For those who love cars, customizing and racing are a way of life. Some dedicated performance enthusiasts, however, are putting their cars, their buddies and their lives on the line by street racing. This sport is a type of racing that has drawn national attention due to the movies "The Fast and the Furious" and "2 Fast 2 Furious". It is not a new thing. Over the years, speeds have increased and with the advent of cell phones and GPS systems, so has the technology that’s why the trend continues to grow. Movies like The Fast and The Furious have helped to spread the virtues of street racing where we can see the guys who have a passion for cars. It’s not a bad thing. It's rather an exciting sport that requires training, discipline and skill. When Universal Pictures launched The Fast and the Furious into the 2001 summer movie season, most of the viewers said: now we have two new stars: Mitsubishi's Lancer Evolution VII and Eclipse Spyder, the 'hero cars' of the film. The street racing was getting a lot of press attention, the popularity of the modified import cars was exploding, and that was amazing. Mitsubishi's starring role in 2 Fast 2 Furious was seen in the industry as marketing genius because created a renewed interest in the Eclipse as a tuner model. The same situation was in Toyota’s industry, when in the Spring of 2000, Toyota Supra was spotted by recruiters for Universal Pictures and was selected to be the primary car for the upcoming blockbuster. They rented the car and began to alter its appearance for an even more aggressive look. Lamborghini orange paint was applied (the only car in the movie to receive an actual high-quality paint job), as was a new Bomex body kit. New 19” wheels were added, as well as a new rear wing, a new TRD hood and some one-off Troy Lee graphics. The studio then set out to build 5 cosmetic replicas, shown in various stages of completion, all designed to replicate this original.
Director Rob Cohen wanted to make a movie with lots of souped up cars going really fast, and in those terms, he succeeded. Races at night, races during the day, races in the city, the desert, and abandoned business districts in Los Angeles. Eclipses, Supras, Civics, Maximas, and all other sorts of tricked out import cars fly across the screen. After the movie the show was just begin. Anyone who has seen the movie wanted to change his car or buy the new one - Mitsubishi Eclipse. The street racing getting popularity. Eclipses and Supras become the most popular cars in the world and young toughs no longer shouted "My Chevy can beat your Ford." Allegiance and passion had moved to Mitsubishi, Toyo and Honda. The Lifestyle of the Fast and the Furious was a world of attitude fueled by nitrous tanks and hot passion for the high-octane excitement of street racing.