Tokyo Drift `67 Shelby GT500

[Nth Degree]

With the release of Furious 7 just hours away I felt it was about time I put together this write up. It is not as detailed as I had originally planned due to time and going from memory.


This is one of my favorite projects, performed nearly one year ago. This car is one of 3 to survive the filming of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.





There were 6 Mustangs used for the movie. One was used for the close ups and promotional photos as seen here:



One received the Nismo engine but never produced the power necessary. Another was cut away for filming the in-car scenes. That leaves three for the stunts. This car was the only one of the three to survive.


There are a lot of details about this car that make it unique. When the owner purchased it, it had no motor and still had mounts for the cameras. During filming, since there are multiples of each car, the cars are assigned a number to correspond to the scenes in the script. This car was #14. The owner preserved identifying features from filming where possible.




Many features from filming had to be removed such as the roll bar and the extra brake calipers for drifting. The owner still has the special brake parts but they had to be removed from the vehicle in order to fit the emergency brake. There are many other nuances of the car as a result of filming that I won`t list for various reasons but it is interesting to hear the story as the owner tells it. Perhaps I will get him to supplement this write up with whatever information he is willing to share.


The customer first contacted me in December of 2013 in the hopes of having the car detailed before the New Year. He never mentioned the history of the vehicle at the time. When I suggested I should see the vehicle first he informed me that it was still in the shop receiving finishing touches to the paint. He set me up to go see it at Auto Arts Inc Custom Ride Studio in Raleigh. It was there that I began to learn about the car`s history. This was my first view of the car.




Here are some photos during the paint process that I found on Auto Arts` facebook page.







The stripes were cleared over and the clear coat was sanded perfectly flat. The car had only been compounded when I first saw it and it showed. They still had to do a polish and it was awaiting interior parts. It was in and out of the shop over the next few months to receive minor tweaks. I finally got to the car in April, just 2 days before the owner was to head to Charlotte for the Mustang 50th Birthday Celebration.





To the they layperson the car looked great when I arrived. But, as is typical when coming from body shops, the paint needed the touch of a pro to achieve its full potential.


















That`s more like it.




During its two year long restoration the car traveled to various places across the country to receive customized everything.






One of the most beautiful steering wheels I`ve ever seen:



But it was begging for a little TLC as well.










The owner had to provide documentation that the wheels were in fact authentic when he ordered replacement stickers. I cleaned them but did not have time to polish them before the trip to Charlotte. The plan would be to revisit the car during the summer to prepare it to be the feature vehicle at the largest car show in North Carolina.





Custom fiberglass hood.





I finished the car just in time to take some sun shots before it headed to Charlotte.

















Those with weak stomachs should stop reading now!







As stated above, the plan was to spend more time with the car in preparation of some magazine photo shoots and a few major car shows. As the time approached I found it difficult to get hold of the owner. When I finally got him on the phone he told me some sad news. The car was sent out of state via transport for some final touches to the interior. The shop that was to do the work, knowing there was a time constraint on the work, contacted the owner to inquire why they still had not yet received the vehicle a week after expected. It wasn`t until the owner pushed the transport company the he learned the truth; it turns out the car was placed on the lower level, under an antique car (Model A, if I remember correctly.) Some fluids leaked and dripped on the roof of the Mustang, causing it to bubble. Since the transport company did not immediately notify him and didn`t deliver the car to the destination as scheduled I can only presume they thought they would try to find someone to do a spot repair and hope nobody would notice. There is no way that paint and the stripes could ever be matched and blended. The entire car would have to be stripped and repainted. After some resistance, the transport company issued a check.

This is a photo as of about 6 weeks ago as posted by the owner on his facebook page.






Additional photos may be seen on Facebook.

[Danmc]

NICE! Love this car

[tom p.]

That is seriously cool !!!!

[Pats300zx]

That is so awesome !!! What a car !!

[addysdaddy]

That is seriously cool !!!!

[House of Wax]

First off, great job on the car. Second...how cool of a car to work on. That thing is just gorgeous. What a shame it got damaged in transport. I`m pretty sure I would`ve thrown up if that was my car

[RaysWay]

Wow! Very cool! Keep us updated!