2008 Ford Mustang Bullitt

The chase scene from the 1968 Steve McQueen flick, "Bullitt," was, is, and remains the most iconic ever filmed. There've been some valiant challengers: the late John Frankenheimer's heart-pounding work through the streets of Paris in "Ronin"; making Minis fly in "The Italian Job" (the original and the remake); some intense, authentic action in the recent Bourne movies. But when the lists are made and the bets are laid down, "Bullitt" comes out on top. Every time.

Ford's global V.P. of design, J Mays, knows how to mine a car company's past in search of future product. Mays was involved when VW recast the old Beetle into the New Beetle. And it's due to him, along with other like-minded designers, that the current Mustang exhibits so many styling cues from the 1965-1970 models. Mays and Ford chief designer Doug Gaffka wowed us in 2000 with the Mustang Bullitt Concept. That project was immediately greenlighted for production as a 2001-only model, of which 5582 were sold.

It's time to whip up another batch of Highland Green Metallic paint. "Don't compare the 2008 Bullitt with the 2001, however," says Gaffka. "While the concept is somewhat the same, the 1999-2004 body style had little in common with the look of the 1968 fastback. What we've tried to accomplish with the new one is a genuine modern-day version of the original. The design cues had to be absolutely authentic."

There's no question the current Mustang lends itself to the Bullitt treatment. There's not a stitch of chrome to be found. As with the movie car, all the emblems, including the horsy in the grille, were stripped off. Only a subtle, circular badge between the taillights proclaims it's a Ford Bullitt. A concession to the 1968's chrome bumper is a satin-finished bezel that helps define the grille opening. "Otherwise" Gaffka notes, "it just looked like a black hole."

Another liberty is the real aluminum instrument panel inserts. While not an original movie car cue, the machined-turned IP exhibits a wonderful period look and brightens up the otherwise dark gray cabin. The shifter ball is machined aluminum, and satin-finished scuff plates, shifter surround, and pedal bezels remind you what brand of Mustang you're sitting in. The seats are similar to those in the upmarket GT500. A new-for-2008 interior touch is an LED ambient lighting system that allows you to select eight different colors to light up your cupholders and the front footwells-a $295 gimmick we're not sure Lt. Frank Bullitt would care much about.