Back when it came out in 2001, The Fast and the Furious sparked a fire in the US that resulted in an explosion of tuner culture and aftermarket mods. Now, standing 9 movies strong and a 10th one on the way, the Fast and Furious franchise stands among the highest-grossing and most popular franchises of all time. Not only did the movies jump-start the acting careers of Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Sung Kang, Tyrese Gibson, Ludacris, Gal Gadot, and many more actors, the franchise is also responsible for elevating the stardom of sports cars that we all love today like the ‘69 Dodge Charger, Nissan Skyline R34, Toyota Supra MK4, and many more.
Still, there are a few cars seen throughout the franchise that did not get the love and attention that they deserved. Sometimes it is because they are a relatively less known car, or they didn’t get much screen time, or maybe perhaps they got overshadowed by other great cars. The first four films dealt more with street racing and car chasing on the streets of LA, Miami, Tokyo, and the Mexican border, with four very different films from each other, it is easy to get overwhelmed by the sheer diversity of car types (the only thing they all had in common was that they were darn fast). But we are here to see some of these unsung gems get the justice they deserve and what makes these cars so great.
1995 Nissan Skyline R33
The Fast and the Furious (2001) skyrocketed the popularity of the MK4 Supra, 1999 Eclipse, and the ‘69 Charger as the ride of choice of our two leads Dominic Torreto and Brian O’Conner. But the rest of Dom’s crew also had some great choices of rides. Dom’s sister Mia Torreto drives an Acura Integra, which is another sweet ride that almost made it into this list. Letty’s Nissan 240SX and Jesse’s white Jetta A3 are a few other great cars that didn’t catch the eyes of many viewers. While Vince’s Nissan Maxima leaves a lot to desire, overall the whole crew was running some nice rides around Los Angeles. Yet, none of them are as cool as the R33 Skyline that Leon rides.
The only character from the group who stayed alive, but never came back for the subsequent films. Leon gets my vote for the best choice of ride, and the side vinyl is just the cherry on top. To be honest, the Skyline R33 itself is an underrated car already. One of the main reasons behind this was the softer suspension tuning compared to both the previous and the succeeding models. This resulted in a more comfortable ride, but it also resulted in the car having some understeer during heavy cornering. The R32 is still remembered as the car that earned the nickname ‘Godzilla’ for the Skyline GT-R series, the R34 and R35 remain the most popular among the younger audience as Brian O’Conner drove them both in later films. But the R33 is still such a beast in terms of performance and compared with good looks, it’s almost criminal leaving this one out of a list of great cars. The Skyline R33 featured in the movie had a Race Bred 2.6-Liter Inline-6 cylinder engine that made 276 HP and 260 lb-ft of torque at 4400 rpm, which was more than enough to smoke most compact cars available in the US markets if it had participated in the fictional ‘Race Wars’.
2003 Acura NSX NA2
Honda’s Acura division is a place of wonders when it comes to making cars with innovative Japanese technology. The NSX is the apex mountain of Acura’s lineup of cars. As seen in the first film with the Integra, we know that Mia’s choice of rides is not bad at all, keeping the integrity of her last name Toretto. With a 3.2-Liter V6 engine that dishes out 290 HP at 7,100 rpm and 224 lb-ft of torque 5,500 rpm, the NSX is no slouch when it comes to speeding on the roads or if it is to break free your convicted brother from going to prison in a bus. These days, the NSX is more popular than ever, with actor Michael B. Jordan rocking one, as the 2nd Gen NSX is one of the most advanced species in the world.
Chevrolet Monte Carlo
Seen as the perfect car of the 3rd film’s protagonist, the Chevy Monte Carlo captured the perfect essence of everything we needed to know about the hero Sean Boswell as an ‘all go and no show’ person who is also a bit of a loose cannon with a lot of potential underneath. The car’s model year is not specified because all 11 models used for filming are a mixture of ‘70, ‘71, and ‘72 versions.
The headlight bezels and bumpers were from the 1970 model, and the grills were 1971 with a smattering of bodywork taken from the ‘72. Nevertheless, the car looked like a perfect sleeper with a classic dual-tone brown and black matte paint job with the front fenders and side skirts retrofitted with scrap-like materials. To top it off, the Chevy also had the performance to back the sleeper aspect up. The reason it was able to keep up with the red Viper, one of those 11 Monte Carlo's, was made for performance. One had a Bill Mitchell “Hardcore” 632ci, a nitrous injected 9.3-Liter big-block V-8 engine that made more than 800 HP! Seven of the others had either small-block V8s or they were used as engineless dummies. With inspiration taken from NASCAR legends and powered by a V8, the Monte Carlo is a true badass, both in the film and in the real world.
So there you have it, folks. With a lot of different cars from both the JDM and the American market, and with the fast-moving plot, it can be difficult to take a moment to sit back and appreciate all the cars shown in the film. Hence, it is natural that not all of them get all the praise and popularity that they deserve, but these cars here are just too good to get overlooked.