Zero To Franchise In 3.9 Seconds

It’s not hard to see that the vehicles in the Fast & Furious franchise are as vital as the actors, so let’s look at the star vehicles that made an appearance in the opener, The Fast and the Furious (2001)—though as we’ll see with our first vehicle, they do have a way of popping up in later installments when they’re not being smashed to smithereens!

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS

Driven by Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel), this car appeared in four of the F&F films. In Fast & Furious (2009), the car is destroyed by a lighter igniting nitrous oxide deliberately left leaking, allowing Dom to escape a standoff with Fenix Calderon, at the cost of destroying the red Chevrolet first seen in the franchise opener, The Fast and the Furious.

Jack Snell, Flickr

1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS

You can’t keep a good Chevrolet down, so Dom buys an identical looking Chevelle SS 454 in The Fate Of The Furious (2017). Then in Fast X (2023), Han Seoul-Oh (Sung Kang) takes a look at how expertly Brian “Little Bee” Marcos (Leo Abelo Perry), Dom’s son, is working on it, and realizes the kid is going to be a master mechanic one day.

Pixabay, GetArchive

1970 Dodge Charger R/T

In The Fast and the Furious, Dominic refused to drive the Charger after his father met a tragic fate while racing, but is forced to get over his fears when he has to use the only available vehicle to chase two men who’d eliminated one of Dom’s crew members.

Greg Gjerdingen, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1970 Dodge Charger R/T

The pursuit is a success, but Dom then crashes into a semi at the end of a celebratory race with Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker). Brian then hands the keys to his Toyota Supra to Dom.

sv1ambo, Flickr

1992 Honda Civic Hatchback

In The Fast and the Furious, race organizer Hector (Noel Gugliemi) tells Brian he’s given up on racing stock cars and wants to turn pro.

RL GNZLZ, Flickr

1992 Honda Civic Hatchback

But Brian discovers Hector is ordering parts for three Civics, which implicates Dom in some shady business.

PlotagonNoah, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

1993 Freightliner FLA 86 64 T

In dramatic action early on in The Fast and the Furious, something nefarious is happening at the Port of Long Beach, and it involves a Freightliner transport truck with “Rodgers” lettering on the side.

Jack Snell, Flickr

1993 Freightliner FLA 86 64 T

Three black Honda Civics swarm the truck carrying Panasonic TVs, with Dom himself driving the lead Civic in a successful hijacking and theft. Sadly for them, a second attempt is far less successful.

RL GNZLZ, CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1993 Honda Civic Coupe

This Civic coupe appears in The Fast and the Furious when Danny (RJ de Vera) races against Edwin (Ja Rule), Dominic, and Brian.

Rutger van der Maar, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1993 Honda Civic Coupe

Danny is shocked by Dom’s racing skills, but manages to finish second after Brian’s car sputters out.

peterolthof, Flickr

1993 Honda Civic EJ1

Remember the dramatic heist attempts we just mentioned? Well, Dom and his crew were driving 1993 Honda Civic EJ1s.

Zach Taiji, Flickr

1993 Honda Civic EJ1

In the second attempt, which goes horribly wrong, Dom’s Civic gets shot at by the truck driver, and the Civic driven by Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez) flips over. Only the Civic driven by Leon (Johnny Strong) escapes intact.

Will Fisher, Flickr

1994 Acura Integra LS (DB8)

Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) uses a blue Integra sedan in The Fast and the Furious to impress Brian with her skills behind the wheel—and a cool Japanese domestic market (JDM) front end.

Justin Holder, Flickr

1994 Toyota Supra MK IV

Brian drives the Supra in The Fast and the Furious in pursuit of two men who’ve snuffed out Jesse (Chad Lindberg), one of Dom’s crew.

Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

1994 Toyota Supra MK IV

At an impromptu drag race right afterward, Dom crashes his Dodge Charger. With sirens blaring in the background, Brian gives Dom the keys to the Supra so he can escape.

Jiri Sedlacek, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

1995 Chevrolet Caprice (9C1)

In a continuity error at the beginning of The Fast and the Furious, an officer driving a Ford Crown Victoria does a 180 and is now driving his colleague’s Chevy Caprice.

Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

1995 Chevrolet Caprice (9C1)

And in 2 Fast 2 Furious, Brian evades Customs officer Dunn (Edward Finlay) driving an unmarked Caprice after a street race.

Karrmann, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

1995 F355 Spider

Brian and Dom are test driving the souped-up Supra MK IV when they come upon a driver with a very impressive car stopped at the lights. Brian asks how much the car costs, and the response is that it’s a Ferrari, so more than Brian could ever afford.

Calreyn88, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

1995 F355 Spider

Naturally, a street race ensues, with the Ferrari eventually left choking in the dust that a rapidly accelerating Supra leaves in its wake.

Cars Down Under, Flickr

1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse

Making an appearance in The Fast and the Furious, the Eclipse is Brian’s first race car, despite his trouble controlling it in practice runs.

