Racing video games to big screen outings rarely go well, fortunately Need For Speed only needed a bunch of cool sports cars to guarantee success. Unlike the Fast and Furious franchise, Need for Speed kept things simple. And by that we mean fast cars, believable actions scenes and none of the gravity defying, space venturing nonsense Vin Diesel and co have given us of late.
In fact, so true to life are the action scenes, CGI is near nonexistent, the producers instead using live action sequences, stunt drivers and a lot of planning. Fear not, during the more destructive scenes, Need For Speed didn't shamelessly trash any of the supercars, the rarest of the rare surviving to live another day.
10 Lamborghini Sesto Elemento
The Sixth Element, or in Lamborghini speak Sesto Elemento referencing the extensive use of carbon fiber in this limited edition raging bull. Mechanically near identical to the Gallardo Superleggera, sharing a 5.2-liter V10 cranking out 562 hp.
Stripped back to a bare minimum, the Sesto Elemento's cockpit is a stunning display of bare minimalism, if it doesn't serve a purpose it gets binned. Everything else is bare naked carbon fiber, further reducing curb weight to 2202 lbs, 30% less than the Superleggera it's loosely based on. Lamborghini only produced 20 examples, fortunately the movie used a replica for the climatic crash scene.
9 McLaren P1
From one rare exotic to another, McLaren's P1 produced in low numbers, 375 standard road cars accompanied by a handful of GTR spec machines regularly change hands in the millions of dollars range. Uber cool use of the 12C's tub and engine, boosted by a mild hybrid system generating a combined output of 913 hp, McLaren claims a top speed of 217 mph, which put it in direct competition with Porsche and Ferrari.
Oddly, knowing the movie's climatic race scene would only ever end badly, the P1 sent in to a fatal spin by the archrival's Lamborghini Sesto Elemento. Regardless, the P1 you see surfing the tarmac on its roof is fake.
8 Koenigsegg Agera R
Stealing the limelight early on, not once, but three times, the Koenigsegg Agera R sets the movie's revenge plot line in motion with a fatal crash that sees the total destruction of one of three US-owned examples. Needless to say, the Agera would be back for the movie's end scene, a fitting and somewhat damming piece of evidence against bad guy Dino Brewster.
Launched in 2011, the Agera R held numerous performance records, including 0-186 mph in 14.59 seconds, and more impressively, performing the same test and coming back to a standstill in 21.29 seconds. This was due to both a hugely powerful twin-turbocharged 5-liter V8 serving up 1124 hp, and braking boosted by a hydraulically operated adjustable rear wing.
7 Spania GTA Spano
Of lesser importance, if you can call a V10 powered 887 hp supercar such, Spania's GTA Spano features in the De Leon race in the hands of Johnny V, played by professional racing driver turned stunt driver Paul Dallenbach.
Spania branding gives away the GTA Spano's origins, built outside Valencia, Spain, from 2013 onwards with a revised second generation appearing after the movie's launch in 2015. While it might lack the prestige of other Need For Speed racers, there can be no denying this cool ride is worthy of its place in the finale, with a McLaren P1-matching top speed of 217 mph.
6 Saleen S7 Twin Turbo
Meticulously hand-built American supercars are pretty rare, Saleen's S7 Twin Turbo one of a handful of exotica that picked up where Vector and Consulier left off. Produced from 2000 to 2009, the S7 exists in low, unconfirmed numbers, ranging from a more believable 100 or so, to the wildly inaccurate 1500+.
All too briefly, this super-cool low-slung Ford 7-liter twin-turbo-powered monster vied with established supercar greats both on and off-screen. Rated at 750 hp in later production models, the S7 is capable of sub-three seconds sprints to sixty and a maximum of 248 mph. On screen, it came to a premature end in a collision with a law enforcement SUV.
5 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport
Enter the fastest and baddest supercar on the planet, at the time of the movie's release, nothing in production could keep up with the Veyron's world-beating 267 mph top speed. However, the De Leon wasn't held over a straight course, handing the advantage back to other entrants with lighter, more agile machinery.
When the chips are down, big power figures and top speeds dominate bragging rights. So what if the Veyron would destroy its tires at maximum speed, or that its fuel tank would run dry in as little as 15 minutes if you deploy all 1184 hp. It was, for its time, a super cool piece of engineering pushing the limits of car design, and we love it.
4 Ford Shelby Mustang
For the most part, we were convinced the Mustang would make a last minute sprint across the finishing line, restoring US muscle car glory for gearheads everywhere. A late plot line twist had other ideas, the fictional one-off Shelby Mustang meeting an untimely end at the mercy of a tow truck.
Custom-built for the movie, no ordinary Mustang would quite look the part, essentially a GT500 wearing a custom body kit and bigger wheels gave Need For Speed the US connection it needed for success on the big screen. That just leaves the highly implausible track testing session to determine the Mustangs top speed, did someone say 234 mph?
3 Mercedes SLR McLaren
One of several German sports cars featured in Need For Speed, Dino Brewster's Mercedes SLR briefly appearing in the early stages with a flurry of noise and showmanship thanks to its dihedral doors, only to be largely left lingering in the background.
Although a genuine 200+ mph supercar, the SLR is often overlooked despite being another of Gordon Murray's stunning combinations of brute force and timeless style. Under the hood, hand-built all-alloy 5.4-liter supercharged V8s pump out 617 hp, unusually making do with three valves per cylinder in place of the more common four valve set-ups. Not that the SLR lacked performance, sixty taking a mere 3.4-seconds.
2 Chevrolet Camaro SS 396
Need For Speed's 130-minute running time is a gearheads dream, crammed with exotic supercars stealing the limelight, but that doesn't mean good old American muscle didn't play its part.
Driven by Tobey Marshall in the first of Need For Speeds race scenes, Chevrolet's 1968 Camaro SS 396 puts on a good show with plenty of sideways action before taking the win. The SS 396 was unique for 1968, the only model year factory-fitted with a 396 cu-in V8, in stock form putting down 375 hp.
1 Blink And You'd Miss Them, Porsche 944S & Audi R8
The SLR isn't the only German sports car to be found in Need For Speed, up first, a late 80s Porsche 944S competes rather unfairly against the Camaro SS 396 and other assorted American heavy metal.
Arch-Nemesis Dino Brewster clearly has a fetish for European machinery with a collection of Koenigseggs, and the aforementioned Sesto Elemento. Adding fuel to the speculation, in a later scene observant gearheads will be able to spot a host of exotica including another Lamborghini or two, several Porsches and Audi's R8. Admittedly, we don't see them in action, but they're still on show.