<em>Fast & Furious 6</em> Cars: 2012 Lucra LC470

In the world of Fast & Furious, some cars are stars... and some are destined to be background players. In Fast & Furious 6 this 2012 Lucra LC470 was originally cast for a larger part in the film, but that shrank down as filming proceeded.

"You can call it Tej's car," says picture car coordinator Dennis McCarthy, referring to the tech-savvy character portrayed by Ludacris. "But he acts as a lookout in the film. And while the car is next to him, it doesn't do much in the way of stunts or hard driving."

Still, in anticipation of more extensive use, McCarthy had three on hand. One is a complete LC470 built by Lucra in the United States using a GM LS7 7.0-liter V8 (as in the Corvette Z06) and a Tremec five-speed manual transmission. The other two were rolling chassis supplied by Lucra that were fitted with 430-horsepower, 6.2-liter LS3 V8 crate engines and Turbo 400 three-speed automatic transmissions for stunt work.

That's stunt work they'd never do. "We were doing one scene with an old Land Rover that couldn't keep up," reports McCarthy. "So we ended up pulling the engine and transmission out of one of the stunt Lucras and putting them in that vehicle."

Slick Beyond Slick
While its role was reduced in the film, the 2012 Lucra LC470 is obviously a potent machine. It looks sort of like an old Jaguar D-Type that's been cross-bred with a Shelby Cobra and then had its DNA baked in a TVR kiln. It's not precisely evocative of anything, yet it's reminiscent of just about everything.

The structure under that carbon-fiber body is a straightforward tube-frame chassis supported on aluminum suspension links swiped from under a C4 Corvette and coil-over shocks. At least that's what Lucra's Web site says; the car Edmunds.com photographed had specially crafted adjustable front suspension links. The front 17-inch wheels are encased in 275/40R17 Nitto NT01 tires, while the rears wear 315/35R17 Nittos. Of course there are big PBR 13-inch disc brakes behind each of those wheels.

The LC470 weighs just a touch more than 2,000 pounds and actually has a slight rearward weight balance. The engine sits practically in the middle of the 96-inch wheelbase, well behind the front wheels. And when the 505 hp of the LS7 V8 only has a ton to shove around, the result is explosive acceleration. Lucra claims zero to 60 mph takes only 2.5 seconds, with a stupendous 9.4-second trip through the quarter-mile.

It's light, it has massive tires, it's hugely powerful and the suspension looks trick. But all those performance claims need to be backed up with an independent test, and that's something we haven't done. Yet.

The Bomber
Compared to a Corvette, Porsche or Ferrari, much of the 2012 Lucra LC470 seems crude and only half-finished. But when the LS7 blasts to life, thunder roars from those massive side pipes and every imperfection vanishes. There's not only a lot of performance potential in this car; there's a lot of drama pent up in its character.

The whole world knows that a seventh Fast & Furious is coming next summer. Maybe that will be the Lucra's next big break.