There aren’t many automotive movie franchises as wildly successful as The Fast & The Furious. Depicting the underground street racing scene in the original Fast And Furious movie set in Los Angeles and surrounding areas depicted some accurate aspects of some of the gritty parts of car culture. The initial few movies were first and foremost about cars, and therefore a relatable subject for many high-octane fueled enthusiasts.
This is probably why the original is so highly praised despite not actually being a high-quality movie. The original and sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious became so widely popular, it did in fact, turn into a full-on franchise later adding characters and story arcs that now might seem a bit of a stretch.
Currently, in movie number 10 the new narrative is a far departure from the original street racers of LA. With Pontiac Fieros flying into space, nuclear submarine hijackings, and stunts that seem to grossly defy the laws of physics, The Fast And The Furious franchise has become somewhat of a combination of comedy and science fiction appealing to a broader audience.
Still, though, some truly stunning cars exist in the movies, and that can’t be overlooked. While there have been many throughout the Fast saga’s 10 movie run, here are some of our favorites and most memorable from The Fast And The Furious movie series. If you haven’t yet done so, we recommend watching at least the first three movies in the series.
10 1970 Dodge Charger: The Fast And The Furious
Front 3/4 view of Dominic Toretto’s wrecked 1970 Dodge Charger.
Starting off strong, very strong. So strong, in fact, that the chassis twisted coming off the line. Dominic Toretto’s 1970 Dodge Charger left such an imprint on fast and furious fans, that it appeared in almost every movie in some form or another. The Charger is Dom’s go-to muscle car. When things get tough, the Charger gets tougher, often helping Dominic Toretto get the “job” finished.
Many will remember the Charger from the first movie, essentially a drag car with a giant supercharger sticking out of the hood. Later versions of Dom’s famous Dodge Charger take on different appearances, but it was the original monster from The Fast And The Furious that won fans over, forever cementing Toretto as the villain who wasn’t actually a villain, and a fitting hero car always pulling through.
9 Nissan Skyline GT-R R34: 2 Fast 2 Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious Nissan Skyline GT-R R34
Brian O’Conner returns to his tuner roots in the franchise sequel, 2 Fast 2 Furious. The race showcasing the R34 GT-R takes place in Miami with four drivers speeding through the city with an insane jump at the end where O’Conner ends up not only jumping his Nissan Skyline R34 over the bridge but gathering enough speed to jump his rival in a Toyota Supra in the process thus winning the race.
By Today’s Fast And Furious saga standards, this is a fairly pedestrian scene, however, at the time, it was quite the fictional automotive stunt. This race and movie solidified Brian O’Conner’s preference for highly tuned JDM sports cars.
8 Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VII: 2 Fast 2 Furious
As O’Conner’s story continues as an undercover cop, he and his partner Roman Pierce are presented with two (new at the time) modified Mitsubishis. Pierce takes the Mitsubishi Eclipse and O’Conner then goes on to drive the now highly coveted Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VII. Throughout the movie Brain and Roman inch closer and closer to the elusive villain, winning races and earning street cred along the way.
The EVO VII is known best for the scene involving a high-speed pursuit along Miami freeways and eventually surface streets. Brian executes a 180-degree turn and proceeds to drive in reverse taunting Roman along the way. Overall the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII is depicted as having ultimate handling prowess, a fact that is believable as Lancer Evolution models have become known in real life for their handling and rally capabilities going head-to-head with Subaru’s Impreza WRX.
7 Nissan Fairlady Z (Z33): Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift
This time the big name Nissan appears in the Fast And Furious Tokyo Drift as the villain car. The Drift King or DK as he is known in the movie challenges Sean Boswell, the main character to a drift race, something Boswell is not experienced in at all. By the end of the race, DK has won, smoothly drifting his Z33 Nissan Fairlady Z throughout a multistory parking lot in downtown Tokyo, even pausing to allow Boswell to catch up in the Nissan Silvia he borrowed by Han Lue a.k.a Sung Kang, another famous character throughout the Fast And Furious saga.
6 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Grand Sport: Fast Five
In a rather fitting display of teamwork, Brian and Dominic steal an incredibly rare 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport off a train, which they then send flying off a cliff. The Car was used by Dominic to save Brian’s life as he was hanging from a wrecked train car. Dominic soars off the train in the ’66 Corvette Grand Sport and lines the car up just close enough to allow Brian to jump onto it that they then send him flying off a cliff into a river down below.
