Drift Rx7 Veilside

Cars for a movie, especially the Fast and Furious movies, usually aren't what they seem to be on-screen. Movie magic covers these things in a veil of lies, unfortunately. While in the cinema you're looking at twin-turbos and custom interiors, what really lies under the hood and behind closed doors is far from special. A movie car is no more than it needs to be, which is why often they'll be completely stock beneath the glamorous exterior.

But Han's Tokyo Drift Mazda RX-7 was special, in that it was a show car before it hit the big screen. Universal purchased the car directly from Veilside in Japan as a modified example, and that included engine, interior, and exterior modifications. The mod that made the biggest difference and won the hearts of many was the coveted Veilside Fortune bodykit, painted in orange (originally red) and black.

Under the hood, almost everything that could be done, was done. It was turbocharged with a huge interooler by HKS, and the brakes were upgraded by Rotora, the suspension by APexi, and a number of interior modifications had been carried out by the Veilside guys like harnesses, a new steering wheel, and seats. On top of that, it had a number of audio system upgrades with extra monitors and head units. Oh, and of course, it had a trust nitrous bottle.

But it was the bodykit that made the car such a success. Sitting almost a foot wider, you would be excused for thinking it was something other than an RX-7. Unsurprisingly, it takes a lot of man hours to put something like this together, but nine ( nine?!)of these cars were made for the film to be used for stunts, and filming in Japan.

The hero car was said to make just a hair over 300 horsepower and 256 lb ft of torque. Not a lot if you compare it to modern numbers, but it was plenty to get the car sliding sideways with still plenty of controllability. The stunt cars had no power modifications, and thanks to the huge and heavy chrome wheels, the stunt team actually had to shave down the rear tyres to reduce their grip! They simply didn't have enough torque to break those rear tyres free.

So where are the cars now Well, the majority of them were right-hand drive, which meant they all had to be sent back to Tokyo thanks to America's 25 year import rule. Since then, there are now quite a few replicas out there. Craig Lieberman, a Fast and Furious legend, estimates that you'd be looking at upwards of $80,000 to recreate such a car.