- Monica!
Los Angeles, 2001.
Four cars line up for an illegal street race
with hundreds in attendance.
Behind the wheel of a highly modified
red and yellow Acura Integra is Edwin,
portrayed by literal rap god Ja Rule.
It's murder!
The race begins, engines roar, tires squeal.
Ja Rule does his best to pilot his ride to victory,
but comes up short.
- Monica!
- Despite the loss,
the bright little Integra became a legend
and is now perhaps the most famous Integra
in the entire world.
But how did it make it on screen?
Who built it?
Well, I'm gonna tell you all about it.
It's time to go splitter to spoiler,
red to yellow, bumper to bumper,
on Ja Rule's Acura Integra
from the freaking "The Fast and The Furious".
Monica!
(rock music)
(synth music)
This episode of Bumper to Bumper is sponsored by Acura,
and we couldn't think of a better car to feature
than this legendary sport compact.
I know you're frothing at the mouth
to hear about this car.
But to really understand it,
we have to go back to the mid 70s.
American cars back then sucked.
And they couldn't compete
with more affordable Japanese cars.
Detroit was hurting.
(intense music)
United Auto Worker leadership went to Japan
and asked the automakers
to voluntarily limit the amount of cars
they exported into the US.
In the meantime, Honda still had to make money,
and decided to build fancier cars
for a higher profit margin.
They launched a luxury brand called Acura.
Japan's other automakers followed suit.
Toyota had a baby called Lexus,
and Nissan birthed the Infiniti.
The Integra was born in 1985, same as me.
It was sporty, yet cushy compact car.
Thanks to double wishbone suspension
and eventually a VTEC engine,
the Integra quickly became a driver's favorite.
- [Announcer] A joy to drive.
- With the Integra's status as underground tuning legend,
it made perfect sense for it to be included
in "The Fast and The Furious".
The film's producers knew
that this car was loved by the movie's core demographic,
young people who liked cars.
But when they found this car,
they noticed something strange.
This Integra was not built by a young person.
It was built
by a 60-year-old banker.
What?
Bill Kohl was an old dude
who took copious notes on everything he did.
He also loved cars and building them.
In the mid 90s,
Bill Kohl met up with Bill Neumann of Neuspeed.
You ever heard of it?
Kohl had a proposition.
"How's about I build a sweet sports car with your parts
"and you get a sweet sports car for your booth at SEMA?"
And Neumann was like
"Hey, that sounds like a great idea.
"Win-win, let's do it."
And the hunt was on for the right car.
Kohl wanted a badass sports car
that was also reasonably priced,
and figured that the Integra GSR was the perfect choice.
After all, it was the fastest car in the Honda family,
you know, besides the NSX.
(synth music)
Neuspeed hooked it up with a complete suspension overhaul.
AEM handled the electronics and MOMO covered the interior.
To make sure the Integra sounded as good on the inside
as it did on the outside,
Polk Audio supplied a full sound system.
And when the car was done,
everything that could have been modified was modified.
It was the epitome of 90s tuner culture,
and was a mainstay at Neuspeed's SEMA booth for years.
(synth music)
So it was only fitting that when Bill showed up
to the casting call for "Redline",
AKA "The Fast and Furious", it's called a working title,
director Rob Cohen loved the car.
He was surprised though that Bill was a 60-year-old man
and not a teenager.
But honestly Rob,
no teenager could ever afford to build a car like this,
except for maybe Tanner Fox.
These paint jobs are frankly caricatures
of what the producers thought young street racers
would have on their rides,
but the Integra is a little different.
First of all,
it's got a real racing number plate on it.
12 wasn't chosen by accident.
That number belonged to Randy Pobst
who won the 1996 North American Touring Championship
in a yellow Honda Accord sponsored by Neuspeed.
When it came to the color scheme,
it was pretty easy.
Because Neuspeed, AEM, and MOMO
all use red and yellow motifs in their logos.
It's kismet, there's no accidents.
We're all just stardust.
The Wings West body kit and white MOMO racing wheels
top off the exterior and make this Integra
the hottest on the planet.
No wonder the producers didn't change anything on it
when they cast the car.
(synth music)
This Integra is what's known in the biz as
a hero car or a principle car.
These are the ones that have all the mods
and are shot up close,
usually with actors in them.
Most of the stunt driving is done with stunt cars,
which look the same on the outside
but have none of the expensive mods underneath.
Supposedly, there were four stunt doubles
based off of this Integra.
One of them is living in a car museum somewhere,
and the others were probably crushed.
