Chases will neve Grenadier’s up for tough challenges r die
With the release of the much-awaited latest 007 movie, car stunt expert COLIN CUMMING explains why the finest motoring moments caught on camera remain so memorable
FILM-LOVERS have been thrilled for decades by car chases created by Hollywood’s finest.
Getting your adrenaline pumping and keeping you on the edge of your seat, a good car chase can elevate a movie from being run-of-the-mill to memorable.
And, arguably, no one does it better than the James Bond franchise over the years – including too many to mention involving Scotland’s very own Sean Connery as 007.
More recently, 1989’s Licence To Kill is memorable for featuring a spectacular Kenworth truck chase, with 1997’s Tomorrow Never Dies utilising a heavily weaponised BMW 750iL to out-manoeuvre villains.
Die Another Day in 2002 orchestrated a well-choreographed ice chase, with Bond’s Aston Martin Vanquish pitted against the villain’s Jaguar XKR.
Then we saw Bond’s Aston Martin DBS pursued by the enemy in a taut sequence along the banks of Lake Garda in 2008’s Quantum of Solace.
Spectacularly, in 2015’s Spectre, 007’s customised DB10 is chased through the streets of Rome by the opposition’s Jaguar C-X75 concept. The latest 007 film, No
Time To Die, first screened at cinemas yesterday, will not disappoint Bond nor petrolhead fans.
Heart-thumping scenes include the iconic Aston Martin DB5 involved in a frenetic chase through the quiet Italian outcrop town of Matera and a well-staged sequence involving the new Land Rover Defender.
Having been on several Hollywood movie sets and witnessed first-hand car chases being created, I can say that what you see on screen is the finished work of months of planning by stunt crews and drivers.
I helped set up shots alongside my good friend, Hollywood action legend Vic Armstrong, on the set of Die Another Day at Pinewood Studios – and I got to see close up how chases and stunts were produced.
The sequences involved incredible use of camera trucks keeping pace, an air ramp and air cannon and ensuring all the special effects and explosions were perfectly timed.
Several years later, I was on the set of Fast & Furious 6 when they were shooting the main car chase and stunts on the streets of Glasgow.
Watching Range Rovers and BMWs chase each other at 70mph, while crashing into parked cars and hitting ramps to demolish buildings, was great fun.
When you see the finished film on screen, most people probably don’t appreciate the work that goes into even a few seconds worth of footage.
But the finest, most iconic examples of the modern car chase date back to 1968 in the film Bullitt.
Taking three weeks to film on real streets at more than 110mph, the 11-minute chase sees Steve McQueen’s V8 Ford Mustang GT Fastback pursue his wanted man in a V8 Dodge Charger R/T 440 through the streets of San Francisco.
A renowned racing car driver in his own right, McQueen did most of his own driving. Even after 53 years, it’s still regarded as cinema’s finest.
The killer behind the wheel of the Dodge Charger was stunt veteran Bill Hickman, who also orchestrated gruelling chases for 1971’s The French Connection and 1973 thriller The Seven Ups.
For The French Connection, director William Friedkin goaded Hickman, who was doubling Gene Hackman, into driving a Pontiac LeMans through Brooklyn in excess of 90mph for 26 blocks without stopping – as it chases an elevated train.
The final movie sees real people out in front of the car as it speed well as non-scripted crashes.
The Seven Ups staged an elabo through Manhattan, where Hick Pontiac Grand Ville is pursued b Scheider’s Pontiac Ventura coupe
Fraught with tension, the 10-m chase required four weeks to film Speeding along pavements and c streets, the chase ends with Sch smashing into the back of a truc its roof.
Scheider stated: “That’s why it great, because most of it was for
The longest car chase in cinem features in 1974’s Gone In Sixty at 40 minutes, delivering crashe precision driving.
Star/director HB Halicki drove famous Eleanor yellow 1971 For Mustang and more than 100 car destroyed.
During a stunt which went wr Halicki crashed at 100mph – bre leg and several ribs, though he w behind the wheel a few weeks la
The chase culminates with Ele performing a 128ft jump, which for many action movies – a feat r
AL SUTTIE discovers why the Ineos 4x4 would be up to any task required by a Bond arch-enemy
ONLY Bond villains build unique vehicles to suit their own needs and tastes, right? Not if you’re Sir Jim Ratcliffe.
He missed the old Land Rover Defender so much that he decided to build his own up-to-date off-roader and call it the Ineos Grenadier.
The seed for the Grenadier was sown back in 2015 as the muchloved Land Rover was coming to the end of its production life.
Since then, the car has gone from a sketch on the back of a beer mat to some final testing at Floors Castle in the Scottish Borders.
We didn’t get a chance to drive the vehicle as it is still a prototype, but we did get the full off-road experience from the passenger seat.
From our time in the 4x4, it’s safe to say the Grenadier is ready to tackle anything the great outdoors can throw at it.
To achieve this, Ratcliffe and his team have stuck to a “keep it simple” plan. So the Grenadier has all of the equipment you’d expect of a modern SUV but without any excess complication. If it can be done in a straightforward way, it is.
This means the four-wheel drive is permanently engaged just as it is in a Land Rover Defender. There’s a big lever next to the gear stick to select high or low-ranges for different driving conditions, while a button on the side of this lever allows the driver to lock the centre differential.
For even more extreme conditions, the front and rear differentials can also be locked, which means the wheels grip no matter how slithery the terrain.
There’s more than enough power to keep the Grenadier rolling thanks to six-cylinder petrol or diesel engines from BMW. They have been specifically tuned by Ineos and are impressively refined on the move.
Given the substantial size and weight of the Grenadier, these engines get the car moving with enthusiasm. An eight-speed automatic gearbox is standard, whichever motor you choose, and it’s also very slick.
Underpinning all of this is a hefty steel chassis. The reason for this rather than a one-piece body and chassis unit like most modern cars is it allows for better off-road driving.
Ineos reckons about 70 per cent of its customers will use the car to some or all of its off-road potential, as well as filling it with sports or work kit, and towing up to 3500kg. That matches the best 4x4s on the market.
Adding to the practicality of the huge boot are vertically divided rear doors. The smaller left-hand one allows you to reach in even when a trailer is hitched up.
In the front, the dash has plenty of buttons, all grouped together according to their function. On a panel in the roof are all of the controls for off-roading.
There’s loads of room in the front and rear – and, unlike the old Land Rover, there is ample room for everyone’s elbows. The seats are super comfortable and cleaned with a quick wipe down after off-roading.
A choice of standard five-seat and commercial versions will be on offer to begin with, though Ineos says more body options will be offered after its launch.
How much will all of this cost? Well, Ineos has yet to confirm exact numbers but reckon on a starting price of about £48,000.
That’s on a par with the Grenadier’s only real rivals, the Land Rover Defender and Toyota Land Cruiser.
Both are tough acts to take on but this new 4x4 from Ineos has the dirtdefying ability not just to take them on but beat them at their own game.