Images: Warner Bros.

While he freely admits to being “smitten” by the movie Bullitt and its chase scene, it took Paul Martin more than thirty years to turn his dream into a reality. When the North Vancouver, BC, resident saw a 1968 Dodge Charger offered for sale by the original owner, it was a done deal. With 60,000 miles on the odometer, the Charger underwent a restoration and transformation into a duplicate of the black two door driven by a pair of hit men in the movie.

In another part of the same Canadian province, Glen Kalmack had enjoyed restoring a number of classic Mustangs and, like most ponycar enthusiasts, he admits to being influenced by the 1968 movie that starred Steve McQueen as Detective Frank Bullitt. Kalmack was 11 years old when he saw the movie, but would wait almost forty years to find the right Mustang.

When he did, it was an early production 1968 fastback offered for sale by a doctor and already painted Highland green. Between close study of the chase scene in the movie and extensive online Bullitt resources, such as Wolfgang Kohrn’s www.ponysite.de, Kalmack created his own replica of the movie car.

The two Bullitt enthusiasts might never have met, but for a car show in Parksville a year ago. They immediately made plans to put together a joint Bullitt display and continue to attend car shows together. The pair will be at one this weekend in downtown Vancouver, at the Gas Town Concours d’Elegance.

Martin has added a number of props to his car, including black gloves similar to those worn by stunt driver Bill Hickman and a white trench coat like that worn by the hit man. There’s no shotgun, though.