Classic muscle cars have made a comeback in popular culture due in a large part to their being featured in the popular Hollywood franchise, The Fast and the Furious.
Illegal drag racing had been going out for years before the Fast and the Furious franchise glamorized the whole experience. People who weren't even into cars or racing suddenly had an all new fascination for the classic muscle car and the gritty underworld of street racing.
It also didn't hurt that the leads were easy on the eyes! Dominic Toretto, the character played by Vin Diesel was totally a dream come true for women looking for a tough guy with solid family values. Brian O'Connor was the quintessential "good boy gone bad" with his love for speed and constant need to prove himself to his superiors as well as to Toretto and his crew.
Fans of the movie have spent thousands on trying to capture the look and feel of the cars in the movies. From forming street racing clubs to chopping up and modifying their own muscle-bound high-performance vehicles - the underground racing scene has only grown and matured as the sophisticated technology showcased in the movies has crossed over into the real world.
Unlike motorcycle clubs and gangs which have prominent embroidered patches on their jackets, however, the drag racing crowd keep most of their affiliations on the down-low since law enforcement is almost always sniffing around, trying to catch them.
Dominic Torreto's 1970 Dodge Charger R/T
My favorite classic muscle car from the Fast and the Furious franchise has got to be Dom's 1970 Dodge Charge R/T. It was probably the most in-your-face "I'm a man's man" vehicle in the whole series. We don't know if anything from the sixth installment can top that matte black monster that was so iconic it made it to three different installments.
The first Dodge Charger hit the market back in 1966. The classic muscle car heavyweight custom body was built on the chassis of the Dodge Coronet, another classic. The car from the Fast and the Furious was conceptualized as the brand's first powerful high-speed street racer with a fully equipped interior that had four bucket seats and a full-length floor console.
The 1970 Dodge Charger R/T originally belonged to the Dominic and Mia's father and his son kept it and maintained it to honor him. The powerful Chrysler 426 HEMI V-8 engine hiding under hood was enough to get Dom out of a lot of sticky situations. The body was built like a tank and even after doing a spectacular flip and crash at the end of the first movie that would have crushed other cars that weren't built like the Charger - Dom stilled rolled out with minimal injuries.
Join a club
If you're thinking of starting or joining a club to meet and rub elbows with other lovers of the 1970 Dodge Charger R/T but without the illegal drag racing, consider outfitting your group with embroidered car club jackets. They're an inexpensive way to represent your motor love. If there isn't a local club where you live, consider the National Hemi Owners Association.
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