Craig Lieberman explains the 2001 The Fast and the Furious car choices

Just like casting the actors, deciding which cars appear on screen is done with strict selection criteria - and in a film like The Fast and the Furious, that decision matters even more.

In another video on his YouTube channel, Craig Lieberman - technical director on the first two films in The Fast and the Furious saga - set out to explain the thinking that shaped the car line-up for the first movie, released in 2001.

As well as that, he also named several models that “didn’t make it in” and, crucially, the reasons why they were left out.

Logic and emotion in the selection criteria

The production rules that shaped the shortlist

According to Craig Lieberman, the car list was guided from the outset by two requirements from director Rob Cohen, both designed to keep costs under control.

First, every car had to be sold in the USA. Second, ideally, the vehicles would be hired rather than bought (it’s worth remembering that The Fast and the Furious was not yet a money-spinning franchise at the time - it was the first film). On top of that, the cars needed to reflect the Los Angeles “tuning culture” of the period.

Why some brands and models were rejected

Once those practical rules were in place, the final call often came down to emotion. Brands such as Hyundai and Kia - still building their reputation at the time - were viewed as too sensible, while Mercedes-Benz was seen as too expensive for the kind of film being made.

Although the Mazda RX-7 made it into the movie, the MX-5 was dropped for being considered “too feminine”, with the Honda S2000 taking its place. The same reasoning was used to rule out models such as the BMW Z3 and the Volkswagen Beetle.

Meanwhile, cars including the BMW M3 (E46), Subaru Impreza WRX (2nd generation) and Lexus IS were not selected simply because they were launched while filming was already under way - or only after the film itself had been released.

The cars that could have made it into the film

Brian O’Conner’s almost-cars

Now inseparable from the Mitsubishi Eclipse and the Toyota Supra, Brian O’Conner (played by Paul Walker) very nearly ended up behind the wheel of a Nissan 300ZX or a Mitsubishi 3000GT.

The Nissan was dismissed because its targa roof made it impossible to pull off all the stunts the film required. The Mitsubishi, on the other hand, fell at the final hurdle because none of the cars brought along to the “auditions” met the production’s demanding standards.

Alternatives for Jesse, Vince, Mia and Leon

For the other characters, Jesse’s Jetta might have been a BMW M3 (E36) or an Audi S4. However, the fact that the Jetta was one of the most modified European cars in the USA around the turn of the century secured its place.

Vince ended up driving a Nissan Maxima (owned by Craig Lieberman himself) rather than alternatives such as the Toyota MR2 or the Honda Prelude - because of his… height.

Mia was put in an Acura Integra (a.k.a Honda Integra) because the car used in the film already belonged to a woman. Finally, the one car that “broke” the rule about being sold in the USA was Leon’s Nissan GT-R, purely because the producers abandoned the idea of putting him in a Toyota Celica.

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