The cars & bikes of Hobbs & Shaw

The Fast & Furious series is one of the biggest movie franchises, so much so that it has spun off two of its characters into a parallel storyline in: “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.”

But at one time, it was also one of the unlikeliest to become a worldwide film behemoth. The first in the series was a little B-movie ($38 million budget) called “The Fast and the Furious.” That 2001 film focused on a street racing gang led by Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez that is about to be infiltrated by undercover cop Paul Walker. Memorable scenes include the opening truck heist by Honda Civics, the Dodge Charger vs Supra race, and the immortal quote, “I live my life a quarter mile at a time.” Significantly, it earned more than $200 million and a strong following.

The sequel, “2 Fast 2 Furious” lost Vin Diesel, and the third film “Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift” ditched the two lead stars altogether while shifting both time and place. The series got a reboot of sorts with 2009’s “Fast & Furious.” Vin Diesel and Paul Walker returned to the drivers’ seats, this time as teammates set to bring down a heroin importer… or something like that. Drama, police work, mi familia speeches, all of those to a back seat, to the spectacular action. “Fast & Furious” was no longer the underground racing movie done with impressive stunt work as in the first three films, but something more like a superhero movie. There are heroes, a villain, and set pieces—the more outrageous, the better.

The move has been massively successful. Fast & Furious 8 grossed more than $1.2 billion worldwide, on a $250 million budget. It’s already one of the highest-grossing action series, second only to the James Bond films, which has been running for 39 years longer. And it will likely overtake the Bond franchise soon.

As with other successful film series, the Fast & Furious producers have been looking for ways to expand the franchise. This year sees two characters that have joined the cast in the latter films, take center stage. Joining the bald police officer Luke Hobb (Dwayne Johnson) and bald former villain Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), are a fast fleet of cars and bikes.

The most prominent car in the movie is the McLaren 720S supercar, reportedly requested by Statham himself. The McLaren is a two-seater, but it can apparently fit Johnson, Statham and Vanessa Kirby as perhaps a nod to the original McLaren supercar, the three-abreast seating F1. The car slides under a truck, as in the opening scene of the entire franchise. The 720s’ twin-turbo V8 packs 710 hp and 770Nm, good for a 341 km/h top speed, a 2.9-second zero-100km/h blast.

There’s also a little inside joke involving a Mini Cooper. Shaw tells Hobbs it was used for a mission in Italy, referring to “The Italian Job.” Could they eventually be revealed as part of the same cinematic universe?

Trucks and custom vehicles play the other parts. These include a Peterbilt truck built especially for the movie. There were reportedly seven of these made. Johnson even drove one to the premiere in Hollywood. Hobbs’ personal vehicle is a Ford Bronco, which may soon see a modern re-issue. Supervillain Idris Elba’s men ride modified KTM 950 SM bikes.

SM Cinema recently organized a supercar meet inspired by the Fast & Furious films, in partnership with Stance Pilipinas and Car Porn Racing. These included a 1968 Dodge Charger and a 1999 Nissan Skyline. There was of course a McLaren 720S customized by Angie King.