What Clint Eastwood did for the 1972 Gran Torino in Gran Torino, Fast & Furious will try to undo. Because in this movie, the very nastiest bad guy — you know, the chief henchman who does the dirtiest deeds and dies just before the big boss bad guy gets his — drives a '72 Gran Torino Sportsroof.
The inspiration for the Gran Torino in Fast & Furious comes from a similar Torino built for Dan Widmann at Steve Strope's Pure Vision Design — the same shop from which emerged the Hammer Road Runner that's also featured in the film. Strope brought Widmann's Torino to a casting session and a star — well, a co-star — was born.
The one significant visual change between Widmann's Torino and the replicas built for the film is that Widmann's car is blue, and the bad guy Torinos were painted green. It seems that blue was already assigned as super-dreamy Paul Walker's color in Fast & Furious, so the bad attitude character "Fenix Rise" (played by Laz Alonzo) would have to wear green.
Little matter, however, as the Gran Torino looks dang good in green.
To portray Fenix's FoMoCo, the picture car department acquired six '72 Torino Sportsroof models and one '73. As with the Charger, some of the stunt cars were fit with Chevy crate V8s and automatic transmissions, but at least one of the cars was originally equipped with a 429 and four-speed manual transmission. Five of the cars were either destroyed during production or ripped apart for parts.
Among the Torinos destroyed was that 429 four-speed car. Sometimes evil must be done in order to portray evil.
As Portrayed Specifications*
Engine
Type: Ford 429 Cobra Jet
Carburetor: Holley
Ignition: MSD
Intake: Weiand
Valvetrain: Jesel
Air filter: K&N
Fuel pump: Holley
Plumbing: Earl's
Fuel cell: Jaz
Drivetrain
Transmission: Top Loader four-speed
Bell housing: Ford original equipment
Clutch: Hays
Shifter: Hurst
Driveshaft: General
Rear axle: Ford 9-inch with Detroit Locker
Final-drive ratio: 4.56:1
Headers: Hooker
Exhaust tubes: Morse 2.5-inch
Mufflers: Afterburner
Suspension
Front: Hotchkis sway bars, springs and shocks
Rear: Hotchkis sway bars, springs and shocks
Braking
Front: Wilwood disc
Rear: Wilwood disc with additional rally calipers
Wheels
Type: Coy's C-67 Gun Metal
Front Size: 18-by-9 inches
Rear Size: 18-by-9 inches
Tires
Type: Continental Sport Contact
Front size: 255/45R18
Rear size: 285/50R18
Interior
Seats: Sparco
Cage: Matt Sweeney
Door Panels: Matt Sweeney
Wheel:Grant collector's edition
Gauges: Ford original equipment
Exterior
Body: Ford original equipment
Hood: Ford original equipment
Paint/Graphics
Paint: Jack's Auto Body
* "As Portrayed" specifications indicate the state of the car as portrayed in the film. No single car was necessarily built to these specifications by the Picture Car Department. But all the cars built to portray a vehicle in the film were constructed to appear as if so equipped.
Add A Comment »
aaron45 says:
09:29 PM, 08/18/2010
i was wondering. out of all the junked torinos are there any that could be fixed using parts from all the cars?
nkarlsen says:
01:57 PM, 06/10/2010
My information is a 429/4 speed combo was not offered in 1972 for the Gran Torino. The 4 speed was available only in the 351-4V "Q" code. All 429s were automatics. So the question is: Was this car an "N" code 429 with a transplanted 4 speed or was neither the engine or transmission original? 429 cars were extremely rare, I think around 1750 were produced.
cobrajet3 says:
08:13 PM, 03/02/2010
Does anybody know what's the name of the paint color for this green 72 gran torino used in the fast and the furious 4?