Depending on how old you are and what automotive persuasion you adhere to, the Fast and Furious movie franchise is either the “Citizen Kane” of hot rod flicks or a smoldering “Twilight” style train wreck. Similarly, either Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are the hottest movie stars in the movie business today,or they’re D-list actors that have staked their career on a tuner trend that arguably jumped the shark years ago. Fast forward to the latest episode and see how co-producer Diesel and his team have updated this serial saga by emphasizing late model American, Japanese and European supercars while relegating Mom’s winged 4-door Civic with the coffee can exhaust tip to cameo status. Jalopnik brings us the story.

Probably the most interesting automotive star of the show is the “Flip Car,” a custom fabricated, “four wheeled spatula” designed to fling another vehicle up and over to a splashy, pyrotechnic demise. Builder Dennis McCarthy originally thought the car would have to be semi truck size because of the mass needed to upend a moving car. The producers nixed that and instead asked for a physics-defying low slung speedster.

BONUS: Watch the Top Gear behind-the-scenes featurette here

McCarthy obliged and created the 3-seater “Flip Car” with a custom tube frame complete with new-age cow catcher, suspension bits from a Chevy Suburban, 480 HP LS3 power, 4-wheel steering and a V-drive transmission system from a speedboat. All the while exhaling through the most elaborate exhaust plumbing on record and tipping the scales at a hefty 3900 pounds. 

It’s all good fun and seems cutting edge until some sharp eyed reader comments reveal it’s been done before in the movie  “Gone in 60 Seconds 2.”

Regardless of whether we have a love/hate relationship with this series, it continues to be popular enough that even though Fast and Furious 6 is set to debut in theaters May 24th 2013, the seventh installment’s July 2014 release date has already been announced.