The 1995 Volkswagen Jetta A3 (Typ 1H) is a minor car in The Fast and the Furious series, driven by Jesse in the first film.
History
The Fast and the Furious
A 1995 Volkswagen Jetta appears in the first film. This car is driven by Jesse, although it is mentioned that his imprisoned father owns the car. It is first seen when Jesse drives up to Dominic's store along with Leon, Letty, and Vince just as Brian arrived there for investigation. The car does not participate in street races although it did participate at Race Wars when Jesse uses the pink slip to the vehicle to race Johnny Tran's Honda S2000. Brian warns Jesse not to race Tran saying that the car has a $100,000 worth of upgrades. Jesse ignores him anyway and races Tran. Jesse appears to be winning when he uses nitrous but Tran overpowers him by using his own nitrous and easily beats Jesse. Jesse panics and leaves Race Wars refusing to give up the vehicle to Tran. The car is seen again when Jesse arrives at Dominic's house to plead for his help. Suddenly Tran and his cousin Lance perform a drive-by shooting on the house during which the car is shot up with Jesse being killed in the process. The car was possibly impounded because it is never seen again in the sequels.
Specifications
The Jetta has a Wings West bodykit + rear spoiler and Konig Tantrum Rims. (Someone plz dbl check Engine listed as a V6 ie the VR6 but pretty certain it was a modified stroker GTI I4 engine)
Trivia
- The car was originally rented from Scott Centra and three copies were made for stunt cars.
- During the race against Johnny Tran's S2000, the car that Chad Lindberg was in was cut up for a MicRig but was not actually a Jetta and rather a Nissan 240.
- This Volkswagen Jetta was later purchased by Frankie Muniz and was featured on a 2002 episode of Lizzie McGuire, a classic Disney Channel TV series.
- The Volkswagen Jetta has no calipers at the pink-slip race vs. the Honda S2000.
- The Volkswagen Jetta from The Fast and The Furious was sold at Barrett- Jackson in the 2016 Scottsdale auction as lot# 7002.
- Originally, Jesse was intended to drive a BMW M3 (E36) or Audi A4/S4 (B5), which would highlight his "techie guy" status. However, since the producers couldn't find an example of these cars modified to an extent to impress director Rob Cohen, the Jetta ended up being his car.[1]