The Bullitt Page

Sean Kiernan and his dad made a promise to each other, which was:
Once the car was revealed to take the Bullitt Mustang on a worldwide tour for everyone to see.

    Over the year 2019 or so, Sean kept his promise to his dad, who had unfortunately passed away before the two of them could see their promise come to fruition. San Francisco obviously was one of the stops on his worldwide tour!

    Ken Horstmann and his crew from "SpyPlane Films" followed Sean behind the wheel of the 1968 Bullitt car on the same streets of the now iconic chase scene on Taylor & Columbus and finally taking casual motoringh down the infamous Taylor Street jumps.

    A Documentary entitled “Little Pieces”, filmed by Director Ken Hortsmann follows Sean on his World wide tour.  The title “Little Pieces” refers to two stickers  taped , one at 5600 rpm and the other at 6500 rpm  that was placed on the tachometer by Max Balchowsky who was the builder and modifier of the Bullitt Mustang. It was a warning, to Steve McQueen and others, If the engine was  over revved, it would turn into “Little Pieces”.

    As Horstmann describes it, "Little Pieces" is a four-part documentary series all about the making of Steve McQueen's iconic, 1968 film "Bullitt" and much more. It includes first-hand accounts from the set; the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and its impact on the movie; and the true story of the owner of the surviving Mustang fastback said "to be the holy grail of cars." It also includes insight from the filmmakers, Jay Leno, Molly McQueen, Magnus Walker, the Ford Mustang team, film critics, and people from the hobby.

     Frank Panacci Jr. and I are very excited to be part of the documentary. I am named Associate Producer on the documentary. 

      Frank Panacci’s dad, retired Officer Frank Panacci Senior  was on the set during the filming and a close friendship developed between him and Steve McQueen.  Frank Senior would bring home a few of the cast members for a great home cooked Italian dinner, since they were away from home for a good period of time.

      For me, it was the excitement of seeing the Mustang again, decades later, which brought back  memories of where I was in my life. Witnessing the Mustang and Charger rocketing over Taylor Street back when the movie was being filmed and reminiscing about the time when I walked and talked with Steve McQueen without knowing who he was. I even asked him, who the star of the movie was? 

   I asked Sean what it felt like having the Bullitt car back in San Francisco's NorthBeach neighborhood after 50 years. 

   "Surreal and emotional" was a quote from Sean Kiernan "Everywhere I go this year I miss my Dad more and more. I knew San Francisco would be on another level. Bullitt was something that my Dad and I shared my whole life and I always imagined us going back together. I know he was watching from above, it was absolutely amazing.

Of course, like any of us would, I wanted to shut the roads down and blow through stops signs. The sounds were the same, the feel was the same and best of all it looked exactly the same! New friends and enjoying San Francisco for 2 weeks was a blast and  the car did great!"