- Warning: There are very minor spoilers ahead for “F9.”
- Dominic Toretto drives a sleek 1968 mid-engine Dodge Charger in the new film.
- The car was custom built using new and old technology and cost over $1 million to create.
Dominic Toretto’s iconic Dodge Charger gets a major upgrade in “Fast 9.“
In part of the film, Vin Diesel’s Toretto races throughout the streets of Edinburgh and Tbilisi in a sleek 1968 Charger.
A Universal Studios rep confirmed to Insider that over $1 million was spent to build the custom mid-engine Dodge Charger that “combines old and new technology” in the latest installment of the Fast Saga, “F9.”
Vehicle supervisor Dennis McCarthy returned to the franchise to round up and build the vehicles you see in “Fast 9.” McCarthy has worked on eight of the saga’s installments, building many custom vehicles you’ve seen in the films over the years from the ground up.
According to the film’s production notes, McCarthy worked with veteran mechanics and his team at SpeedKore to bring the mid-engine Charger and “several hybrid versions” to life. SpeedKore has worked with McCarthy on the franchise since 2015’s “Furious 7.”
“Coming up with a fresh version of a Dom Charger gets trickier with every new installment because there isn’t much that we haven’t already done,” McCarthy says in the press notes.
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“Dom’s ‘F9’ Charger had to be something that was over-the-top, iconic and different from what we’ve done in the past,” McCarthy added. “With its mega-horsepower Dodge Hellcat motor, unique Charger engine location, and combination of old and new technology, the mid-engine Charger satisfies all of these criteria. This Charger is now my all-time favorite ‘Fast & Furious’ car.”
This isn’t the only Charger Dom will have in “F9.”
The film features three other Dodge Chargers, including Dom’s original Charger that’s been rebuilt (Universal refers to this as the 1327 Charger, a nod to Dom’s address), a 1970 Charger Tantrum, and a 2020 Charger SRT Hellcat, which Dom races through Central America near the film’s start in a wild sequence Insider previewed in May.
While $1 million sounds like a lot to drop on a custom car for “The Fast and the Furious.” The franchise always goes all out for its vehicles.
It’s noted in the film’s production notes that another scene in London includes about $1.8 million worth of high-end super cars, including a Bentley Continental GT, a Rolls Royce Wraith, an Aston Martin Rapide, a Bugatti Veyron, a Morgan Aero 8, a Mercedes SLR McLaren, and a Noble M600, which Queenie (Helen Mirren) drives.
On the commentary for “The Fate of the Furious,” director F. Gary Gray says there was $25 million worth of cars inside the New York City car storage facility which held confiscated vehicles from drug dealers. Gray said McCarthy helped curate cars that ranged in price from $100,000 to $1 million for the scene.
The ninth film in the franchise follows Dom and his crew as they’re at odds with a blast from Toretto’s past, his little brother Jakob (John Cena) who isn’t only a formidable driver, but also a skilled assassin.
“F9” is in theaters on June 25. Come back for our film review on June 16.