The car is the Fast & Furious star
Under the skin of the most famous Fast & Furious stars, recreated for the live action show
So yes, the show features a Nissan 350Z with a Chevrolet LS V8, an R34 Skyline GT-R with a Duratec in it and even the Civics don't have the correct Honda engine in. Shock, horror. The fact is that, for the sakes of reliability and cost, it's far simpler to use familiar crate engines than attempting to make a show car with a highly strung (and very expensive) powertrain.
We'll begin with the Supra because, to be frank, as a kid raised on Gran Turismo and Need For Speed Underground, it resonated in the film a little more strongly. The guys describe the Toyota has a "labour of love" for them and their team, requiring hours of research to ensure the specs were spot on and days of waiting while parts were sent overnight from Japan. Yes, it happens in real life too... So getting the correct colour code took a fortnight (because it's a mix of Lamborghini oranges) and obtaining gauges, decals and whatnot for a car that's now 17 years old presented its fair share of challenges. That's in addition to finding a suitable donor car, all the right tuning parts for circa 700hp and setting it up to be "robust" - a word that comes up a lot in our chat - enough for a world tour. It's quite some car, the Supra, so it's of little surprise to find Chris is the only person allowed to drive it...
They both describe it as "a really cool car" though, and it's not hard to see why. Anything with an engine outside of the bonnet is cool - it just is. Everything works too, a testament to McCarthy's attention to detail. Again, the effort that must have been expended to create such a faithful recreation of such an old car is enough to make your head hurt.
What's interesting to note with this particular Charger is the presence of a third pedal in the footwell, despite the car being an automatic (a Turbo 400 transmission, since you ask). That third pedal operates the hydraulic handbrake, because movie cars can't have a visible hydraulic lever; if it's not in the movie car, it's not making it to the arena car! The whole car looks superb, too, bristling with more menace and intimidation sat in the NEC than pretty much anything else in any other situation. Well, anything bar the Ice Charger, perhaps...
The Fast & Furious Live show still has a load of UK tour dates to fulfil, including Glasgow, Belfast, Sheffield, Birmingham and Newcastle - see here https://fastandfuriouslive.com/en/tickets for more details. And keep a look out for the Supra and the Charger, especially now you know how much has gone into them!
Apart from the silly stickers, I always like that Supra. Sums up the era perfectly. Lots of excess, but works of art on wheels. A proper creative period of car modification, rather than adding stupidly wide scene wheels, idiotic ride height and crap hanging from the tow eye.
I was going to take my 5 YO who loves fast cars and is desperate for me to buy a fast black car (If only life was as simple as a mind of a child lol)
but at £41 a ticket for the cheap seats I almost spat my coffee
Apart from the silly stickers, I always like that Supra. Sums up the era perfectly. Lots of excess, but works of art on wheels. A proper creative period of car modification, rather than adding stupidly wide scene wheels, idiotic ride height and crap hanging from the tow eye.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff