No one predicted the runaway success of the Fast & Furious film franchise when the original cult film about an undercover cop trying in vain to save a group of petty thieves from themselves debuted in 2001. Behind all the car chases, fight scenes, corny races, and girls, the film\u2019s core concept of family-like bonds formed over a common passion resonated with audiences.<\/p>\n
As the years passed, and as the films focused less specifically on car culture and more on over-the-top action and rampant destruction, that theme\u00a0of kinship remained a constant. It transcended the movies themselves, bonding cast and crew together in a direct parallel\u00a0to the ragtag family of their characters.<\/p>\n
After Paul Walker\u2019s tragic death during the filming of Furious 7 rocked the automotive world, Vin Diesel promised an eighth installment. \u201cPaul used to say that eight was guaranteed. And in some ways, when your brother guarantees something, you sometimes feel like you have to make sure it comes to pass.\u201d<\/p>\n
With that spirit in mind, let\u2019s take a look at the most iconic, lovable, influential, and plain\u00a0badass cars featured in Fast & Furious films over the years.<\/p>\n
The first film was a mosaic of brightly colored and excessively vinyled 1990s imports, which made Dom\u2019s pitch-black 1970 Dodge Charger R\/T all the more sinister. Whenever Dom got behind the wheel of this\u00a0muscled\u00a0monster, complete with a\u00a0blown V8 and over 900 horsepower, it signaled to the audience that he meant business. Built as a father and son project before Dom\u2019s father passed away in a racing accident, this car perfectly embodies the spirit of the Fast & Furious franchise. The first movie’s final drag race between Brian and Dom featured the Charger\u00a0pulling a massive wheelie off the line,\u00a0starting the beloved and aptly ridiculous tradition of Vin Diesel wheelies.<\/p>\n
The team rebuilds the \u201chero car\u201d of the first film from a singed husk in record time, with piles of parts infamously overnighted from Japan. The mere suggestion of doing a \u201cfull build\u201d with an unlimited budget is enough to make a car nerd\u2019s breath quiver. This little orange Toyota, complete with its painfully out-of-style wheels and body graphics, is also solely responsible for skyrocketing\u00a0the Supra’s popularity among tuners. These days, MK IV Supras are able to claim insane prices and bone-stock examples are nearly impossible to find.<\/p>\n
Jesse\u2019s character arc is practically a Shakespearean tragedy. A young kid suffering from crippling ADD finds purpose working in Dom\u2019s shop modifying and tuning cars. He seems to stay out of the blatantly illegal activities of his crew, but is inevitably punished for the company he keeps. After blowing his nitrous too early in a drag race \u201cfor pinks\u201d against the first film\u2019s antagonist, he flees rather than give up his car, and is gunned down for it in broad daylight. Though, if you look carefully, it looks like Jesse forgot to install brakes and wasn’t even running from Tran after all.<\/p>\n
Featured in the first few scenes of the second film, this nitrous-snorting beast\u00a0made the Nissan Skyline the signature car of the Brian O\u2019Conner character. The R34 made a comeback in Fast & Furious, when Brian raced Dom for a spot running drugs for the Braga cartel. Back when 2 Fast 2 Furious\u00a0was released in 2003, the R35 (the first generation of Skyline sold in the US) was still years away, so no one complained about giving one of the world\u2019s most celebrated Japanese sports cars some glamour time on screen.<\/p>\n
This is the first car we see Paul Walker\u2019s character driving in the entire film franchise. The little lime green Eclipse is practically single-handedly responsible for the body kit and graphics craze that swept the car scene in the early 2000s. The unjustified destruction of this car early in the film is also the plot device that turns the protagonist and antagonist of the first films into inseparable partners of justice in the rest of the franchise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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