(metallic crunching)
Now this was a show car,
so the engine bay is just as pretty as the exterior.
Because it's not just what's on the outside.
It's what on the inside that really counts.
Even for big Hollywood actors like this Integra and me.
But don't think for a second
that the engine's just been dressed up.
The GSR came equipped with the legendary B18C1 VTEC engine.
It makes sounds like this.
(mimics engine)
VTEC!
VTEC engines can change their cam profile on the fly,
which unlocks more power as the revs get higher.
But this engine ain't stock.
It's got an AEM cold air intake
which feeds air into the overboard throttle body.
That's some more power, baby!
On top of that,
it's got a Type R intake cam for even more power, baby!
Exhaust leaves through
a DC Sports headers and exhaust system,
that's a name I haven't heard in a while,
while power goes to the front wheels
through an Exedy clutch and a lightweight flywheel.
(synth music)
Pretty much everything that this car rides on
has been modified with sweet, sweet period correct parts.
It's got Koni adjustable shocks
and Neuspeed lowering springs
for that perfect sport compact ride height.
Everything that ties the wheels to the car
has been swapped out too.
Sway bars, end links, bushings, a camber adjustment kit,
steel brake lines, and four piston AEM brakes.
Even though this thing never saw the racetrack,
Bill Kohl made good on his promise
to build a sweet sports car.
(synth music)
With all of these mods,
you would 100% be the king of autocross in 2001.
And now for the reason we came, VTEC.
(yelling) (thunder)
(heavy breathing) (door chime beeping)
(trap beat)
Menage!
Just sitting in this car, I feel like it's 2001.
I am Ja Rule.
I need a denim jacket and a paisley headband.
This is as close to being in "The Fast and The Furious"
as I will ever be.
As for any future ones,
I am available and I have credits
if you are currently one of the producers
or involved in the casting of "Fast Nine" or 10.
Hit us up at info.donut.media.
(trap beat)
These new speed belts hold you into the MOMO Nascar seats,
and these MOMO belt covers
make sure things stay comfortable.
On the dash is a signature from Ja Rule himself.
"Pain is love," writes Ja,
and Ja knows about pain.
He passed up on being in the second movie
because he thought he rap career
was about to really take off.
So they cast Ludacris instead.
That's actually what happened.
My favorite part of the interior
is something we've never featured on Bumper to Bumper.
The sound system.
Now you kiddos might not know
because car audio is really good now,
but banging speakers used to be an essential mod.
Now this baby's got the creme de la creme of 1999.
A Sony C7050 stereo compact disc player,
MTX 280-watt amp,
Polk/MOMO MM455 front speaker set,
Polk DS6 rear speakers, and a 10-inch sub.
It's been a while since I've heard a system like this,
and I think you guys need to hear it too.
So, without further ado,
let's see what 1999 sounds like.
(engine starts)
(trap beat)
♪ More power, baby ♪
♪ More power, baby ♪ (engine revving)
♪ More power ♪ (engine revving)
Monica!
(synth music)
Bill Kohl sold the Integra
shortly after the release of "The Fast and The Furious".
The current owner, Gabriel Tremblay,
found the car almost by accident late one night on Ebay.
You guys all know how that goes.
He's looking for a DC2 Type R,
but couldn't pass up the chance
to own this piece of history.
After securing the car,
he wanted to verify that it was indeed
the one on the screen.
So he tracked down Eddie Paul,
the guy who built the stunt cars for the film.
Eddie let Gabriel in a secret document
called the key car list.
This ledger has all the vin numbers
and locations of "The Fast and The Furious" hero cars.
Every owner of a real "Fast and Furious" hero car
has this list.
Obviously they keep the contents of this list secret,
otherwise unscrupulous people would spoof the vins
and build fake hero cars.
Makes sense.
The list verified that this Integra
was indeed the real thing.
(synth music)
The attention to detail Bill Kohl put into this build
elevates it above other sport compacts of the era.
I'm so glad the people who owned the car after him
have chosen to preserve it.
Because they didn't have to.
After all, this thing is barely in the movie.
But what it lacks in screen time
it makes up for with a great story and a lasting legacy.
This Integra embodies Acura's dominance
of the sport compact game in the 90s.
You take this thing anywhere in the country
and people are gonna say "Monica!"
I want to thank Acura for making this episode possible.
Look for more fun stuff with us and Acura in the fut!
Let us know in the comments
what other Acuras you want to see
episodes Bumper to Bumper or Up To Speed on.
I love you.
I used to think forever, I thought he was saying
"The nos, yeah!"
(laughter)
Or he would say "Menage."