revealed some of the mysteries behind the filming which you've mentioned but at the time when I didn't know another soundtrak had been dubbed, I thought it strange how the 6.9 seemed to have a manual transmission.  No one seems to know who the driver was but there was a race car driver, whos name escapes me, that was believed to be the pilot.

Amazing video with some close shaves, can you imagine that kind of driving being done today without a few fines from fixed speed cameras?  There's only one shot I came across of the 6.9 but it was only a shot of the director toying with the camera mounted on the front bumper.  Still a sense of mystery remains behind the film. 

[oscar]

Gee sorry,  I take that all back. I must have sounded like a fool.

I didn't realise this video was a recent film.  I should've read your post properly.

Perhaps Denis might oblige with a summary. I can't translate either except I know the interviewer wont let go of the Jesus bar.

Good find Paul.

[Denis]

Wow what a great find !

Makes me want to buy a 6.9 and do it myself 

While Claude Lelouch was a friend of Jean Pierre Beltoise, an F1 driver that loved and owned M100s, Lelouch drove the car himself ! the guy is really crazy 

In the recent film, he comes up to the 6.9 and his voice says it all : "That's it, one just like this, my personal car, with the same colour" as he sits in it he says, blipping the throttle "see, it doesn't age, it still goes as good as today's cars". He does complain that this specimen does not have quite the power that his had in 1976. He said that he was going at 200 kph along the Champs Elysées and at 160 kph near place de la Concorde and the Louvres. Good parts of those streets are cobblestone and I know that my steel sprung W116 rumbles there and that I would dare do 130 there given no traffic but 160

When asked why he choose a 6.9 he said "power and suspension", the suspension allowed the film to be  smooth. And then the funny part : at some point in 1976, a truck blocked the planned route and he had to take a detour.  Lelouch was suddenly worried that he might run out of film !!! so he went as fast as he could hoping that the film magazine would hold up until the end....it did.  That is exactly on the narrow streets at the end of the film where you have to be a lunatic to drive as fast as he did...

Oh what one would do for a lady 

But she sure is pretty..

Denis

Paris, France