Furiously fast

Fans of Fast Furious are complaining that the recent cars featured in the iconic franchise do not reflect the street racing, import tuner scene roots it started with. There is some truth to it, and as we approach what could be the final movie in the series, we take a look at the cars which made the franchise a hit with the car scene.

10. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 (2 fast 2 furious, 2003)
The lime green Evolution was a rare sight on US streets when 2 Fast 2 Furious was launched. It would prove to be the single greatest product placement move from Mitsubishi in that decade, as it pretty much inspired the next gen car owners to move out of their bespoilered Honda Civic phase and start tuning some proper turbocharged Jap rockets.

9. Mitsubishi Eclipse GST (The Fast and the Furious, 2001)
We know of people who actually cried when the iconic Eclipse went up in flames in the first movie. It may have had tacky vinyls, mass produced bodykits and bad "intake welding", but it was epic enough at the time to get us all revved up in trying to recreate the green machine in games like Need For Speed: Underground. It's a sad realization that the Eclipse is mostly ignored by tuners today.

8. Dodge Charger bank heist (Fast Five, 2011)
Bank vault, two black-as-night Dodge Chargers, Dom and Brian at the wheels. Drifting through the streets of Rio with a massive vault tethered to their cars, the scene defied physics and boggled the minds of moviegoers. Dubiously epic, or epically dubious?

7. Terradyne Armored Vehicles Gurkha (Fast Five, 2011)
Fast Five was the beginning of the end for the series in terms of accessible cars, and was further glorified with Dwyane "The Rock" Johnson taking a roller coaster ride on the Gurkha, bouncing up and down Rio. It had the face of a mad rhino, features shared with the wrestler-turned actor at the helm. Biiiiiig car for a biiiiiig man.

6. Ford Mustang Nismo (Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift, 2006)
American V8 engines in Japanese cars are commonplace nowadays, but back when Tokyo Drift was launched, everyone scratched their heads and pondered on the sanctity of the concept of putting a RB26DETT into a Ford Mustang. It was a new idea to digest for the people who thought they'd seen everything in the car tuning scene.

5. Mazda RX7 Veilside (Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift, 2006)
Veilside may be out of favour in recent times as a bodywork specialist, but their legendary influence and wild creations were forever immortalized with Han's orange and black monster in Tokyo Drift. Widebody, custom lights, and incomprehensibly aggressive, the RX7 could only be easily identified by enthusiasts who memorized every inch of the car's distinctive window-line.

4. The Flip Car  (Fast 6, 2013)
A car that flips other cars. Ingenious, and a novelty idea that was actually put together just for the movie. It looks like evil, a razor edge about to slice into the neck of an unsuspecting victim. The resulting scenes were pure entertainment, cars flipping over left and right.

3. Nissan Skyline R43 GTR (2 Fast 2 Furious, 2003)
The neon was in terrible overdose, the decals and vinyls were bountiful, and the audio setup would embarrass a trailer queen show car today. But it was the first appearance of the R34 GTR in the franchise, and like Dom and his Charger, it would come to be associated with Brian. It was this match-up of personality of the car and the driver that stuck with us all throughout.

2. Toyota Supra RZ (The Fast and the Furious, 2001)
Remember the scene where the orange Supra smoked the Ferrari with Brian at the wheel and Dom riding shotgun? The one time exotic killers now switching to exotic cars themselves is the problem most fans have with the current movies. The Supra will always be the giant killing beast, and we love it because of that.

1. Dodge Charger R/T (The Fast and the Furious, 2001)
Dominic Torretto and the Charger. We can't think of any other car that goes better with Vin Diesel's portrayal of the man who lives his life a quarter mile at a time. The Dom-Charger pair are the perfect antithesis to Paul Walker as Brian and his love of Skylines. On the road, in real life, the two should be enemies. On screen, they are brothers like they should be.