Fast and Furious Cars: The Rides Behind the Saga

Seven cars named in the films appear in the Fast and Furious saga: the Toyota Supra, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Nissan Silvia, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, Plymouth Road Runner, Ford Torino and Dodge Charger. They run in the order of the films where each one matters. Brian O'Conner and Dominic Toretto drive most of them, with Sean Boswell taking the wheel in Tokyo Drift.

The Skyline is named only as a Nissan Skyline GT-R, so no generation such as the R34 is given.

For the wider picture, start at the Fast and Furious movies hub or the Fast and Furious film index.

Brian O'Conner's Toyota Supra is the car he gives to Dominic Toretto at the end of The Fast and the Furious (2001), directed by Rob Cohen. After Dom's car is hit by a truck at the railroad crossing, Brian, played by Paul Walker, hands Dom the keys to his own Supra so he can get away. The gesture repays an earlier debt over a car, and it shows Brian choosing friendship over duty.

For the two men behind it, see Brian O'Conner and Dominic Toretto.

Brian O'Conner drives a customized Nissan Skyline GT-R in The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious, a short directed by Philip G. Atwell. The short links the first two films. After letting Dominic Toretto escape, Brian leaves Los Angeles, loses his car along the way and ends up in San Antonio. A local shop then customizes the Skyline for him, and he drives it east to Miami, where the story hands off to 2 Fast 2 Furious.

As a short, it sits outside the main series. The Fast and Furious watch order shows where it fits.

The Nissan Silvia is the borrowed car Sean Boswell destroys in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), directed by Justin Lin. Sean, played by Lucas Black, challenges Takashi (the Drift King) in the Silvia, loses the race and wrecks the car. To pay off the debt he goes to work for Han Lue, a former drift racer who becomes his friend.

Read more about the film at The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

Sean Boswell drives a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), after Han Lue teaches him to drift. Sung Kang plays Han, who coaches Sean, and Sean improves in the Lancer Evolution until he earns respect by beating Takashi's associate Morimoto. The win comes after his earlier loss in the borrowed Silvia.

Han's story continues beyond this film, and you can follow it through Han Lue.

Dominic Toretto's Plymouth Road Runner appears in the final scene of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006). A stranger arrives in it and challenges Sean to a race. He is Dominic Toretto, played by Vin Diesel, who says Han was family, and the scene links the film back to the earlier movies in the series.

The Road Runner is on screen for a single scene. Tokyo Drift is third in release order and sixth in chronological order, which you can follow on the Fast and Furious timeline.

A green Ford Torino is the car Dominic Toretto follows as a clue to Letty Ortiz's murder in Fast & Furious (2009), directed by Justin Lin. Dom learns that Letty has been killed, comes home to Los Angeles to find who is responsible and learns that the Torino's driver works for a drug lord. FBI agent Brian O'Conner is chasing the same drug lord.

The film has its own page at Fast & Furious (2009).

Dominic Toretto's Dodge Charger is the car he uses to lure a homing missile into a Russian nuclear submarine in The Fate of the Furious (2017), directed by F. Gary Gray. Cipher (Charlize Theron) fires the missile at the Charger, and Dom, played by Vin Diesel, steers it into the submarine she has seized, which is destroyed. It is the clearest example of the saga turning a car into a tool for a set piece.

The Fate of the Furious is the eighth film in the main series. See The Fate of the Furious for the full film page.

The coolest Fast and Furious car is Brian O'Conner's Toyota Supra, in my pick, because it carries the ending of the first film. Marcus Reyes picks it for what it does for the story rather than what it does on the road. In my opinion, giving away your own car in a film where cars stand for loyalty is the most expensive gesture a character can make.

Perhaps the Dodge Charger deserves the crown, since steering a missile into a submarine is as far from a street race as the saga ever gets. Still, a set piece fades faster than a character choice, and the Supra scene is the one that explains why the family idea works. The Plymouth Road Runner earns a mention for turning one scene into a link between Tokyo Drift and the rest of the saga.

If you want to judge the Supra for yourself, read the Fast and Furious watch order guide and start from the first film.