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A stunt driver has released a new video in which he races a custom Ford Mustang through the streets of Los Angeles, performing daring stunts—sometimes in locations cars typically aren't allowed to go.
Ken Block, 46, is a Long Beach native known for co-founding DC Shoes before turning his attention to rally-cross and car stunts. His "Gymkhana" driving videos are hugely popular on YouTube. In his last video in 2012, he was shown racing a Ford Fiesta through San Francisco. His latest, "Gymkhana 7: Wild in the Streets of Los Angeles," shows him speeding through downtown L.A., zipping under a bouncing low-rider and circling donuts around Randy's Donuts.
For the Los Angeles stunts, Block drives a custom 845 HP, all-wheel-drive 1965 V-8 Ford Mustang, the L.A. Times reports. The video, directed by LOGAN's Ben Conrad, was shot over five days on a budget over $1 million, and it took months to garner all the necessary permits.
Gymkhana as a driving style is about speed, but also about tricks. Additionally, it often relies on drifting, which is where a driver oversteers in order to lose control of the rear tires. This results in the front tires pointing in the opposite direction of the turn, so it looks like a car is moving sideways through a turn. Drifting first became popular in Japan, hence The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.
Other notable locations in the 12-minute video include the Sixth Street Bridge, the pedestrian plaza of Chinatown, the Hollywood sign and the L.A. River—and there's even a nod to the infamous Bronco chase of 1994.
