Yahoo Autos Dom's Mazda RX-7 From 'Fast and Furious' Is Missing
The Fast & the Furious franchise has produced several iconic movie cars over the past two decades and change. That said, vehicles from the first film remain the most sought-after among fans and collectors alike. And while some of these automotive actors have traded hands for huge money as of late, the whereabouts of Dom’s modified RX-7 remain a secret.
By now, hardcore Fast and Furious fans are likely familiar with Craig Lieberman, the technical director for the first two films. These days, Lieberman shares his stories about the production and the cars that were used on his YouTube channel. In his most recent episode, Lieberman delves deep into how the RX-7 ultimately found its way into the iconic four-way drag race, as well as some anecdotes about how each of the different examples were used. The “hero car” was owned and built by Keith Imoto, while four other cars helped complete filming.
Imoto’s car featured a number of performance enhancements, including a Mazdatrix and Blitz Nur Spec exhaust, APEX shocks and Racing Beat springs, a set of Blitz air cleaners, and a Blitz blow-off valve. It also wore a Veilside body kit, which we all associate with the series at this point. The additional.3 bar of turbo pressure added by Imoto ultimately killed the stock apex seals, requiring an engine rebuild mid-shoot. An Apex Power FC tuner and a Cosmos-sourced fuel pump fixed the fuel mixture issues, and the car would go on to produce more than 305 horsepower at the rear wheels. The studio wasn’t sold on Imoto’s choice of gray paint, reskinning the car in fire truck red with the oh-so 2000s graphics package. Regardless of the looks, Lieberman believes the car would have won that infamous drag race had it been a real event.
A number of the stunt cars went on to serve duty in the second film, but that wasn’t the case for this hero car. The car has been hidden away for a number of years at this point, which is somewhat abnormal among the franchises’ star cars. Lieberman has heard rumors that it lives in either Gardena, California, or Santa Clarita, but beyond that, the car is in the wind.
While we can also empathize with a collector wanting to keep things private, this RX-7 does seem like the kind of car that should be shared with the world. If you happen to be in California and have an idea as to where this thing actually is, I’m sure Craig would love to have a chat. It might not be worth quite as much as the Paul Walker Supra, but it would certainly command a healthy premium over a standard FD.
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