Kelly Michals, Flickr

1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse

The car gets obliterated in an NOS (nitrous oxide system) explosion after Brian inadvertently ends up in Little Saigon, where Johnny Tran (Rick Yune) shoots up the engine. 

Kelly Michals, Flickr

1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R R33

In The Fast and the Furious, Leon checked out what the authorities were doing as he kept watch from within his Nissan Skyline.

Vetatur Fumare, Flickr

1995 Nissan Skyline GT-R R33

Also used for street racing, the car was painted yellow and had Modern Image vinyl decals attached to it. The Skyline was also fitted with high-performance WORK wheels.

Andrew Bone, Flickr

1995 Volkswagen Jetta

Jesse bets his incarcerated father’s car at Race Wars and with the help of nitrous, seems to be winning. But rival racer Johnny Tran uses nitrous too, and wins the race. Jesse flees without honoring the bet, leading to serious consequences

IFCAR, Wikimedia Commons

1995 Volkswagen Jetta

The producers originally planned for Jesse to drive a BMW M3 (E36) or an Audi A4/S4 (B5), both highly “tunable” cars that would let Jesse’s skills as a “techie guy” shine through. But they had trouble finding either model already modified enough, so they turned to the Jetta.

Rudolf Stricker, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

1996 Acura Integra (DC2)

In The Fast and the Furious, Edwin drove his two-door red Integra DC2 with numerous modifications, including a Wings West RS Racing Series ground effects kit. 

ilikewaffles11, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons

1997 Nissan 240SX

Letty uses a Nissan 240SX to escape a raid on a street race in The Fast and the Furious, and later races it at Race Wars, where her NOS easily beats a driver who doesn’t have it installed.

Bull-Doser, Wikimedia Commons

1997 Nissan 240SX

Modifications included converting the front end to the 1998 model’s styling and repainting the exterior’s Mercedes Benz silver with a much flashier House of Kolor purple. A full bodykit from Zeal Bay Speed and VIS GT aluminum wing helped complete the makeover. 

Reece Mikkelson, Flickr

1999 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning

Though his pickup isn’t exactly a customized menace on the road, Brian uses the truck for work when he’s establishing his street cred at a store called The Racer’s Edge.

Colin, Flickr

1999 Ford F-150 SVT Lightning

It’s also the vehicle Brian drives when speeding past an unmarked Ford Crown Victoria, prompting the public arrest for show to minimize exposing Brian’s undercover status.

Late Model Restoration, Flickr

1999 Nissan Maxima (A32)

Dom’s loyal crew member Vince drives the Maxima to Race Wars in The Fast and the Furious. As well, he later drives Dominic to where the Honda Civics are hidden for a heist. However, few know that the Maxima was chosen for a surprising reason.

RL GNZLZ, Flickr

1999 Nissan Maxima (A32)

Matt Schulze, who played Vince, ended up driving a Maxima because of his height. If Schulze wasn’t so tall, his character might have driven a Toyota MR2 (SW20) instead. However, it just wasn’t spacious enough to accommodate him.

boring_vanne, Flickr

2000 Honda S2000

Johnny Tran’s S2000 had extensive modifications, leading Brian to try to convince Jesse not to bet his Volkswagen Jetta in the Race War competition.

Rutger van der Maar, Flickr

2000 Honda S2000

Unfortunately for Jesse, Tran’s S2000 had NOS, leading to Jesse’s defeat and the tragic events that followed.

crash71100, CC0, Wikimedia Commons

Ford Crown Victoria (Various Years)

The men in blue seem to like Ford Crown Victorias (even if one gets accidentally transformed into a Chevrolet Caprice mid-pursuit), as seen once again when Tanner (Ted Levine) drives up to fake arrest Brian so he can update those in charge of this LAPD undercover operation.

Matti Blume, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Ford Crown Victoria (Various Years)

Later, when the franchise shows up in New York, it’s seen that most of the cabbies are driving Ford Crown Victorias, albeit updated.

LouieRBLX, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons

Fresh Faces and Furious Fumes

So that completes our look at the four-wheeled stars of The Fast and the Furious, when the franchise-to-be’s characters and audiences first bonded over their mutual need for speed. And just around the corner may lie more sequels getting ready to start their engines, as the stars and cars race off to more Fast & Furious adventures.

Chad Horwedel, Flickr

1993 Mazda RX-7 FD

Dominic drives this Mazda in The Fast and the Furious, in a race with Brian, Danny, and Edwin.

Cars Down Under, Flickr

1993 Mazda RX-7 FD

The LAPD show up and Dominic hides his car in a parking garage. But the RX-7 we see in the movie was no ordinary RX-7—this one was inspired by a Keith Imoto car and featured a roll cage. Unfortunately for Vin Diesel, that unique feature turned into a major pain. It was discovered that Vin Diesel was too big to fit into the car, so the roll cage had to go.

Minh Vo, Flickr