Jesse was such an underrated character in the first Fast & Furious movie, spouting such gems as “overnight parts from Japan” and his prayer to the car gods. Sadly, he didn’t survive to the sequels. But a shop in Canada recreated his car, and the stoke is strong with nostalgia all around here.
(Image Credits: ThatDudeInBlue/YouTube)
I can’t really tell if actor Chad Lindberg casually reprised his character with his style choices in this video on purpose, or like, if that’s just how he rolls. But it is kind of extra cool to see him rocking the black nail polish and a distinctly early-00s look that takes us right back to when this movie was new and MKIII Jettas ruled high school parking lots.
These cars never had as much momentum in the tuner scene as similarly-sized Hondas, but I’m sure you remember seeing a fair few of them rocking pre-LED accent lighting and rollcall stickers.
We’re not totally sure what possessed Canadian speedshop GAB Eurosport to create such a painstakingly legit-looking movie car replica here, but we’ve dropped them a line for details and will update when we hear back.
I guess that’s an important distinction to make too — he’s reuniting with the car’s character, not an actual movie car. The only one of those we’ve ever heard about was when Frankie Muniz (remember Malcolm In The Middle?) owned one that had been signed by Lindberg, Paul Walker may he rest in peace and original F&F movie director Rob Cohen. That car sold again last year for about $US45,000 ($57,063).
Meanwhile, the video description just says Lindberg “has a grand plan of bringing Jesse back to life to bring joy to charities and hospitals” so maybe we’ll start seeing this goofy guy and this car at some events soon. Hopefully not drag racing any $US100,000 ($126,808) S2000s, though. Think anyone else has made that joke yet?
Otherwise I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw one of these, stock or dressed up for pretend street racing, on the road. Are MKIIIs Jettas near extinction or is my neighbourhood just that fancy?