Fast & Furious: The Cars of the Film
March 10th, 2009 artmasterA car defines the driver, and drivers have their unapologetic preferences when it comes to their rides: import or muscle. The Fast & Furious crew embraces this rivalry and has rolled out close to 250 of the baddest muscle cars and the sexiest tuners to appeal to gearheads who appreciate American heavy metal…or to those who prefer the sublime beauty of a Japanese or European import tuned to perfection.
The filmmakers raised the stakes once again, this time giving Dom and Brian an arsenal of cars to push the limits of speed and endurance. When Morgan put pen to paper, it was a foregone conclusion that the 1970 DODGE CHARGER that died a spectacular death at the end of The Fast and the Furious would be resurrected for Dom in Fast & Furious. “Not only is the Charger an awesome looking car,” states the writer, “but there’s so much more to it. It tells a story; it represents the soul of Dom.”
Dom maintains his muscle car cred by driving a ’70 Charger and 1970 CHEVROLET SS CHEVELLE, also featured in The Fast and the Furious, as well as a 1987 BUICK GNX GRAND NATIONAL and a 1973 F-BOMB CAMARO. For his part, Brian mixes it up with a tried-and-true performance import extraordinaire, the 1998 NISSAN SKYLINE GTR, as well as the versatile upstart 2009 SUBARU WRX STi.
It’s a muscle car world with a standout supporting cast of cars that includes Letty’s 1970 PLYMOUTH ROAD RUNNER and Fenix’s 1972 FORD GRAN TORINO, with imports such as Mia’s 2000 ACURA NSX and Gisele’s 2007 PORSCHE CAYMAN orbiting around it. Not to be outdone, a who’s who of coveted cars appears in the film to satisfy a variety of tastes.
It was up to another series favorite, picture car coordinator DENNIS MCCARTHY, an unapologetic muscle car devotee, to educate the cast and crew on the intricacies of what makes one car more desirable than the next…and to track down vehicles ultimately selected. McCarthy previously worked with Lin and Moritz on Tokyo Drift, a universe that featured primarily Asian imports with a handful of American cars. Once decisions were made about models and makes for this movie, McCarthy had the daunting task of hunting down multiple versions of these often difficult-to-find classic automobiles. The next task was no easier: Build up and customize them so they were up to the rigors of filming.
It was the Dodge Charger that posed the biggest challenge for McCarthy and his team of mechanics. None of the original cars from The Fast and the Furious remained (save on the Universal Studios tour), so a countrywide treasure hunt ensued to literally piece together a total of seven Chargers…as well as some custom rebuilds.
“Dodge Chargers, in any condition, are extremely hard to find,” explains McCarthy, “and we went through roughly seven for filming…so that’s a lot of parts. There just weren’t enough out there.” With the expectation that the Charger had to return, McCarthy’s team came up with a viable solution. “We decided to build a mold of the body out of fiberglass,” he states. “It worked out really well for us.”
One of the car junkie’s luckier breaks came with an offer to build several exact replicas of the bullish F-Bomb Camaro. Built and owned by DAVID FREIBURGER, a well-known fixture in the car industry, the beauty is a powerful classic coveted by anyone who has seen her move…and delivered the expletive that inspired her curious name.
In addition to the hero cars driven by the core cast, the filmmakers needed to complement the action with a number of unique background cars that audiences have come to demand from each film of the franchise. A McCarthy-found standout that had both cast and crew awestruck was a stunning candy-apple red 1969 CAMARO, aptly named “The Big Red.” She is one of the fastest cars in the world and clocks in at 220+ miles per hour.
Once again, the filmmakers hosted the time-honored tradition for custom car owners around the U.S. and Canada: the open casting call. It served as an opportunity for die-hard car buffs to show off their prized customized eye candy; cars, motorcycles, pickups, vans and SUVs were rolled out for the filmmakers to review. The more outrageous, the better, and filmmakers, as always, were not disappointed with the expo.
The level of detail and obsession with the casting-call members’ rides never fails to impress producer Fottrell. He relates: “From the graphics applications to the paint jobs, they really personalize those vehicles. The color schemes, interiors and amount of attention that goes into their work…it blows me away every time I see them.”
The lines are also drawn, albeit unevenly, among cast and crew—who keep the ongoing “muscle vs. import” debate alive with tales of their favorites. Appreciating the nostalgia of American heavy metal, Diesel, Rodriguez, Brewster, Ortiz and Alonso prefer muscle. Walker, however, stays true to his character as a staunch import guy who loves the look and performance of European and Japanese autos.
Since his role in the first chapter of the popular series, Walker has amassed a growing car collection that includes an eclectic mix of both American classics and imports. He even offered several of them for filming…including his 1967 CHEVY NOVA, which was featured in the Dominican Republic party scene.
Rodriguez is of two minds when it comes to her car preference, but, ultimately, she likes them to be “green.” She says: “In Fast & Furious, I like the muscle cars. The Charger is pretty cool.” She laughingly adds: “I love speed, but I drive a Prius now.” But the actor hasn’t forsaken the occasional adrenaline fix; she’s got her eye on the soon-to-be-released Tesla—a high-performance electric sports car. “It would be really cool if there were a whole league of racecars that were ‘green.’”
Like Ortiz, Brewster is a New Yorker who didn’t know how to drive when first cast in The Fast and the Furious. In fact, she had to get her driver’s license to work on the first film. This time around, the actor has been living in Los Angeles and has settled into navigating the city’s maze of freeways and side streets. However, eight years hasn’t changed her lack of sentiment for her four-wheeled, juiced-up co-stars. She says a bit sheepishly: “I’m probably a muscle car girl. I still don’t know cars that well; it’s a little embarrassing.”
