Dom’s Charger in 2001’s The Fast and The Furious is a 1970 R/T. Throughout the series, the iconic muscle car become’s synonymous with Vin Diesel’s character. It is one of the best cars in the franchise. But the ninth Fast and Furious film, The Fast Saga: F9, reveals Dom’s first Charger. Years before he showed Brian the 1970 Charger R/T in his barn, he used a friend’s 1966 Dodge Charger in a drag race.

The Toretto family loves its Dodge Chargers

During 2001’s The Fast and The Furious, Dominic Toretto (Vin Diesel) shows Brian (Paul Walker) a piece of his past. He leads his new friend to the barn and reveals a black 1970 Charger R/T, its big-block V8 fitted with a roots-style supercharger. He explains, “Me and my dad built her.” He says the car ran a 1/4-mile in “nine seconds flat.”

Dom tells Brian that only his dad has driven the muscle car. He admits that the 900 horsepower monster “scares the shit out of me.” He recounts how his dad died in a horrific wreck while racing stock cars. Presumably, the 1970 Charger R/T has waited, parked in the barn, since Jack Toretto’s untimely death.

[Spoiler Alert] Later in the film, Dom must use the 1970 Charger R/T to chase down some bad guys. Then he wrecks the car in a drag race. But he and his crew rebuild the Charger and it appears in most every Fast Saga movie since. Most fans assumed the 1970 R/T was Dom’s first Charger. But the ninth Fast and Furious film tells a different story.

Dom’s first Charger is a 1966 “first generation”

The Fast and Furious ninth film, The Fast Saga: F9, features several flashbacks to Dominic Toretto’s early life. The flashbacks show Jack Toretto’s fateful crash. They also reveal Dom’s younger brother: Jakob Toretto (John Cena).

[Spoiler Alert] Dom blames Jakob for their fathers death. When he encounters his little brother again, at an illegal street race in the 1990s, he makes a deal. Dom says if he wins the race, Jakob needs to leave LA far behind.

Jakob is running a blue, 1992 “fox body” Mustang–one of the fastest forgotten Fords. Jakob has even set his car up with NOS. The young Dom arrives at the race in his signature car: a Dodge Charger.

The filmmakers knew that Dom could not possibly race Jack Toretto’s 1970 Mustang R/T in the early 90s flashback. In 2001, Dom admits that he has never driven the car. So instead, he arrives in a 1966 Charger. Jakob takes one look at the car and recognizes it as “Buddy’s old Charger.” Buddy was their father’s pit crew chief. Dom doesn’t say if he borrowed or bought the car.

1966 and 1967 models are “first generation” Dodge Chargers

In 1966, Dodge introduced the Charger to compete with the popular Mustang. The two-door midsize car was much larger than a Mustang, but featured a similar fastback design. Dodge designed the large car to offer a Mustang alternative to younger, performance-oriented drivers. The long chassis took full advantage of Dodge’s big-block HEMI V8s, already legends on the drag strip.

In 1968, the all-new Dodge Charger introduced the iconic “coke bottle” styling of the vehicle’s second generation. The second generation Charger is one of the most recognizable muscle cars of all time, partly because of its placement in the Fast franchise.

But F9 shows Dom’s first Charger is a first-generation 1966 Charger. This is the perfect vehicle for a young Dominic Toretto, just beginning his street-racing career.