Better late than never, huh? It was nearly two weeks ago and I’m only reporting on it now, but we did manage to weasel our way in for the hot action when we attended the Fast and Furious premiere in the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal Studios in Hollywood. We also got there a day early with the F-Bomb Camaro and put it on one of the display platforms that Universal Studios had set up for the star cars from the movie.

“Jumps and Crashes, Skin and Smoke” could have been the other title for this, the fourth of the Fast and Furious movies. And while neither Vin Diesel nor Paul Walker are going to win Oscars for these performances, we did enjoy the fact that no thinking was required to take in this film. But I digress. We aren’t providing a review of the movie, we’re providing a review of the premier. Or, more specifically, the after party.

After eating our fill of free popcorn and Diet Coke, we were ushered outside for the “VIP Guests Only” after party. Apparently they hadn’t gotten the memo on who we were, because our tickets came with VIP passes for what we can only assume is standard fare at one of these red carpet shindigs. There were easily two dozen bartenders and ten different buffets, plus the real stars of the movie were everywhere. Celebrities, producers, directors, and production staff stood in line for pictures with the F-Bomb plus one of the Torinos and Chevelles from the movie. The party went on until after midnight, with the final group of partygoers leaving at 12:45 a.m. according to the security guards who welcomed us in the next morning for the F-Bomb retrieval.

While the car coordination staff from Universal was busy removing their cars for transport to the press junket elsewhere in Hollywood, we cruised the Bomb back to its hiding place via the 101 and 134 freeways. We are still amazed at the response this car gets on the road, and enjoyed the drive thoroughly. Sitting in traffic for construction along the way resulted in one particular stop-sign-wielding road worker holding us up so that the rest of the crew could snap pictures on their phones and ask if it was really the car from the movie. A “shuttle launch” burnout was definitely in order at this point, but the nylon cords on the MT Drag Radials don’t smoke so well.

As we closed the doors on the F-Bomb’s hideout, thoughts of drag strip testing were bouncing around in our heads. When? Soon we hope. It’s time for a “shuttle launch” fix.

But, so you know, the five or six F-Bomb clones that got wrecked for the film ended up in just 10 seconds of screen time right at the end. But it’s there for certain! Go see for yourself when it opens April 3rd.

If you didn’t see our first installment of the F-Bomb on the red carpet, check it out here.

Here’s a shot of Daphne and me with the not-so-show car.