The Fast and the Furious debuted in 2001, launching one of Universal Pictures’ most lucrative film franchises. It follows undercover cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) through the streets of Los Angeles as he infiltrates a community of underground street racers led by Dominic “Dom” Toretto (Vin Diesel) and Letty Ortiz (Michelle Rodriguez). Characterized by exciting chase sequences, extreme stunts, and endearingly melodramatic dialogue, the Fast & Furious franchise allows audiences to experience, if only briefly, the adrenaline-fueled worlds of urban street racing and performance driving.
5 Years of Fast…
This exhibition, marking the 25th anniversary of the first film, highlights the nitrous-injected world of Fast & Furious with a selection of screen-used vehicles and production prototypes that represent the series’s most iconic builds and the franchise that celebrates a legacy of living “a quarter mile at a time.”
1993 Toyota Supra – The Fast & the Furious (2001)
The Toyota Supra, painted Lamborghini Arancio Ishtar orange, was Brian O’Conner’s (Paul Walker) principal car in The Fast and the Furious. In the film, the car is built by Toretto’s Garage after Brian delivers it as a wreck to Dominic Toretto as payment for losing their first street race. Its modifications and flashy styling symbolize Brian’s acceptance into the street-racing world and his resourceful, irreverent personality. Eight near-identical Supras of varying model years were built for filming to resemble the custom 1994 Supra Turbo owned by technical director Craig Lieberman. This example, “Stunt #3,” is a 1993 model used for stunt sequences.
1966 Chevrolet Impala SS – Fast X (2023)
Flamboyant supervillain Dante Reyes (Jason Momoa) was introduced in Fast X as the main antagonist to Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) and his team. Throughout the film, Dante drives a distinctive modified lilac Impala. The choice of an Impala—a vehicle that is popularly chosen as a base for slow-speed lowriders—to create a high-performance street-racing car references two opposed disciplines. This dualistic nature reflects Dante’s seemingly easygoing, but ultimately sadistic, personality in Fast X.
“1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport”
Despite a minor appearance, the Corvette in Fast Five made a memorable impression on audiences thanks to its action-packed scene. The filmmakers initially wanted to use a C2 (second-generation) Corvette, but because authentic examples are highly coveted by collectors, they instead hired car builder Mongoose Motorsports to create replicas for filming. These were modeled to resemble the Grand Sport, an ultra-rare version of the C2 Corvette, of which only five real examples were built. Of the 12 replicas used in production, three survive.
1993 Ford Mustang LX – The Fast Saga (2021) and Fast X (2023)
F9: The Fast Saga introduced Jakob Toretto (John Cena) as the brother of Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel). In the film, before Jakob became a criminal mastermind and spy, he drove a blue Ford “Fox Body” Mustang. In production for 16 years, the “Fox Body” Mustang was available longer than any other Mustang generation. It was also the most compact Mustang since the original and was based on Ford’s “Fox” body platform. As an American muscle car like Dom’s Charger, the Mustang draws a parallel between Dom and Jakob in the film, reinforcing their distant connection.
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