The Five Most Memorable Fast & Furious Cars
Fast X, or Fast & Furious 10
is just a month away from being released. Now, some people throw shade at the thin-plotted machismo machine that is the F&F franchise -- but those people are missing the point. At its heart, F&F has always been about cars.
It’s hard to overstate how important The Fast and The Furious felt to Ray and his gearhead friends back in the early 2000s.
As kids who grew up street racing in Detroit, the first F&F film felt like validation. Before F&F, car movies were more or less like The Italian Job. But this movie was different. It shaped the identity of many young car enthusiasts, Ray included: kids from the suburbs became fans of Japanese tuner culture vis-a-vis Paul Walker, while the city kids took after Vin Diesel, preferring the power and grit of classic muscle cars. It was the best kind of rivalry.
As a tribute to these great and terrible films we love so dearly, here is a list of the five cars we believe have defined the series over the last 20+ years, plus some honorable mentions:
1.1994 Toyota Supra Mark IV
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
This iconic car was America’s introduction to Japanese tuner culture, and the kids
freaking loved it. From a design standpoint, it hasn’t aged well: the outsized spoiler, underbody glow and aluminum siding spoiler were a vibe at the time, but now it looks like something you’d find in a cereal box. But we gotta give credit where credit is due. This car defined an era.
1970 Dodge Charger
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Casting Vin Diesel as Dom was a great choice; giving him this car was the perfect
choice. It represents the power, simplicity and ego of all muscle cars ever. During the first film, this car also got some serious air during the coolest accidental stunt of all time. Though it looks intentional, the crew never would have planned for something so dangerous. But damn, it still looks amazing.
While we’re talking about Dom’s Chargers, we have to mention the epic scene from F8, when a Charger takes on tanks and races a submarine. And last but not least, shoutout to the mid-engine 1968 Charger from F9 that SpeedKore equipped with a Hellcat engine. That was badass.
Veilside Mazda RX7
Tokyo Drift (2006)
This car still features big in our imagination, with its bold color blocking and
This RX7 was the introduction of the Veilside bodykit the actually complements the RX7 FD’s classic and restrained lines. This hero car design has aged well.
F9: The Fast Saga (2021)
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
The rocket car that Tej (Ludacris) and Roman (Tyrese Gibson) take to space
wearing scuba gear. Seriously…you gotta love these movies.
2005 Volkswagon Touran
Tokyo Drift (2006)
No F&F list would be complete without Bow Wow’s Hulk Car. It is everything we love to
hate and hate to love about the franchise.
Honorable Mentions:
1963 Corvette Grand Sport
Shoutout to this Corvette for being the only F&F car Ray would actually own.
Honda Civics from TF&TF
Classic villain cars, amiright? We’ll never forget the stunt they pulled driving
under semis while trying to steal VCRs. Those were the days.
Nissan GT-R R34
This car has been illegal in America up until this year, but that didn’t stop fanboys
1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse
This is the absolute worst car of the series (yes, even worse than the Hulk Car).
It’s guilty of being made to look faster than it is -- but the worst part is it’s ugly
mug has been memorialized forever on the DVD cover. Also, what is with the
F&F decals? Lieberman explains.
Lycan HyperSport
The “Made in Dubai” supercar that everyone wanted, but never got made. It has
only ever has appeared in F&F7.
We are ready for Fast X
After binge watching the franchise, taking inventory of our favorite (and least favorite)
cars, and of course spending an extended amount of time fanboying on YouTube
while preparing this blog, we are hyped for this next installment.
Are you ready for Fast X?
Let us know on LinkedIn or Facebook. For more information about us, you can read our blog, check out our design process, or contact us directly. And for more F&F fun, check out Donut Media’s real mechanic reactions and this story about how the hero cars were chosen.