Charles Leclerc Is Filming A C'était Un Rendez-Vous Remake In Monaco This Weekend

C’était un Rendez-Vous is the stuff of automotive legend. The work of French director and cinematographer Claude Lelouch, the 1976 short was shot by strapping a 35mm camera to the front of a Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9 (making the GoPro and suction mount combo favoured these days seem a little boring), which was then driven awfully fast through the streets of Paris. The dubbed V12 soundtrack apparently came from Lelouch’s own Ferrari 275GTB.

Although this was done early in the day at a quiet time of year, there’s no way the one-take production could ever be considered safe. With the V8 Merc allegedly skirting around the 140mph mark at times, controversy was inevitable, and an official release didn’t happen until 2003. It turns out a remake is in the works, however, and it’ll be shot in much more controlled circumstances.

According to reports in French media since picked up by Autosport, the streets of Monaco will be closed between 06:45 and 09:00 to film the ‘Le Grand Rendez-Vous’ follow-up, once again the work of Lelouch. He’s said to have asked authorities in Paris first, who declined, but in any case, the new location will make up for the Monaco Grand Prix that was supposed to be happening this weekend. Particularly as the driver will be an F1 star - Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

Beyond that, we don’t know a whole lot about the setup. Given who Leclerc races for, we can’t imagine the Mercedes 450 SEL 6.3’s modern equivalent - the AMG S63 - will be used for the gig. Instead, it’ll be a Ferrari for real this time. An 812 Superfast would be nice, given the presence of a V12, but Ferrari has confirmed the vehicle in question will be an SF90.

Who’s looking forward to seeing the results?