The “ALMOST” Fast Five movie Javelins

So, I’m minding my own business when Tyson texts me a link to a Facebook Marketplace ad (sound familiar)? It’s early March and I am definitely NOT in the market for any more cars. I click on the link and see an ad for a really interesting looking ‘71 or ‘72 Javelin. It’s painted white, has a cowl hood, rear and front spoilers and is fully caged. Other than that, it’s got nothing. No glass, no front/rear suspension (it has big casters welded to the frame), no grill, no taillights, nada…

The story goes that these cars (that’s right, there are TWO of them) were being built to be in the fifth Fast & Furious movie, Fast Five (must have been 2010). The two cars were being prepared identically but at some point it was decided to not use Javelins after all. So these two cars sat in a lot in L.A. for the better part of a decade. Then a guy in Grass Valley, CA bought them (and some other left over, wrecked/burned movie cars) and hauled them up north and immediately listed the Javelins for sale.

Car #2 (which has handwritten “3.2” designations inside the trunk) was already sold by the time Tyson sent me the ad for this car. Car #2 was more complete, it had front and rear bumpers, front grill with fog lights, front suspension (Control Freak IFS, no brakes), all it’s glass and some other additional bits.

Car #1 had “3.1” written inside the trunk and as mentioned above had almost nothing except the shell, cage and hood, trunk with spoiler and front spoiler. We were told this was a ‘72 but after getting it home we were able to pull a partial vin behind the steering box and found out it’s actually a ‘71. Originally a 360 2V car.

I got in touch with the seller and we talked for awhile. The story was interesting but I kept coming back to the fact that I don’t need another caged humpster… That’s where Andy comes in. I had sent him the pics when I got them and he was pretty much sold immediately. Turns out a humpster track car is his holy grail and with the War Waggin’s motor a little tired (his ‘63 Rambler Ambassador LS/T56 track beast) this Javelin looked like a great starting point.

I put Andy in touch with the seller and after they spoke Andy told me he definitely wanted the car. So we made plans to head up to Grass Valley on March 11th to check it out in person. Doyle came too. When we got there I was stoked to see car #1 was still there. It had already sold but had not been picked up yet. Was fun to see both of them together. And we found out car #1 was sold to someone in Sonoma, CA which is just 30 minutes from my house. Wonder if the two cars will ever cross paths again?

Andy checked out the car real good and then struck a deal with the seller. We loaded up, then walked to a nearby lunch spot and then headed home with the trophy. Once we got back we unloaded and rolled it into my carport next to my yellow Javelin. It’s going to live here for a while as Andy figures out what he’s going to do for suspension, motor/trans, etc and starts collecting parts. SOME DAY I expect this Javelin and my blue Javelin will be at a track at the same time. That should be amazing! Oh, and with this Javelin that makes SIX at my house right now (my 4, this car and another club buddy Jim has his here for a bit). The more the merrier! 🙂 Here’s some pics and a brief video documenting pick up day.