8 Great Cars You Might Have Missed In The Fast & Furious Movies

Few action franchises have gathered a portfolio of on-screen cars like "Fast & Furious." With 10 main-story films and an 11th (and possibly final) installment coming out in 2028, this series of productions has used countless cars over the last couple of decades to tell the story of the closely knit family that saves the world by driving fast cars (heavily abbreviated summary).

Of course, we love the plot-driven action, the characters themselves, and the occasional weird-looking scenes. But what stands out about this franchise is how it builds a connection between audience and movie car that lasts decades. When enthusiasts see a white A80 Supra, they immediately think of the "see you again" scene where Brian and Dom part ways at the highway interchange, and the sight of an orange first-gen Challenger will always call for an "Ejecto seato, cuz!"

After 10 whole movies, though, it's hard to form an emotional connection with every single car that rolls across the screen. There are likely far more cars you don't remember than those you do — the BMWs the crew drives when chasing the flip cars, Letty's near-death Jensen Interceptor, or that one Skyline of Brian's that no one talks about. The main cast each drive multiple different cars in most of the movies, and those that lack the iconic moments or screen time that Han's VeilSide RX-7 from "Tokyo Drift" had fade into forgotten memories. But as everyone can agree, the deep cuts are often just as good as, if not better than the hits, which is why we've combed through the franchise to offer up a taste of the best under-loved cars from the "Fast & Furious" films. Slight spoilers follow, so proceed with caution if you haven't seen the movies.

The Mustang community is massive, and there are certainly those out there who spotted this Fox Body in the movies and never forgot, but for many others, this Mustang isn't necessarily at the front of their minds. The blue and black example we're referring to here is the 1993 Ford Mustang LX that was first seen in "Fast 9: The Fast Saga." Interestingly, its first appearance is actually in a flashback from before the first movie was even set, when it depicts a street racing scene between Dom and his brother Jakob, set sometime in the early-to-mid 1990s.

The Fox is Jakob's personal car and is also featured in "Fast X," the 10th movie. But it's even deeper than that. It is canonically established that Jakob acquired the car when he was a teenager as a project and continuously maintained and built the car himself throughout the years, driving it regularly as an adult, which we see in "Fast X." 

Dedicated fans will know, though, the Mustang's timeline is a bit off. Firstly, in the flashback, Jakob looks far too old to be a young teen (13 years old, to be exact). Additionally, Dom goes to prison after their father dies in 1989 and spent two years there, meaning the scene where he is finally released and immediately goes to street race with Jakob would take place slightly before the 1993 Mustang was even sold. Though, even without the backstory, this Mustang is simply just a cool example. The reverse-scoop hood with the black stripe, the classic five-spoke drag-racing wheels, and iconic blue paint — it looks like a true street-strip build. According to the film's canon, it also has a 5.0-liter Coyote V8. Even better.

If anyone is getting absolute full use from an SUV, it's a character from this franchise. The crew traverses all kinds of terrain in all kinds of conditions, so why not spring for one of the true original SUVs in the Land Rover 110? This truck gets its film credit for being driven by Luke Hobbs, played by Dwayne Johnson, in the eighth movie called "The Fate of the Furious."

In the movie, Hobbs is tasked with retrieving an EMP device, and to aid in his escape is the Land Rover 110 wagon, which is later struck by Dom in his Dodge Challenger and destroyed. It doesn't play a major role in the overall film, even though it was featured in an important scene. But the Land Rover is the champion of a class of vehicle that feels a bit underrepresented within this franchise. The actual car used in the movie was a modified 1984 example of what is commonly referred to as the "Classic Land Rover." Details about the truck's specifications or possible canon modifications don't exist aside from the visible body modifications that were made to carry the EMP device for the film.

So, we can assume it either had an original 3.5-liter Rover V8, or some ridiculous undisclosed swap that Hobbs carries out off-screen. Speaking of Hobbs, in the spin-off titled "Hobbs & Shaw," starring Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, there is another similar Land Rover 110 that was built into a rock-crawler. Oh, and don't forget: You may want to call this a "Defender," but that nameplate wouldn't be used until 1990, meaning the featured car from the eighth movie is simply a 1984 Land Rover 110 wagon.

