A lot of cars have been sacrificed on the movie franchise’s altar…
Thanks to Craig Lieberman, we have a death count for cars in the Fast and Furious franchise. Warning: it’s shockingly high and might leave you feeling triggered, confused, and maybe even a little sad. Even when compared to other movie franchises like James Bond, Transformers, etc. the Fast and Furious series has wrecked way more than its fair share of cars.
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Just in the first 7 movies there were nearly 1,500 cars wrecked, according to a report issued by Insure the Gap. Why so many? Well, with multiple stunt versions of the hero cars and those getting abused, plus the more expendable background cars which also get trashed in many scenes, the numbers add up quickly.
Out of those first 7 movies, Fast and Furious 6 is reportedly the worst offender by far, wracking up about 350 wrecked cars. Just keep in mind the 9th movie is coming out in June, and from what we’ve heard the death toll for automobiles in that flick is exceedingly high.
Before you get too emotional, Lieberman explains that the cars you see getting destroyed aren’t really all that valuable or interesting. Many of the stunt cars which get wrecked have a lot of issues, like a rusting frame or trashed interior. They’re made to look like a clone of the hero car, which is all nice and definitely collectible, but they’re not nearly as nice. Lieberman explains this in greater depth in the included video, which is worth the watch.
Craig Lieberman was the technical advisor for the first two Fast and Furious movies, helping to pull off some of the most iconic stunts like when the Mitsubishi Evolution was blown up or the Saleen Mustang was crushed by the semi-truck. And while you might cringe to see collectible cars get destroyed on the screen, as Lieberman points out audiences for the most part just eat that kind of automotive mayhem up, which is why movie crews engage in such ruination of automobiles.
