If you’ve never seen Claude Lelouch’s C’etait un Rendezvous, stop what you’re doing now and search for it on YouTube. It’s not that we’re too lazy to post a link (like this one), it’s just that links seem to come and go with regularity, as the owners of the film generally ask posters to take it down. Rendezvous is some eight minutes of high-speed running through the early-morning streets of Paris, filmed without regard to traffic laws. For everyone besides Alex Roy and Claude Lelouch, it remains our biggest automotive fantasy.
In the latest Live and Let Drive video, Alex Roy takes us through the events of that August morning in 1976. In the film, Lelouch was actually driving a Mercedes-Benz 450 SEL 6.9 with a three-speed automatic transmission; later, audio of his Ferrari 275 was dubbed in, though the most observant will point out that the audio doesn’t quite synch with the video. Why did Lelouch choose the Mercedes over his Ferrari? In the interests of cinematography, of course, since the Mercedes’ Hydramatic suspension yielded steadier footage.
As Roy points out, duplicating such a video would be nearly impossible today, as the streets of Paris have changed much over the past 36 years, and there are more pedestrians, even in the early morning hours. Still, for someone like Roy, the urge to give it a try would likely be too tempting, and we suspect there’s more to the story than Roy is willing to share. For now, anyway.
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