We're willing to bet that you remember Brian's beautiful blue R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R from the fourth installment, "Fast & Furious." And, naturally, you'll likely also recall how that very car was set ablaze when a nitrous oxide bottle exploded in Dom's Chevrolet Chevelle SS and destroyed both cars. Perhaps many viewers were blinded by the sadness of losing that iconic car, because an (almost) equally cool Subaru WRX STi steps in as Brian's main ride for the second half of the movie.

After their cars are totaled, Brian finds this WRX at the police impound lot and subsequently commandeers it to use for the rest of the film. Unfortunately, he does end up getting hit by an enemy toward the end of the movie, trashing the car just like most of the Subarus used in this movie (more on that in a bit). Producers were planning for Brian to drive a rally-style car and narrowed it down to a WRX or a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution. However, because Subaru responded first and offered up vehicles for filming before Mitsubishi, Subaru was awarded the gig.

Specifically, Brian's example was a 2009 Impreza WRX STI, which was brand new at the time of the movie's release. It was one of seven movie cars that were sent fresh off the factory floor from Subaru to the production team, but once they arrived, they wouldn't resemble a stock car whatsoever. All seven received upgraded Perrin-branded intakes and air filters, a Cobb tune and exhaust system, as well as hoods and body kits from VeilSide, providing some panache alongside the turbocharged 2.5-liter flat-four under the hood. In the end, it was reported that only one of the seven identical movie cars survived production.

This 1971 Jensen Interceptor is yet another victim of plot-driven distractions that might have hindered our recollection of this incredibly cool vehicle. Why? Because in the fourth installment of the franchise ("Fast & Furious"), Letty, who is played by Michelle Rodriguez, dies in a fiery crash ... or at least that's what they wanted us to think. In the sixth movie, Letty is resurrected (shocker), and the car she first appears in after her dance with the Grim Reaper is this modified '71 Interceptor. And when a fan-favorite character unexpectedly cheats death, the car they're driving is, understandably, not the main focus.

In the movie, Letty's Interceptor was styled extremely intentionally. It wasn't supposed to be a well-kept, factory-fresh example — she just came back from almost certain death, don't forget. So, the team leaned into the grungy street rod aesthetic one may expect to see in Letty's gritty journey back to her family. As such, car coordinator Dennis McCarthy had each of the four movie cars done up in an almost primer-esque grey paint with blacked-out chrome, a front and rear bumper delete, and big side-exit exhaust pipes.

For simplicity, the team swapped in LS3 crate motors to power the film cars, but in stock form, the Interceptor was actually quite a capable car. Starting in 1966, customers could have the 383-cubic-inch Chrysler V8 under the hood, providing some serious torque for British car standards at the time. By 1971, the 383 was replaced by a 440 cubic-inch Chrysler V8, but the top-dog SP trim (same year) would add Chrysler's six-pack carburetor system to the 440, allowing for a whopping 385 horsepower rating on the Interceptor. Nowadays, increasing values for Interceptors are making it a classic car investment with big rewards.

While it's typically the American or Japanese cars that obtain silver screen stardom in this franchise, there have been impressive German cars with big roles that nobody seems to bring up. As far as Porsche goes, there have only been a few – Giselle's (Gal Gadot) Cayman from the fourth movie, Diogo's (Luis Da Silva Jr.) 997 GT3 RS, and our featured pick, Brian's blue 996 Porsche GT3 RS. Funny enough, this particular 996 from "Fast Five" was also canonically driven and owned by Diogo before he lost the car to Dom and Brian during a race.

Looking behind the scenes, this is one of the more interesting vehicles on this list, firstly because neither of the two movie cars used came from the factory as a GT3 RS. That's right, without all the movie magic, both began life as regular old 996 Carrera 2s but were quickly transformed into the trim-topping beast by the Fast & Furious team ... at least, visually anyway. The only true mechanical modification made was a welded rear differential to more easily get the car sideways during filming.

