Missing Bullitt Mustang Possibly Found Decades Later
The car Steve McQueen couldn’t get back after filming Bullitt resurfaces in Mexico.
According to a series of photos and posts in a vintage Mustang forum, one of the most memorable cars from modern cinema—the 1968 green Ford Mustang fastback in Bullitt—has possibly been found in Mexico.
Forum member Fede Garza claims that the fastback has been in Mexico for two or three decades, and apparently was fated to be turned into an Eleanor clone. Garza, who owns a fastener distribution service in Mexico, says the owner of the shop that was set to do the work on the Bullitt car came in with the car's VIN (8R02S125558), Marti Report, and title—apparently, Garza sells fasteners to him every so often.
When Garza checked the car out for himself, he noticed reinforced shock towers, a hole in the trunk—which was apparently for a generator's exhaust that powered movie lights on the car—and the 9-inch rear end. These distinctive features certainly support the case that this might be the Bullitt car after all.
After filming concluded, the car was reportedly sold off, a poignant decision that apparently tormented Steve McQueen—he reached out several times to the person to whom he sold the car, asking to buy the car back, but to no avail. The newly-discovered fastback will apparently be on display at a Ford dealership in Mexico for a day before making its way to the U.S. for restoration.
