Toyota Supra from 'Fast & Furious' Heads to the Petersen Museum

• At 25 years old, the Fast & Furious franchise is as successful as it is goofy.
• The stunts and the family get bigger every outing, but the cars are still at the heart of things.
• The Petersen Automotive Museum's new exhibit invites you to check out long-running stars like Dom's Dodge Charger and Brian's Toyota Supra.

Twenty-five years ago, a highly accurate documentary captured the gritty reality behind the underground street-racing scene in Los Angeles. Hold on. We're getting a "danger to manifold" warning on just how big a fib that is.

Pop the caps off a couple of Coronas, as it's time to toast the start of one of the longest-running movie franchises of all time. Like it or loathe it, the influence of the Fast & Furious film series has permeated throughout car culture, from dubious modifications and underglow lighting to ball-bearing turbos and the importance of being part of a crew. Also shifting gears. Lots and lots of shifting gears.

The original is, of course, cartoonishly boneheaded and filled with automotive goofs. Double clutching during a drag race? Driving so fast that the floor falls out of your Mitsubishi Eclipse? It's all quite silly. But also compelling. Like a superhero movie or animated film, the over-the-top dialogue and stunts of the Fast & Furious franchise go together like popcorn and butter. It's ham-handed, not Hamnet, but sometimes you don't want to think too much, you just want to see a Dodge Charger race an orange Supra.

Now, if you want to celebrate this anniversary by seeing the actual cars from the movies in person, the Petersen Automotive Museum has you covered. Both the fourth-generation Toyota Supra (stunt car three), as driven by Paul Walker in the first film, and the 1968 Dodge Charger R/T driven by Vin Diesel in Fast & Furious (the fourth film) will be on display to showcase the original's train-racing climax.

Also on hand will be Diesel's 1993 RX-7 and Michelle Rodriguez's 1997 240SX from the first Fast & Furious movie, along with the wild pink Honda S2000 from the opening drag race in 2 Fast 2 Furious. There'll also be the magical 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse, with its ability to hit 140 mph in a parking lot thanks to shifting into a non-existent seventh gear.

The Petersen is partnering with Universal on this exhibit, which means there'll be plenty of other artifacts and movie cars to check out. The exhibit opens on March 14, 2026, and it will run until April of next year. Planning a trip to Los Angeles next week? Too soon, junior.

To properly kick things off, the Petersen is also hosting a car show for the opening, which is sure to draw in all kinds of customized cars from across the Los Angeles area. Just remember: It's not how you stand by your car, it's how you race your car. But keep that latter part to the drag strip.

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Brendan McAleer

Contributing Editor

Brendan McAleer is a freelance writer and photographer based in North Vancouver, B.C., Canada. He grew up splitting his knuckles on British automobiles, came of age in the golden era of Japanese sport-compact performance, and began writing about cars and people in 2008. His particular interest is the intersection between humanity and machinery, whether it is the racing career of Walter Cronkite or Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki's half-century obsession with the Citroën 2CV. He has taught both of his young daughters how to shift a manual transmission and is grateful for the excuse they provide to be perpetually buying Hot Wheels.