To complete the GT3 RS look, however, they installed a color-matched blue roll cage, 18-inch wheels made by CCW, an NRG steering wheel, race-style Sparco bucket seats, a big rear wing, and the GT3 RS graphic on the side of the car. Otherwise, the 911s were still rocking their stock 3.4-liter flat-sixes. Even more fascinating is the fact that one of these movie cars was changed to right-hand drive, but kept the original left-hand-side steering wheel in place, allowing a professional stunt driver to control the vehicle while the actors could pretend to be in a hot pursuit.

For "Fast & Furious 6," they made sure the German car representation was in full effect, with a fleet of 5-Series sedans. You might have missed these in the sixth movie because the crew didn't hand-pick them — rather, they were given to the crew by Luke Hobbs and used for only one mission, with all except one ending up destroyed. In fact, the production crew had a total of 14 cars to work with, and only three of them survived the filming process of their big chase scene. Long story short, they were sort of meant to be used and forgotten.

Now, you may be thinking, "Argh, there's no way they destroyed 11 perfectly good M5s and their glorious 500-horsepower 5.0-liter V10s!" And you'd be right, because they didn't destroy M5s at all. Surprise ... none of the cars were M5s and were instead a regular group of E60 530i and 550i examples, neither of which were ever fitted with the M5's V10. Disappointed? We don't blame you. But an E60 5-Series done up like an M5 is still a cool performance car in its own right, and the straight-6 or V8-equipped cars are no slouches on straight roads either. Plus, you can rest your conscience knowing that they didn't deliberately ruin any future classics.

Achieving the correct aesthetic was a fairly simple job. All it took was replacing the lower-trim details (vents, badges, trim pieces, etc.) with the correct M5 parts, installing M5 wheels and exhaust pipes, and disabling the electronic assists. It's also worth mentioning that these might have slipped your mind because they were outdated when the film was launched — these are older E60 models instead of the F10 M5s that would have been current for the film's 2013 release date.

Sometimes, it's not distracting plot points or other more eye-catching vehicles that overshadow a car. Sometimes, it's just a lack of screen time, and the Acura NSX from the fourth and fifth movies fits the bill. It first appears at the tail end of "Fast & Furious," with Dom's sister Mia (played by Jordana Brewster) behind the wheel. She and other main characters are pursuing a prison bus containing Dom, who was given a sentence of 25 years to life, and intend to bust him out. But then, the movie ends.

In the fifth installment, we begin at the very cliffhanger we left off with, and the NSX is used to complete Dom's escape within the first scene. After that, Mia's NSX was never featured again, meaning that the car's total on-screen lifespan was just mere minutes of action. Remember, the NSX is a legendary car, among the best and simplest forms of automotive joy, and the fact that it's rarely mentioned within the fandom can only possibly be blamed on its far-too-brief cameo.

The physical car you see in this movie is a 2003 NSX-T example painted in Berlina Black and was modified with several exceptionally rare NSX-R parts to more closely resemble the ultra-collectible trim level of the same name that was only sold in Japan. It's a car that demands more time in the limelight, but we'll have to settle for the short and sweet action we got.

Saying "Brian drives a Nissan Skyline" is like saying "Spider-Man wears a suit." So what? Everyone knows that, and we're already deeply familiar with each iteration of this phenomenon. But we're willing to bet you don't remember the first-gen Skyline GT-R that Brian himself drives in "Fast Five."

Coincidentally, the Skyline appears soon after the scene we previously discussed involving Mia's NSX and Dom's prison bus breakout. Once Dom is secured by the crew, they flee to South America. Dom takes a different car, but Brian and Mia stick together, as they are both bound for Brazil. For this short sequence, the two drive the "Hakosuka" (Japanese nickname given to the original GT-R) to their destination.

If nothing else, this black example is arguably the most important Skyline in the franchise. Regardless of whether you remember this specific car or not, the KPGC10 generation Skyline is the only reason why the legendary run of the R32 to R35 exists in the first place. If the Hakosuka never happened, there is no "Brian's R34," and the franchise itself may have looked very different if not for the cultural relevance that the Nissan GT-R nameplate brought to these stories.