Tokyo Drift has become a classic for a good reason. The 2006 movie helped popularize JDM culture, particularly drifting, in the US and around the world. It was a spinoff with new characters that wasn’t fully connected to the main plot of the show until many years later. The cars in the movie have become symbols in their own right, though none are as prominently featured as Han’s orange-and-black FD Mazda RX-7 with a VeilSide Fortune body kit, played by Sung Kang. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed this past weekend, an amazing running model made for the movie was put up for sale and sold for $1,225,568. Bonhams says this RX-7 is a real one. It wasn’t one of those fakes with a Beetle engine and an R34 GT-R body, made to be broken into. Every exterior component of the RX-7—aside from the roof and trunk—is fitted with the Fortune body kit, specially ordered from VeilSide by Universal Studios. Also put on were the 19-inch Andrew Premier Series Racing Evolution 5 wheels, which are made of fully polished metal. After that, the coupe was sent to tuner RE Amemiya, who took the same care with the engine. Han’s car got a Blitz exhaust as well as new brakes, clutch, and coilover chassis. Sources say that the package weighs about 2,315 pounds and is designed for mass production. It’s no secret that these cars were never really up to par, but this is what the “official” output is: 276 horsepower. It’s clear that Hollywood didn’t abuse this RX-7; according to Bonhams, it was only used for tricks and static shoots and never for drifting. That is, despite what it looked like, the car did not do a huge, fat powerslide across Shibuya Crossing without permission. This RX-7 has an Alpine system with “twin amplifiers and multiple loudspeakers,” which can be seen through the split back windshield. In the 2000s, every tuner car had to have an aftermarket sound system with a lot of basses. There’s even a prop in place to keep the gate open, allowing everything to be displayed. We laugh now, but in the past, loud music was a big part of having street cred. Check out the different screens on the passenger dashboard, but it’s not clear what they do. For the best 2006 experience, you can connect an Xbox 360 to it. This RX-7 had around 61,000 miles on it prior to its modification, with an extra 5,000 miles added afterward. A U.K.-based importer bought the car a few years after the shooting was over. Since the car hasn’t been driven in a long time, the new owner should be informed that it needs to be inspected before it can be driven. I hope they don’t decide to put it on show in a museum.
