Race: A legend

The beginning

In 2008, shortly after the Bullitt was introduced to the world, a customer walked into our shop here in Copenhagen asking normal technical questions. All of a sudden he stops, points at a decal on the Bullitt and asks “Do you have permission to use that?”.

The Bullitt was the Bullitt Race, and the decal he was pointing at was an image of Steve McQueen himself.

The answer to his question was, of course:

… “No.”

If you've read our other Colour Stories, you've probably realized this wasn't the first time Larry & Harry strayed slightly off the legal path in their creative decision-making.

Maybe they thought they'd stay small enough to dodge questions like these. Or maybe they were doing it on purpose, just waiting for it to happen. After all, there's no such thing as bad publicity, right?

Well, as it turned out, they managed to dodge any potential bad publicity. The image was eventually removed from the bike, and the man who pointed it out was hired to help keep them from doing stupid things that might cause our beloved bikes to disappear from this world.

Although the Race could no longer serve as a platform to pay homage to one of cinema's greater legends, the colour might remind you of a few other icons on four wheels.

Inspired by British Racing Green (BRG) - the deep hue that once cloaked Grand Prix Jaguars, Bentleys, and others - the Bullitt Race proudly wears that colour of speed and elegance.

Today, The Bullitt Race graphics reference our annual Copenhagen cargobike race, 'Svajerløbet'.

And because a Legend needs a place to stay, a Race Bullitt is now silently standing at the Vienna Technical Museum. Next to another Legend on 4 wheels, but that's a story for another time… 

If we didn't have a Bullitt Classic, Bullitt Race would be our classic. And as with every colour, here's the Bullitt Race Mixtape.

BUT wait!

It's not over yet. This time we're not just bringing you the musical universe behind the colour, but the cinematic universe as well.

As you might have seen, felt or heard through the grapevine, Larry and Harry have adopted the platform Letterboxd and are ready to bring you movie playlists matching all of their colourways and the themes they convey.

The Bullitt Race film list will be the first released to the public - and quite fittingly, it's the list that contains the film that started it all…

So next time you're wondering what to watch, just know - Larry & Harry has your back.

Click below to check it out:

And here's the playlist: