Depending on how old you are and what automotive persuasion you adhere to, the Fast and Furious movie franchise is either the “Citizen Kane” of hot rod flicks or a smoldering “Twilight” style train wreck. Similarly, either Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are the hottest movie stars in the movie business today,or they’re D-list actors that have staked their career on a tuner trend that arguably jumped the shark years ago. Fast forward to the latest episode [1] and see how co-producer Diesel and his team [2] have updated this serial saga by emphasizing late model American, Japanese and European supercars [3]while relegating Mom’s winged 4-door Civic with the coffee can exhaust tip to cameo status. Jalopnik [4]brings us the story. [5]
Probably the most interesting automotive star of the show is the “Flip Car,” a custom fabricated, “four wheeled spatula” designed to fling another vehicle up and over to a splashy, pyrotechnic demise. Builder Dennis McCarthy [6] originally thought the car would have to be semi truck size because of the mass needed to upend a moving car. The producers nixed that and instead asked for a physics-defying low slung speedster.
BONUS: Watch the Top Gear behind-the-scenes featurette here [7]
McCarthy obliged and created the 3-seater “Flip Car” with a custom tube frame complete with new-age cow catcher, suspension bits from a Chevy Suburban, 480 HP LS3 power [8], 4-wheel steering and a V-drive transmission system from a speedboat. All the while exhaling through the most elaborate exhaust plumbing on record and tipping the scales at a hefty 3900 pounds.
[9]It’s all good fun and seems cutting edge until some sharp eyed reader comments reveal it’s been done before in the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds 2.” [10]
[11]
Regardless of whether we have a love/hate relationship with this series, it continues to be popular enough that even though Fast and Furious 6 [1] is set to debut in theaters May 24th 2013, the seventh installment’s July 2014 release date [12] has already been announced.