The RB26-swapped 1967 Ford Mustang fastback from Tokyo Drift is undoubtedly one of the most outrageous cars from the Fast & Furious franchise. Any enthusiast who’s seen the movie would kill to know more about the car, so Craig Lieberman—a senior producer for the first three movies—linked up with Sean Morris, one of the main mechanics who built it, to tell its story.
The RB26 Mustang originally received a twin-turbo RB26 taken straight out of an R34 Skyline GT-R, but the twin-turbo system wouldn’t fit properly between the shock towers. Once Morris got involved, he decided to put the original RB26 back in the R34 (so it wouldn’t become a worthless shell), and swap in a different block with a single-turbo setup instead. Morris even provides a cell phone video from 2005 of the car starting up for the first time.
Edmunds reviewed the hero car a few weeks before the film was released in theaters, and managed to get it on a dyno. Officially, it laid down 340 horsepower at 7300 rpm and 264 lb-ft of torque at 5950 rpm to the wheels. That’s a fair bit more than a stock Skyline GT-R, and a massive step up over any original six-cylinder Mustang.
But as Morris explains, the hero car never did any drifting on-screen. While it was fully capable of going sideways, all of the actual drifting scenes were done by the five to six stunt cars on set. All of those cars were powered by 403 cubic-inch V-8 crate engines. Those engine sounds? All dubbed over.
Now you know.
From: Road & Track
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