The Fast And The Furious Movies Continue To Push Up Prices Of Japanese Sport Cars

The Fast and The Furious roared into theaters 17 years ago and it helped to increase interest in Japanese sport cars as well as the tuner movement in the United States.

While the movie was released nearly two decades ago, ClassicCars.com says the film continues to have an impact on prices of Japanese cars such as the Mazda RX-7 and Toyota Supra. That’s an important fact as the company notes people who were teenagers when the movie originally came out are now starting to collect cars.

Starting with the Mazda RX-7, ClassicCars notes a 1993 model originally cost around $33,000. That’s roughly $57,360 with inflation factored in and buyers can expect to pay around that much for a used RX-7.

News of the Toyota Supra revival has sparked renewed interest in its predecessor and the company notes Mark IV models have seen “explosive growth in value.” While the car cost around $50,000 when new, the average used model now goes for around $70,000.

Acura killed the Integra years ago but the Integra GS-R still has plenty of fans. The average model costs around $15,000 today which isn’t much of a drop from its original price of around $20,000.

The Nissan 240SX doesn’t have the same cachet as the Supra or RX-7 and prices reflect that. The cars are now only worth a “few thousand” dollars despite costing nearly $22,000 back in 1997. While the 240SX is a relative bargain compared to the others on the list, ClassicCars notes that finding an unmodified example could be tough.

Since most of the cars on the list are pretty pricey, ClassicCars suggests fans look for models that weren’t featured in the films to get a “price untouched by The Fast and The Furious effect.” Among their suggestions are the Mitsubishi GT3000 VR-4 Turbo which can be bought for less than $25,000. $20,000 will get you a Nissan 300ZX Turbo while a Lexus SC300 can be picked up for less than $10,000.

Unfortunately if you’re in the market for an R33 or R34 Nissan Skyline GT-R, prices are expected to jump in the future as customers will be able to import them into the United States once they turn 25 years old. The increased demand should boost prices from their current level of around $30,000 in Canada and the UK.