What’s the best movie car chase of all time? You’re likely to get a range of answers to the question but chances are the consensus will be Bullitt, the iconic 1968 thriller starring Steve McQueen in a dark green Ford Mustang chasing a Dodge Charger through the streets of San Francisco.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the movie Ford has released the 2018 Ford Mustang Bullitt at the North American International Auto Show, packed with retro touches and loaded with all the equipment introduced as part of the Mustang’s recent facelift.

1

The enhancements are mainly cosmetic, though Ford has extracted another 11kW from the uprated 5.0-litre V8 courtesy of a new intake system and Shelby GT350 intake manifold to lift outputs to 354kW/569Nm.

The Mustang Bullitt is available only as a six-speed manual, the gear lever topped by a white ball in deference to the original, while all Performance Package upgrades are present, including stiffer suspension, Brembo brakes, upgraded cooling, staggered wheels and tyres – 255/40 R19 front, 275/40 R19 rear – and a limited-slip diff.

Externally, Ford has applied as many cues as possible from the original 1968 hero car, including the black-painted 19-inch wheels (dubbed ‘torque thrust’), chrome accents around the glass, red brake calipers and black front grille.

The Bullitt benefits from all the technology upgrades fitted to the 2018 Mustang, including active safety equipment and the customisable 12-inch digital LCD instrument screen, though this special edition displays a Bullitt welcome screen with an image of the car on start-up rather than the pony logo of the standard car.

Mustang chief designer, Darrell Behmer, adds: “This new Bullitt is, as Steve McQueen was, effortlessly cool. As a designer, it’s my favourite Mustang – devoid of stripes, spoilers and badges. It doesn’t need to scream about anything – it’s just cool.”