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The movie Bullitt was filmed in 1968, and contains one the most famous car chases of all time between a 1968 Dodge Charger and a 1968 Ford Mustang fastback driven by Steve McQueen.
The scene entered the public consciousness to such a degree that in 2001 Ford released a limited edition Bullitt Mustang to commemorate the film. These vehicles sold extremely well, and so Ford has decided to try again with the 2008 Mustang Bullitt.
The 2008 Bullitt will also see a limited production run, with only 7700 vehicles being produced for the North American market.
Based on the Mustang GT platform, the Bullitt package consists of many small styling and performance tweaks that separate it from the standard GT. To begin with, the vehicle is only available in two colors: Highland Green, to match the car in the film, and black.
Visually, the car also matches the hero Mustang in several other ways: the front pony trim is deleted from the front fascia, there is no chrome ornamentation on the exterior save an aluminum surround on the black honeycomb grille, and the word ‘Bullitt’ appears as the only identifying mark set against crosshairs between the two taillights in the rear.
Inside the car, Bullitt can be found etched into the doorsills and at the center of the steering wheel, but the interior is also composed of subdued colors and design.
Similar to the 2001 Bullitt, power gains are small, but work well within the overall package to give drivers the feeling they are not behind the wheel of an ordinary Mustang GT.
Cam timing and the use of a Ford Racing cold air intake provides a modest gain of 15 horsepower and 5 lb-ft of torque which puts the Bullitt at 315/325.
However, the 3.73 rear end gear ratio adds more neck-snapping during acceleration and a lower, stiffer suspension combined with a front strut tower brace keeps everything planted firmly through the corners.
An x-pipe in the exhaust system both equalizes gas pressure between the cylinder banks and provides for a more aggressive, in your face sound that is sure to please those lucky few who get to put the pedal all the way to the floor.
The car rides on non-descript powder gray 18 inch Bullitt wheels, for many years a popular no-cost option on the standard Mustang GT.
While the Bullitt may not be much faster than the GT, with a 0 to 60 time of just under 5 seconds, it is definitely unique. Don't forget that a lot of the fun in owning this car is allowing yourself to fantasize that you have stepped into a time machine and emerged 40 years ago as Steve McQueen to prowl the streets of San Francisco.
Ford is unashamedly tapping those feelings of nostalgia in the hopes of selling 1000 more Bullitt edition cars than they did the first time around.
It’s cars like this that make you wish Dodge would hop on the same bandwagon and release their own 2 door Bullitt edition Charger – in black only, of course – so that we would have a worthy adversary to stalk.