Vin Diesel is the face of muscle car action movies because his career is based on cool car stars
The ‘Fast and Furious’ movie franchise is where you’re most likely see Vin Diesel behind the wheel, but he wasn’t exclusively committed to the F&F/car star franchise.
Here, in no particular order, are five classic muscle cars from the world of Vin Diesel movies.
Jerry Sutherland
Let’s get the first car star out the way because it’s the only non ‘Fast and Furious’ car in the list. Vin drove a 1967 GTO in the movie ‘XXX: State of the Union’.
No, it wasn’t a porn movie because ‘XXX: State of the Union’ was an action flick that required a muscle car, so they picked a ’67 Pontiac GTO to star as a highly modified spy car.
This Goat was a full-on custom featuring a Blueberry Blass paint and a Pontiac 400 cubic inch V-8 under the hood—with a flame thrower hood scoop on the hood. The car was packed with spy stuff, so you could call it a 21st century version of the James Bond Aston-Martin.
There was a monster ‘70 Dodge Charger RT in ‘Fast and Furious‘. Vin Diesel’s character has a deep connection to this Charger because he worked on it with his late father.
Vin’s Charger had an elephant (426 hemi) under the hood, and it was supposed to have 900 horsepower—that explains the legendary wheelie in the movie. The Charger also did a 9-second ¼ mile — that explains why Vin didn’t fear the street.
The RT took many fatal hits over the course of ‘Fast and Furious’, but somehow it came back more than Rocky Balboa. You can’t keep a classic Mopar down.
Vin switched to Chevy muscle in ‘Fast and Furious’ via a ’70 Chevelle SS with a monster 502 big block under the metal.
Vin goes through a few adventures in the Chevelle (north and south of the Mexican border) then he took it down to metal and repainted it grey.
Eventually the classic Chevelle meets a grim fate when Vin turns on a nitrous bottle, lights it and blows it up along with a few bad guys. Unlike the Charger, the Chevy doesn’t make a comeback–but it takes a 2002 Toyota with it.
Vin switched back to Mopar in ‘The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift’ when he got behind the wheel of a grey 1970 Plymouth Road Runner.
He won the car from a friend but lost it to a bullet when a bad hombre shot the gas tank and barbequed the ‘runner on the spot.
Vin drove another Road Runner back in the States in ‘Fast and Furious 7’ and totaled it in a head-on collision with a Maserati. Lesson number one—never toss your Road Runner keys to a guy named Vin.
The final choice for classic muscle cars in Vin Diesel movies was the Hellacious ’68 Charger in ‘Fast and Furious 9’. This is a spectacular car that looks nothing like a showroom ’68 Charger–and it handles like an F-1 Lotus.
The Hellacious name came from the mid-engine Hellcat engine powering this classic ’68 Charger so–as expected, this is a spectacularly fast car. They put the Charger through some insane stunts but in the end Vin hands the keys to the car to another guy as part of a second chance scene.
‘Fast and Furious’ movies run at a Bugs Bunny plot level, but you have to give them credit—they turn classic American muscle into classic American stars.
Jerry Sutherland
By: Jerry Sutherland
Jerry Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer with a primary focus on the collector car hobby. His work has been published in many outlets and publications, including the National Post, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post, Vancouver Sun and The Truth About Cars. He is also a regular contributor to Auto Roundup Publications.
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