While The Fast And The Furious movies were extremely successful at the box office and are still very popular today, anyone that has taken a closer look at some of the franchise’s more flashy cars has found that the vast majority of them were not so successful. It does not take a veteran gearhead to see that many of these cars were not capable of doing the things that the film depicted them doing. Some of them were even straight out frauds, such as the PTG E36 M3 race car replica that was really a cheap rip-off built from a 323 (Fast and Furious(4) and the 1950 Chevy Fleetline from the race scene in Cuba (Fate of the Furious).
The movie showed the car as being powered by a turbocharged Chevy 350 but a closer look reveals that the turbo is nothing more than a hollowed-out shell of junkyard trash that was fashioned into a makeshift cold-air intake. Likewise, the very same closer look also reveals a few cars that were, in fact, the real deal. One such car that may have been actually more capable than the film let on made its only appearance in Tokyo Drift, Sean’s Monte Carlo.
There were actually 11, 1971 Chevrolet Monte Carlos used in the movie but one of those had a Bill Mitchell 632 cubic-inch engine that was finished with a Holley 1050 double pumper carburetor and full-length Hooker headers. The engine was rated at 780 horsepower on pump gas and even more on racing fuel. All of the cars used a T-10 4-speed manual transmission, but this one, in particular, made use of a Hays clutch wrapped in a Lakewood shatter-proof bellhousing. Putting the power to the Goodyear Eagle slicks is a GM 12-bolt rear end equipped with 4.88 gears and a spool differential. The suspension was also upgraded Global West, KYB, and Speedway Engineering parts.
While the Monte Carlo was roughly finished and did not visually compare well to its rival in the movie, it was more than capable of keeping up with the Dodge Viper. In fact it is quite possible that the Dodge Viper would struggle to keep up with it in a real-life heads up race.
Elizabeth is hardcore horsepower enthusiast with unmatched intensity for making things faster and louder. She wakes up for power and performance and only sleeps to charge up for the next project that’s heading to the track. From autocross to drag racing, Elizabeth is there with you, so stay tuned for her unique perspective on horsepower news, builds, tech info, and installs — with her, it’ll never be boring!
