We take a closer look at the real stars of the upcoming Fast X movie - the cool rides!
Remember the dress that divided the global population on what colour it was, blue/ black or white/gold? Well, the Fast & Furious movies seem to divide opinions in the same vein in recent times. However, one cannot ignore the impact of these movies on global car culture. One of the biggest money-spinner franchises under the Universal banner, the Fast & Furious movies have been nothing short of a phenomenon.
It is hard to believe that the first movie came out 22 years ago, back in 2001, when the senior team at TURBOCHARGED were in college. However, we are as excited as we have always been when there is a new Fast & Furious movie on the horizon. Scheduled to release on May 19 this year, the tenth film in the series — Fast X, will see Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) fight to save his family from Dante (Jason Momoa), aided by his crew — Letty (Michelle Rodriguez), Mia (Jordana Brewster), Roman (Tyrese Gibson), Tej (Ludacris) and Han (Sung Kang) and a whole lot of exotic automobiles.
The signature black 1970 Dodge Charger R/T, a car that has become as iconic as Torretto himself, will be back in tyre-shredding action, complemented by two other, somewhat different Chargers, and a smorgasbord of other classic and exotic metal. So without further ado, let’s dive right into the cars and bikes!
1970 Dodge Charger R/T
Dom’s Charger R/T from the first movie is now a staple of the series. Packing a BDS 8-71 Roots-style supercharger on a Mopar 426 Hemi (7.0-litre) V8, it's supposed to have over 900PS, and so much torque that it can lift the front axle on a full-bore launch, and before being reinforced, when Dom's father was racing it, the “chassis twisted coming off the line”.
2020 Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye Widebody
The Charger Hellcat Redeye Widebody packs an absolutely brutal engine, a 6.2-litre HEMI V8 with a supercharger which itself packs 2.7-litre of air! This twin-screw supercharger helps it pump out 808PS and 959Nm. Dom prefers the Redeye Widebody version, so he can have more stability when drifting and the power to deal with the bad guys.
1970 Dodge Charger Hellraiser
It may look like a 1970 Dodge Charger, but it only borrows the VIN plate from the donor car. Sitting on a tube-frame chassis, the Hellraiser has a carbon-fibre body, and a Mopar ‘Hellephant’ crate engine. Displacing 7.0 litres with a 3.0-litre supercharger, it delivers 1,014PS and 1,288Nm, through a ZF 8HP90 eight-speed automatic borrowed from the Demon.
1966 Chevrolet Impala Ss Drag Car
Dante was supposed to drive an R35 Nissan GT-R, but Jason Momoa got the car changed to “something big”, and that’s how we ended up with the Chevrolet Impala SS drag car. It was powered by a 427 Small Block V8 (7.1-litre) and pushed out 431PS and 624Nm when new. The original 1966 Impala SS 427 Turbo-Jet had a three-speed manual transmission!
2003 Lamborghini Gallardo
The Lamborghini Gallardo needs no introduction, and the one in the movie appears to be free of modifications, apart from the retina-scorching gold-chrome wrap, which suits the flamboyant Roman Pierce's personality perfectly. The LP560-4 Gallardo had a 5.0-litre V10 putting down 500PS and 510Nm, via a Graziano manual - which is what Roman prefers, of course.
1971 Alfa Romeo 2000 Gt Veloce
One of the coolest Alfa Romeos ever, the 2000 GT Veloce is powered by a 2.0-litre version of the legendary twin-cam engine, producing 132PS and 182Nm, and propelling the 1,080kg coupé to 195kmph. This oldy is no slouch, and as we know it is never the car but the driver who makes the difference. We see Han keeping pace with Roman’s Gallardo with ease.
1967 Chevrolet El Camino
The Chevrolet El Camino is a legend on its own. The one in the movie, however, has ginormous rocket launcher pods on the side of the car, mounted on the external roll cage it is fitted with. We suppose the power is ‘adequate’ as it seems to have no problem hauling this load around at crazy speeds, with Jakob Toretto behind the wheel.
2022 Delorean Alpha5
We all know the other DeLorean, the DMC-12, as iconic as the movie series it stars in, and here’s the second-ever model from the marque getting a movie role as soon as it is revealed. It is also the first EV to get cast in the Fast and Furious series. Apparently, the Alpha5 has a range of more than 450km and a 0-88mph (if you get it!) time of 4.4 seconds.
1966 Ford Fairlane
The Ford Fairlane, in its fifth generation, had the option of speccing it with the ‘R-code’ 427 (7.0-litre) V8 engine delivering 431PS and 650Nm and paired with the four-speed ‘Top-loader’ manual transmission. Only 57 of these were made, as Ford's sole intention was to get it homologated for NHRA. The one in the movie is seen belting down a highway.
2023 Nissan Z Veilside
Han’s first appearance in Tokyo Drift was marked by a bright orange Mazda RX-7 fitted with a VeilSide bodykit, and here Han drives a bright orange Nissan Z fitted with a VeilSide bodykit. Not only that, it has a custom exhaust and an ECU tune, which should bump up the figures from the original’s 405PS and 474Nm. It also gets a custom air suspension setup.
2022 Harley-Davidson Pan America
Motorcycles have also started to invade the F&F franchise as Dante is seen riding around on a heavily-modified Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250. The front fender has been ditched, and it sports a metal plate in place of the headlamp. Another super-cool feature of this particular machine is that it seems to have red straight-through pipes.
2018 Honda CRF 250R
Very few details are available about this heavily modified motorcycle ridden by Letty except that it's a Honda. Our best guess is that the motorcycle started life as a 2018 or later Honda CRF 250 motocross bike, which has been given a vintage supermoto makeover by Alex King who has worked on vehicles from the previous Fast and Furious franchise.
