Fast Five 2006 Dodge Charger

       
 
 
Jada Toys Fast Five Charger
Jada Toys Fast Five Charger packaging Jada Toys Fast Five Charger rear cage Jada Toys Fast Five Charger interior Jada Toys Fast Five Charger engine Jada Toys Fast Five Charger chassis Jada Toys Fast Five Charger rear

 
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Background

When the situation changes and breaking in to steal Reyes' money is no longer an option, the plan changes to take the whole vault. Key to this is a pair of custom built 2006 Chargers driven by Dom and Brian. The pair make off with the vault in tow and tear up a fair amount of Rio in the process.

 

Packaging

This is the standard Fast & Furious packaging, with slightly altered graphics. The background is now dark clouds, and Vin Diesel's photo in the bottom left has been changed to a full-face angle against a gray lined background. The movie title is no longer a sticker applied to the window, but the series title remains printed as before.The Charger is held in place with two screws and a plastic tray around the rear, with two plastic bands to hold the hood and doors closed.

 

Casting/Paint

This appears to be Jada's Dub City '06 Charger with a makeover. It features their typical heavy metal construction, and while it isn't quite as sharp as some of their newer toolings it still looks very good. The nose, tail, hood, and all four doors appear to be separate pieces, which helps define the seams. The SRT hood is a later addition to the mold, and while it fits perfectly the scoop inlet is a little soft. So too are the door handles, though in both cases they don't detract from the overall look of the car. The grille is a separate black plastic insert, the headlights and glass are clear plastic, the taillights are transparent red plastic, and the sideview mirrors are black vinyl with chrome "glass." The rear cage and trunk-mounted winch are all-new, and look fantastic. The fit to the body is flawless, and while the winch is a single piece it's detailed well enough to look like a proper fully detailed component.

The engine, interior, and chassis are all cast in black plastic with chrome details. Under the hood is a passable representation of the 5.7L with the stock engine cover in place. It appears to be cast as a single piece, but has enough depth to not look too flat. Inside, the stock Charger interior has separate front seats, a detailed dashboard with separate wheel/column, and chrome accents for the shifter and pedals. The details look pretty good, and some prints for the gauges and steering wheel add a little extra interest. The chassis is Jada's old-school pan, with lots of molded-in details including the front suspension, transmission, dual exhausts, bracing, and trunk floor. The differential and rear resonators/tailpipes are chrome plated, and the wheels are black five-spokes wrapped in vinyl tires over red and silver painted disc brakes.

Much like the previously-reviewed El Camino, the paint is as basic as it gets: matte black inside and out. But it's applied well, with no signs of heavy or light spots and a smooth finish. The rear cage has a nice discolored effect to suggest welded raw metal, and the winch is silver. Silver is also used for the driving lamps and reverse lights, and a silver Dodge emblem is centered on the nose.

 

Features/Accessories

The doors and hood open and close on good tight hinges that hold any position easily.

 

Accuracy

The exterior of the car is very close, with a near perfect representation of the custom cage and winch. After that, though, things get kind of wonky. The wheels are supposed to be XD Rockstars with the center caps removed, and while these are close they're not quite there. The interior should be stripped back to the essentials with a perimeter cage added, while this is entirely factory stock. Owing to this models origins as a Dub City release, the proportions are a little stylized - lower roof, wider skirt, larger wheel openings, etc. It's very close, just tweaked. Scaling is around 1/22-1/23 depending on which measurement you want to go by.

 

Overall

While I wish that Jada had done more to make this screen accurate, I really can't complain. What's here is very well done, and the distinctive cage and winch are about as good as we could hope for. Definitely worth picking up, and might as well go for two of them since they played such a major role in F5.

 

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