Petersen Museum’s New Fast & Furious Exhibit Has Something For Everyone, But Especially The Nerds

One of the best parts about the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles is its connection to Hollywood. The Petersen has permanent displays of movie cars that are rotated in and out, plus others that are sometimes brought in for special exhibits, so there’s always something new to see that you may recognize from the silver screen. A few years ago, the Petersen put on a truly phenomenal James Bond exhibit featuring a huge range of cars, bikes, boats and more from every era of Bond films.

Now open at the Petersen is the special exhibit “A Fast & Furious Legacy: 25 Years of Automotive Icons,” which will run through April 2027 in celebration of the franchise’s 25th anniversary. Nearly two dozen cars from across the Fast & Furious franchise are featured in the exhibit, along with some other F&F goodies, and some of the cars have never been on public display together before this. In production of the films sometimes a dozen examples of one car will be produced for various uses, with many being destroyed in the course of filming, and the exhibit has some cars that were actually used in stunts. It’s fun to see the various levels of quality, craftsmanship and patina across all the different cars.

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Kristin Feay, curator for the museum, told me she watched the entire franchise all the way through at least a half-dozen times in preparing to put on this exhibit, and the Petersen took a lot of care in picking out the cars, which came from different sources and collections all around the world. There have been hundreds of cars used throughout the franchise and the museum picked out a great mix of them, from the most recognizable rides to some of the more cult favorites, and each of the ten movies are represented. Even if you aren’t a big fan of these movies, it’s worth checking out if you’re in Los Angeles — especially because the Fast franchise is so intertwined with this city. In fact, I think the first Fast film is one of the most LA movies ever made.

There are some heavy-hitter cars in the exhibit, like Brian O’Conner’s orange Toyota Supra from “The Fast and the Furious,” which may be the most recognizable car in the franchise. Eight were built for the movie, based on technical director Craig Lieberman’s personal 1994 Supra Turbo, and this one is “Stunt #3” that was used during filming. While Dominic Toretto’s black Charger he raced against the orange Supra isn’t here, another iteration of Dom’s black Charger R/T is on display, one used in “Furious 7” — and owned by Vin Diesel himself.

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Two other cars in the exhibit that are currently owned by Diesel are Dom’s red 1968 Dodge Charger Daytona from “Fast & Furious 6,” and a 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS used in the post-credits scene of the original movie, as well as in “Fast & Furious,” where it was one of eight identical Chevelles used in filming. Letty’s S14 Nissan 240SX from “The Fast and the Furious” is present, as is Suki’s pink Honda S2000 from “2 Fast 2 Furious,” one of the most fan-favorite cars and characters. 

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But the best lineup of early-movie vehicles is the collection of all four cars used in the first movie’s opening drag race scene. Initially only going to feature two cars, like most drag races, the scene was expanded to four because that was way more exciting. Lined up in order are Brian O’Conner’s green 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse that brought “danger to manifold” into the lexicon (this one is “Stunt #2” out of seven cars made), the red 1996 Acura Integra GS-R driven by Ja Rule (the number one hero car), the white 1995 Honda Civic driven by RJ de Vera (who owned it in real life), and the red 1995 Mazda RX-7 driven by Diesel.

Then there’s some of the more obscure choices, like Dom’s Plymouth GTX from “The Fate of the Furious” (the cars were actually modified Road Runners), the carbon-fiber-bodied 1969 Ford Mustang built by Anvil Auto that was driven by Tyrese in “Fast & Furious 6” (nine were made, including some that got crushed by tanks), and Brian’s 2016 Nissan GT-R Track Edition from “Furious 7.” Some of the Fast franchise’s silliest villains are represented, too. The 1993 Ford Mustang LX driven by John Cena in “F9” and “Fast X” is parked next to the incredible lavender 1966 Chevrolet Impala SS that Jason Momoa drove in “Fast X.”

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You can’t help but giggle at the Flip Car 2.0, which was built by Vehicle Effects for “Fast X.” We first saw a smaller flip car in “Fast & Furious 6” — it was the first car that was invented for the Fast movies — and this one is turned up a few notches, with a six-wheel layout inspired by the Tyrrell F1 cars of the 1960s and a big mid-mounted V8. Another awesome stunt vehicle is a 1963 Chevy Corvette Grand Sport replica that was made for “Fast Five,” in which Dom and Brian jump it out of a moving train that’s going over a bridge. Twelve replicas were built for the movie by Mongoose Motorsports, and this is one of only three remaining.

While Suki’s S2000 will live on in my heart forever, I think my actual two favorite cars are the pair of  cars from “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.” Yeah, yeah, neither of these are Han’s Veilside RX-7, and don’t get me wrong, that car is iconic. But these two are used even more in the movie, and in some of the best sequences. First we’ve got the 2005 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. This particular one is the original hero car built by APR Performance, and it was recently restored by its YouTuber owner Dustin Williams; ten replicas were built for the movie, all of which were destroyed during filming.

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Even better is the 1967 Ford Mustang, which receives an RB26DETT engine swap from an R34 Nissan GT-R during the course of the film before being put to the test in a touge race against DK’s Nissan 350Z. This was the first F&F movie car that really made audiences go “What?! This is wild and unexpected, I love it,” and it’s awesome to see in person.

For the girls and gays who don’t really care about cars (plenty do, of course), the exhibit has one of Dominic Toretto’s many leather jackets, but more importantly, one of the amazing outfits worn by Devon Aoki’s Suki in “2F2F.” Particularly in the early films, the costume designs really informed not only the world of the movies, but the world we actually live in, blending together different styles and cultures and influencing how people in real life dressed. Car guys are not exactly known for their fashion sense, especially not back in the 2000s, but the Fast movies made it cool for them to dress cool. So many characters in the Fast Saga are inextricable from their costumes, which are also commonly tied in with their cars.

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Also in the exhibit are some original posters and promotional materials from countries all over the world, and there are some screens throughout playing different clips from the films. Of course, the museum speakers are connected to a very F&F song playlist, too. There’s really something for everyone in “A Fast & Furious Legacy: 25 Years of Automotive Icons,” and the Petersen has a lot of other current exhibits that will make your trip even more worth it.