Hot Wheels Fast & Furious Series 3 Reveals Toretto's Charger and Nine More Cars

Mattel revived the Fast & Furious-themed basic assortment following a short one-year hiatus. Series 1 for 2023 came out a few months ago and had two special items: Paul Walker's Mitsubishi Eclipse from the first movie and Lucas Black's Nissan S15 "Mona Lisa" from Tokyo Drift. Series 2 was even better with Vin Diesel's Mazda RX-7 from The Fast and Furious, Walker's Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R, and Mitsubishi Evo VII from the subsequent movies.

But there are two more reasons why I bought the Series 2 release: the blue Porsche 911 GT3 RS and the orange Lamborghini Murcielago. Let's concentrate on what the third and final series for 2023 has to offer. With any luck, you should be able to find this in a store near you within the next four to six weeks.

'70 Dodge Charger RT

I'll admit it, The Fast and the Furious had a significant influence on me when I was in my early teens. I've seen the first three movies countless times and probably know most of the dialogue by heart. And I will never forget the last scene in the first installment of the Fast Saga. Following a crazy episode in which Tran's crew killed Jesse, Brian and Dom lined up for one last race.

I still need to get my hands on the orange Supra, but I have several versions of Dom's Dodge Charger RT. I had never seen a car wheelieing off the line before, and I must've played that scene 100 times over the first time I saw it. Brendon Vetuskey designed the Hot Wheels version over a decade ago for its 2011 debut. Mattel has released 26 iterations of it so far, and as you can imagine, there are several Fast & Furious replicas to get your hands on. You may be tempted to skip the newest release if you have collected these for years. But those new to the game will likely get two or more Chargers for safekeeping.

Honda S2000

I have several Hot Wheels Honda S2000s in my collection, but Suki's pink one is outside of them. We didn't see that car as much as we did others, but that doesn't make it any less desirable. This casting is about the same age as the Charger, but Ryu Asada was responsible for the design this time. The first time Mattel created a replica of Suki's car was in 2016, with PR5 wheels.

Johnny Tran's black S2000 was arguably a lot cooler, and I own one of those if you're curious. In 2018, Suki's tiny Honda appeared with Y5 wheels two years before graduating to Premium. There is even an NFT variation of this car, but you should avoid that unless you fancy spending a few hundred bucks on one. The new iteration uses Wire Spoke wheels, and the whole thing provides a faint Premium impression, despite its low price.

Mazda RX-8

The third car in the set is a replica of a vehicle that showed up in the third movie: Tokyo Drift. That was also the last one in the series to revolve mainly around cars instead of some ridiculous plot and mostly action scenes. Neela's RX-8 didn't have that much screen time either, and when it did, the scenes were unrealistic at best. But it's undoubtedly an iconic vehicle from the franchise and light-years ahead of Mia's Acura Integra.

The two-tone paint job reminds us of the tuning scene in the early 21st century, a style we all used while playing Need for Speed Underground games back in the day. If that's not enough to excite you all, you should know one more thing about this casting. Like with its Matchbox "sister," it's the first of its kind in the Hot Wheels line-up. Charlie Angulo designed this, and I'm so happy to see another rotary vehicle from Mattel! I expect to see at least three more variations of it within the next 12 months, one of which is bound to be a Premium model.

'69 Camaro

The '69 Camaro is the second and last piece of American Muscle in the new Hot Wheels Fast & Furious series. I don't know about you, but it doesn't get me half as excited as Dom's Charger. That may be because I can't remember what happened to the Fast Saga after the third movie.

I might have seen Episode IV, but it must have been pretty forgettable. Regardless, plenty of collectors will still pick up the '69 Camaro. This casting has been around since 2007, and the new iteration looks decent enough if you can ignore the wheels. It's not that the PR5s are ugly, but I can't deal with that choice of color.

1971 Nissan Skyline H/T 2000 GT-R

If more than one new casting was needed to attract collectors, Mattel included the 1971 Nissan Skyline H/T 2000 GT-R in the new Fast & Furious series. The company had already released a GT-X version of the Hakosuka over a decade ago, but that's inferior to a GT-R.

I'm surprised they didn't opt to debut this model in a Premium series instead, but I'm sure no one is going to have a problem with that. Sure, the R34 might be much more popular with the new kids on the block, but this is the original GT-R we are discussing here! Black on black works great with this car, and I can already foresee a Silver iteration coming up shortly.

2009 Nissan GT-R

The sixth item in the new Hot Wheels series is the second GT-R here. When this car came out, it was instantly classified as a supercar-killer, despite having some problems with its launch control system. Kevin Cao designed this casting, and it has been around since 2009. Despite that, Mattel only produced 12 variations of it so far, with the last one showing up in 2018.

That's mainly because Ryu Asada designed another interpretation of a more modern model in 2017, and we've been getting plenty of those since. The diecast manufacturer has used this casting for Fast and Furious sets three times before, and two had the same OH5 wheels as the new iteration. That's rather disappointing, isn't it?

Bugatti Veyron

Would the Veyron be on the list if someone asked you to think of a cool car from the Fast and the Furious series? The white hypercar is a replica of the machine that appeared in Furious 7; Roman Pierce must have had fun driving this thing in the UAE. This is the first European machine in the new Hot Wheels series, and people will hoard it like crazy.

Why is that, you ask? This is a brand-new casting, despite the fact that a Veyron already existed in Mattel's line-up. Either way, there were only so many Hot Wheels Veyrons out there, but this one even features a few minor upgrades: side mirrors and windshield wipers are just two. This hypercar is rolling on 10-Spoke wheels, and we can't help but wonder if it will completely replace the old casting starting from now on.

'15 Mercedes-AMG GT

Did any of you watch The Fate of The Furious? A 2015 Mercedes-AMG GT is the kind of car you'd expect to see in a Transformers movie, but that's just my perspective. Ryu Asada designed this casting for its 2017 debut, and this is its third Fast & Furious release already. The fact that Mattel hasn't upgraded it to Premium yet could lead to the idea that it's not that popular among collectors. Alas, I'd much rather see a '90s MB replica too.

'17 Acura NSX

The '17 Acura NSX is a repeat model too, and there are also two Premium variations to look for on the market. There's a good chance this will be just another peg warmer, but most collectors will still buy the whole set to keep true to the hobby. The NSX might be an excellent car to drive or own in real life, but when it comes to the world of 1/64th-scale replicas, most people would rather have the original vehicle instead.

Datsun 240z Custom

After two rather dull machines, the Datsun 240Z Custom saves the day. Shockingly enough, this is the fourth brand-new casting in Series 3, and this is also bound to get many more variations shortly. The yellow finish looks great in contrast with the black 10-spoke wheels, and it's fun to see a turbocharger sticking out through the hood. Mattel already created a replica of the Fugu Z before, and there's a new iteration this year after a long four-year hiatus. All facts considered, this is still a cooler casting than the Acura or the Mercedes, and most HW enthusiasts will tell you that old school is the best school!