In 1976, French director Claude Lelouch released a nine-minute film depicting a car racing through the streets of a sleeping Paris. C’était un Rendez‑Vous gained popularity with car fans and saw releases in VHS and DVD formats over the years. Ford is offering its take on the classic, replacing the original Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 (which was dubbed with the sounds from a Ferrari 275GTB) with a Mustang and upgrading the footage to 360-degree views and virtual reality.
Lelouch helped with the remake of his film, entitled Re-Rendez-Vous, to celebrate its 40th anniversary. This is not his first time working with the pony car — the protagonist of Lelouch’s 1966 film A Man and a Woman drove a white Mustang in the Monte Carlo rally.
“I had goose bumps watching C’etait un Rendez-Vous 40 years later in virtual reality,” Lelouch said. “At the time, my movie was about the feeling of freedom and the pleasure driving generates. I knew that Ford would do more than just a tribute to the original in this new version. I am delighted to see the Mustang again and to close the loop fifty years after A Man and a Woman.”
In Re-Rendez-Vous, you control the view from the Mustang GT Fastback through your touchscreen or VR headset. The route is similar to the one in the original film, passing by landmarks such as the Arc de Triomphe, Sacré Cœur Basilica, and Montmartre. Some parts of the path had to be changed, as some of the roads from 1976 don’t exist anymore.
“Mustang is a symbol of the freedom and thrill of driving. Recreating Lelouch’s cult short film ‘C’etait un Rendez-Vous’ was the perfect way to capture this spirit for a new audience,” Anthony Ireson, director at Ford Marketing Communications, said.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.