We could choose any one of the late, great Ken Block’s Gymkhana films for our Car-Vid Classic series (in fact, we did for our very first): they’re all spectacular and special in their own ways. But Gymkhana Five: Ultimate Urban Playground, from 2012, is notable because it was the first time the series was filmed on public streets.
Not streets full of the public, of course. That would be nuts. But San Francisco definitely gets equal star billing in Gymkhana 5, as Block goes wild in a very controlled way in the Monster World Rally Team-prepped 447kW/890Nm Ford Fiesta previously seen in Gymkhana 4. A Fiesta is the perfect town car, as we all know.
Major locations in the city of over 7.5 million were shut down specifically for Block to show off his tricks - including the Financial District, the Bay Bridge (and the Bay itself, on a barge), Russian Hill and Twin Peaks.
"San Francisco was absolutely amazing for Gymkhana," said Block at the time. "It's such a unique location for this kind of driving and allowed me to do some things that I never thought I'd ever be able to incorporate into one of my Gymkhana videos, like jumping a table top or doing a jump drift.
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"I'm stoked with how this project turned out and I'm truly a lucky bastard to have been able to do the things I was able to do on the streets of San Francisco."
His sports-star mate Travis Pastrana – now a Gymkhana star himself - even makes a cameo, pulling wheelstands on a motocross bike while Block does donuts around him.
