You know C’était un Rendez-vous, right? The amazing French director, Claude Lelouch, strapped a camera onto the front of an unconfirmed car and drove through Paris like a hellhound was on his trail. The resulting ten-minute footage was overdubbed with Ferrari 275 GTB sounds that almost fit the driving, and it’s accepted knowledge that the car in question was a Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 that belonged to the director.
But enough of that 1976 film, and back to modern day. 2015, whoa. What would you use as your ideal camera car for filming a casual blast around some European streets? A friend of mine happens to own a very black and very cool 1994 BMW 850, and the V12 in it is now a 5.4-litre lump instead of the 5.oh with which it was delivered.
So, over the New Years’ holidays the 8-series got the honours of following the 3-series we took on the Nürburgring about a month earlier, and the 47-minute YouTube clip is here for your HD viewing enjoyment.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFGppxeCGmo[/youtube]
Damn, if the car doesn’t sound like the business. Try the one minute mark for a taster.
[Source: Flickr.com/icebone, image (click here for a wallpaper!): Līga Šuksta]
C'était un Hoonez-vous – BMW 850CiA prowls Dutch streets
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I love BMW's 8 series. I love powerful, smooth, snarly sounding V12s. I love pointlessly long car videos. Is it wrong to feel so let down by that damned automatic killing the happy rev action? While I would gladly own an automatic 850 (or 840) the transmission turns the operatic performance exhaust into Charlie Brown's teacher. C'etait un deception merdique…
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I, the owner, wholehartedly agree. If it hadn't been for my disability (no working legs, car runs by hand controls: <img src="http://i.imgur.com/1ovc4m.jpg" title="source: imgur.com" /> (Click to go to album.) it would be converted to a manual in a heartbeat, but I already have a manual 5-speed Super 7 with a turbo strapped to it for that. The 850 is a Grand Tourer – it comes with me thousands and thousands of km around the world; most recently to Romania with FinalGear, and this summer getting shipped to the states for a two-month cross country ordeal. The automatic does more or less exactly what i wnat it to do. If i want revs i get it, but the engine has so much torque (450+ Nm from idle!) that it's not at all needed. We'll rerecord this during Ringmeet with more distance between the exhaust and the mic so it doesn't peak out again. I'll do some more revs for you 🙂
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I very much look forward to that!
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The photo album is stunning. I've never seen a manual transmission car operated by hand controls before! And the controls in the 850 look nearly factory equipped. I'm so glad you are able to enjoy wonderful automotive choices!
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between european gas prices and the fuel consumption of a V12 BMW, this video is the economic equivalent of a small condo in a middle-class american suburb
*note: i have no idea how or if europe has been affected by the current very-low gas prices-
My local gas is down to roughly 7$/gallon from about 9$/gallon. So, yes, relatively speaking, we are happy to be affected by cheap oil. Please don't answer that you pay 1.50$/gallon or so…
Will watch video when I find a non-work-PC later today.-
about $2.90 here in pittsburgh, for a gallon of premium, at which i sip heavily but infrequently. maybe a gallon or two per week, excepting road trips.
outside of the city, and in cheaper regions, gas is cheaper.-
in cheaper regions gas is cheaper. i have a way with words, don't i.
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I'd call this a brilliant observation. =8^) We used to have ROZ 95 and 98, but 98 is on the way out. Everybody gets to fill with 95 now, even the "special fuels" like ROZ 100 and the inexplicable 102 that Shell used to offer found too few customers.
Prices I mentioned above are per US gallon, btw, not per litre. Nobody would afford a conventional petrol car then, which is the ultimate goal of our somewhat eco-minded politicians.
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We are right around $1.80 for regular here in SC. I used to require premium for the XTerra that I used to own (supercharged). It was a hoot, but a KILLER at the pump. 12mpg + premium fuel + 56 mile daily commute = a very poor owner.
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Not strictly true. Taking all things into consideration, Norway is about 2-3 times more expensive than Slovenia, yet their fuel isn't more expensive.
*grumbles*-
That is very true. At the same time, I live 40 minutes from a huge North Sea oil terminal and refinery, yet gas is cheaper in Oslo, on the other side of the country.
Here's a fuel price comparo, Russian of all things: http://autotraveler.ru/en/spravka/fuel-price-in-e…
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