The Real Stars of Fast & Furious

We all know (and most love) the Fast and the Furious Franchise. Once we admit this, we then must admit that it’s not that acting that gets us to the theaters to see each installment but rather the beautiful, true superstars….. the cars. Over the many years this franchise has featured hundreds of different cars. Here’s our list of top 4 Fast & Furious superstars.

Number 4: 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse

Brian O’Connor’s very first street race car in the entire franchise met an unceremonious end in the first movie, but the green-and-blue Eclipse became one of the most iconic cars in the franchise, not so much because it gave Dominic Toretto a run for his money - he later quipped the now-famous line "it don’t matter if you win by an inch or a mile; winning is winning". Anytime you get Vin Diesel to spew a nugget of wisdom like that, you have to give props to the car that made his bald head sweat.

Number 3: 1995 Volkswagen Jetta

Jesse and his white V-Dub don’t get a ton of time onscreen in the original movie, but we’re including the Jetta for a couple reasons. First, it’s one of the few European cars seen in the series. Second, it’s a solid choice for enthusiasts. Without any modifications, a stock Jetta offers acceptable performance and crisp handling; both traits are easily enhanced to meet tuners’ demands without as much effort or compromise as some more popular Asian and American cars.

Number 2: 1999 Nissan Skyline GT-R

Admit it. You have a Skyline fetish -- and so does Brian O’Connor. It’s cool, that’s why we have no problem whatsoever with the frequency of these cars’ appearances in the series. The new, America-friendly Nissan GT-R is brilliant, but there will always be a mystique surrounding the all-but-inaccessible predecessor. There’s nothing wrong with the blue model in Fast & Furious, but there’s really nothing wrong with the silver car in 2 Fast 2 Furious.

Number 1: 1970 Dodge Charger

As one of the protagonist Dom Toretto’s main cars, the Dodge Charger has seen a lot of screen time in the Fast and Furious series. Crashed and rebuilt multiple times in the series, the Dodge Charger is one of the cars to make a recurring appearance in the films. Chargers aren’t so easy to find these days, and are pretty expensive, so the film crew often had to accept any beat-up model they could get their hands on. Five were purchased, with three stunt models equipped with a small-block Chevy crate motor. One was used only for filming driving scenes within a studio. The modified engine was capable of covering a quarter mile in 9 seconds flat thanks to a supercharged Chrysler 426 Hemi V-8 engine with 900bhp. It was also equipped with a Chrysler 727 Three-Speed Automatic transmission, 18-inch wheels and a BDS electronic fuel injection.

With the newest installment of this series coming out this year, fans cannot wait to see what amazing cars they plan to feature in the Fast & Furious 7.

Ricky Rendforth can build a car from scratch using used auto parts if he had to. He also likes to help out his friends by picking up parts from the Local Automotive Scrap Yard to help save them money.