Tag: movie cars

  • “Fast Five” 1963 Corvette Grand Sport replica for sale

    The “Fast and the Furious” franchise may have started out with tuner cars, but by the time “Fast Five” premiered in 2011, the series had expanded to include cars like this 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport replica, which will be auctioned off online by Volo Auto Sales starting April 14.

    First spotted by Motor1, the Grand Sport replica only appeared briefly in “Fast Five.” It was one of several cars stolen off a moving train by the heroes, only to plummet off a cliff to its doom shortly after. Still, the Grand Sport is a bona fide movie car—and a cool one at that.

    The original Grand Sport was a heavily-modified version of the C2 Corvette designed for racing—hence the numerous cooling ducts, bulging fender flares, and fixed headlights. Only five original cars were built—two convertibles and three coupes—establishing enough of a reputation that Chevy brought back the Grand Sport name for variants of recent Corvettes.

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    The replica was built by Mongoose Motorsports, which is licensed by General Motors to build these cars. It has a custom tubular chassis with C4 Corvette suspension and a GM Performance 5.7-liter V-8 crate engine that makes 380 hp, according to the listing. It’s also an automatic, which isn’t uncommon for movie cars as it makes them easier to move around on set.

    This is one of three surviving Grand Sport replicas from the film, and was used as a “hero car” for close-up shots, according to the listing. That means it likely got the most screen time, and is closest in appearance to what you see on screen. Movie productions generally use multiple cars, which are only made to look or function as good as they need to for a particular scene. For example, a car used for stunts might not have a full interior, because that wouldn’t be shown in a given shot.

    The auction house expects this movie car to sell for between $95,000 and $100,000, while Mongoose advertises new cars (without the movie pedigree) at “under $100,000.” Either way, the “Fast Five” car should be a lot less than one of the five original Grand Sports, which have seven-figure valuations.

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  • Here are the cars rejected from 2001’s “The Fast and the Furious”

    From the Mitsubishi Eclipse to the Toyota Supra, the original 2001 hit “The Fast and the Furious” turned many cars into stars. But even more cars didn’t make the cut, as Craig Lieberman, a technical advisor for the early films in the franchise, explains in this video.

    First off, the original movie focused on tuner cars, and producers only wanted cars that were available in the United States at the time. That ruled out JDM models, rare muscle cars, and supercars, although some exceptions were made (including Dominic Toretto’s Dodge Charger) and these rules were relaxed in later films.

    Many cars that met those ground rules still didn’t make the cut, though. Producers turned down the Volkswagen Beetle, Mazda MX-5 Miata, and BMW Z3 for not being “manly” enough. Lieberman also noted that convertibles were usually avoided because it made it hard to hide stunt drivers’ faces (remember that Johnny Tran’s Honda S2000 was always shown with the top up).

    1992 Toyota MR2

    1992 Toyota MR2

    The script also originally had Brian O’Connor starting out in a Mitsubishi 3000GT, then switching to an Eclipse. However, none of the modified 3000GTs that showed up to the car casting call impressed producers, and the Supra was a better fit because of its removable large roof, which was needed for the truck-chase scene later in the movie, Lieberman said.

    Toretto was always slated to drive an FD Mazda RX-7, but other members of his crew could have ended up in different cars. Lieberman originally suggested an E36 BMW M3 or Audi S4 for Jesse, who got a Mark III Volkswagen Jetta instead. Initial car ideas for Vince included a Toyota MR2, Lexus GS, and Honda Prelude, but Lieberman’s own Nissan Maxima was chosen instead. Leon went from a Toyota Celica to an R33 Nissan Skyline GT-R.

    The original script also named a Ford Mustang as Tran’s car (and referred to the character as “Pete”). That didn’t make sense in a movie about tuner cars, but the change from Mustang to S2000 actually came about because producers saw a modified black S2000 they liked. Villains always drive black cars, the theory went.

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  • Deep dive: The Buick Grand Nationals from “Fast & Furious”

    “Fast & Furious”—the fourth installment in the franchise—is noteworthy mostly for reuniting most of the original cast from the first movie. But it also gave an iconic muscle car some long-overdue screen time. This is the story of how a Buck Grand National ended up on screen—as told by Craig Lieberman, a technical advisor on many of the movies in the franchise.

    The Grand National only appears in the opening scene of the 2009 hit, driven by Vin Diesel’s Dominic Toretto during an attempted heist of a gasoline-tanker land train. On screen, the car is shown driving in reverse at speed for an extended period of time—not something any production car can do.

    To make the scene work, two cars (a 1985 model and a 1986 model) had engines mounted in their trunks, with rear-facing steering wheels, pedals, and dashboards behind the front passenger’s seats. Clever camera angles were used to hide the literal backseat driver, but in at least one shot it’s still apparent that the rear wheels are steering, rather than the fronts, Lieberman noted.

    1986 Buick Grand National from

    1986 Buick Grand National from

    Eight cars were used for filming, including the two reverse-driving ones. All were real Grand Nationals from various model years. One car had its 3.8-liter turbocharged V-6 replaced with a V-8 in order to improve acceleration off the line, Lieberman said. The 1980s-era stock turbo setup was prone to period-typical turbo lag.

    All cars got modified suspension for a lower stance, riding about 3.0 inches lower than stock, Lieberman said. Brakes were also modified to make the cars easier to slide.

    As of mid-2020, most of the cars still survive, according to Lieberman, mostly in museums or private collections.

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