Movie buffs might recall this isn’t the first time a Vin Diesel character has sent a Corvette off a cliff into a river. In the action thriller XXX, Diesel’s character steals a Chevrolet C5 Corvette which also finds itself at the bottom of a river. As painful as it is to watch such classics like a De Tomaso Pantera, Ford GT, and 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Grand Sport go flying off of a train into the desert sands, it does make for great action scenes, and it was all in the name of saving a part of the Fast Five family.
5 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT: The Fast And The Furious
Front 3/4 view of Green 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT from The Fast and The Furious.
Right in the midst of the actual 1990s underground tuner scene, the bright green 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse GT that Brian O’Conner drove, introducing the world to The Fast And The Furious, instantly became an automotive cultural icon. This was a car that influenced many others in real life and made the statement that being bold was acceptable, encouraged, and even. Because of the parallel to the actual tuner scene happening in real-time, cars like Brian’s Eclipse were immediately relatable, for some the tuner car world is solely the space they occupy.
There have been many hero cars throughout the saga, but the little green Eclipse was the big first impression on us all. Even non-car people could relate to some of the characters or different types of cars within the movie series, there’s no mistaking that original “ten-second car” that inevitably perished to the flames of a NOS-fueled explosion.
4 Flip Car: Fast And Furious 6
By the time Fast And Furious 6 was released, nothing was off limits, and every possibility for death and destruction was on the table. This includes the very trick “flip cars” from Fast And Furious 6. The scene takes place in London, we find Brian and Dominic in a pair of blacked-out E60 BMW M5s chasing the villains through the city. The main villain Owen Shaw then appears with his accomplice in the sleek almost stripped F1-looking flip car.
The idea was that the front of the GM LS3-powered flip car was reinforced and designed in a way that would wedge under a normal car at speed sending the victim’s car flying into the air spinning and flipping out of control. This ultimately happens to Brian’s BMW M5 as he chases villains and gets tricked at the last moment sending him soaring out of control.
3 Lykan Hypersport: Furious 7
Front 3/4 view of red W Motors Lykan Hypersport parked at launch event.
Perhaps one of the wildest scenes ever to be created for an action thriller was in Furious 7 when Dominic and Brian steal a Lykan Hypersport from one of the tallest buildings in Dubai. When the bullets start flying, so do Brian and Dominic, as they somehow gather enough speed (Hypersport can achieve 0–60 miles per hour in 2.8 seconds) to burst through the building and carry enough momentum to crash into, and land inside a neighboring building.
At this point, the throttle gets stuck on the $3.4M hypercar leading Dominic to then gather speed again for another building-to-building jump. The two leap from the screeching vehicle just in time for it to again pop out of the last building falling to the ground far below. A fleeting moment for such a capable hypercar.
2 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback: Fast And Furious Tokyo Drift
Perhaps one of the most Frankenstein cars of the entire saga, Sean Boswell and Han build the 1967 Ford Mustang Fastback from a shell donated by Sean’s father, and the engine from the wrecked Nissan Silvia from earlier in the movie. The engine was actually a GT-R-derived, 2.6-liter RB26 inline-6. This coming-together moment symbolized a collaboration between cultures bringing a little bit of American Muscle to the Japanese drift scene. Ultimately because of the team’s hard work and Sean’s determination to master drifting, the Nissan-powered Mustang has what it takes to bring down the drift king and once and for all set things right within the drift community.
1 1994 Toyota Mk4 Supra: The Fast And The Furious
1994 Toyota Supra driven by Paul Walker in Fast and Furious that sold at auction for $550,000
Some considered Dominic Toretto’s Dodge Charger to be the hero car of The Fast And The Furious. In truth, it is the Orange A80 Toyota Supra (Mk4), driven by the late Paul Walker that is the last one standing. In the famous final drag race between Dominic and Brian, both the Charger and Supra pick up extraordinary speed, the Charger doing a massive wheelie from a standstill as they quickly approach a railroad crossing.
As they get closer, a train is also approaching the crossing, and knowing they are moving too quickly to slow down, both Brian and Dominic push their cars to the limit in an attempt to beat the train to the crossing, unbelievably both make it just in the nick of time, however shortly after Dom’s Charger is destroyed as he fails to see an oncoming truck.
Ultimately Brian owes Dominic a “10-second car” and Brian knowingly allows Dominic to leave in the Supra they built together as police are well on their way to the scene. From this moment on in the saga, Brian and Dominic would remain close friends.