From as far back as 2001, the Fast and the Furious franchise has stood as a beacon to car enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. Something about the first movie's style, emphasis on family values, and badass cars just worked perfectly for the time, resulting in the series we have today.
However, the Fast and Furious of 2020 is a lot different from nineteen-years ago. Back then, it was all about the cars, then adding in a compelling story in the background. Nowadays, that philosophy appears to have flipped on its head, given the increased focus on world-ending action plots and not street racing.
Sure, the story and characters have gotten deeper, but the cars they use haven't kept up with their driver's progression. Rather than go for something stunning and authentic, the producers will opt for something else; something cheaper, such as a kit car.
Perhaps the most egregious instance of the producer's laziness can be found in Fast & Furious 6. To be specific, Tej Parker's (Ludacris) Ferrari FXX copy. This replica isn't just bad, it's offensive to a true Ferrari-lover's senses.
To get the full story behind this monstrosity, we need to go over the car's scene, the backlash that followed its debut, and the reasoning behind its creation...
Blink And You'll Miss It
A good portion of you may be wondering something like, "when did the Fast and Furious ever use a fake Ferrari FXX anyways?" It's certainly not at the forefront of the movie, but it's still there; albeit, surrounded by extras.
In the beginning of Fast & Furious 6, all the main characters have successfully pulled off their heist, and subsequent escape, from the end of Fast 5. We see the cast living their various lives, but it's only after finding out Dom's love interest, Letty, is still alive that gets everyone back together.
When seeing the montage of the characters in their new lives, Ludacris' (Tej) scene has us raising our eyebrow. This, of course, is where we see the infamous Ferrari FXX copy. Whilst engulfed in a sea of school children, ogling at the car, Tej literally makes it rain money from a nearby A.T.M.; drawing away all the onlookers.
The replica FXX appears for only a couple seconds on-screen, but it was enough to anger Ferrari enthusiasts. Still, though, we have to give the producers credit for not lingering on the car for too long. If the shot had gone any longer, you wouldn't need to rewind/pause to figure out the truth.
Spoiled Way Before Release
In another world, the creators of F&F 6 wouldn't of had much of a problem passing off this replica as the real thing, especially when you realize how little screen-time it has overall. If fans had only seen it during that part of the movie, we may not even be talking about it today. Nevertheless, that's not what happened.
During the filming of the sixth Fast and Furious film, Ludacris decided to make a post on Instagram showing off some of the cool cars around him. What he didn't realize, however, was that fans would pick apart every frame of that video, hoping there was extra information somewhere.
In his photo was (you guessed it) the Ferrari FXX clone we've been talking about. The intended effect of the replica wore off the moment viewers got to take a prolonged look at it; thanks to a cast member.
So, since those who paid attention already knew about the replica, few people were going to fall for the producers pulling a fast one.
A Cost-Benefit Analysis
At the end of the day, the decision to use a replica isn't out of the ordinary. In fact, it's a very common method of saving money during film-making. The creators get to re-allocate funds elsewhere and viewers can barely tell the difference. Though, that's when the replica is done well, not like this one.
Aside from the complete failure to make a convincing-looking Ferrari FXX, it's way more realistic to try to build your own, rather than buy/rent a real one for the movie. To put this into perspective, a kit-car can cost less than $100,000, while an authentic Ferrari FXX is upwards of $12 million (for the only street-legal one, that is).
If you take the price into account, as well as the logistics of film-making, it's hard to say we wouldn't make the same choice if we were in their shoes. We do know one thing for sure, though: the last thing a Ferrari FXX owner wants is to have a ton of extras, children, cameramen, and careless crew members watching over their multi-million dollar baby...