Talking Shop with "Furious 7" Picture Car Coordinator Dennis McCarthy

In anticipation of Furious 7 hitting movie theaters nationwide next week, we here at E3 Spark Plugs thought we'd introduce you to a guy who has, hands down, the coolest job in America.

Meet Dennis McCarthy, Picture Car Coordinator for what is arguably one of the most successful film franchises in history. He's got the enviable task of selecting and building cars not only for the Fast and Furious franchise, but for an array of great car-centric movies including Death Race, Batman Begins and Total Recall. In a recent interview with BoldRide, McCarthy spilled about the 300+ cars he provided for the film, dramatic crashes, parachute jumps and working with the late Paul Walker.

A few highlights:

On deciding which character gets which ride: "It’s really a character thing. My end goal is that if you saw the cars lined up in front of my shop, you would know which car goes to which character. Dom’s character obviously started in the first movie driving Hondas and the Mazda RX-7, but I don’t think that would have worked today. Once Dom brought the Charger out of his garage – that was it, there was no going back."

On the dramatics of dropping half a dozen cars out of a plane: "One of those Chargers – our most difficult car to replicate – came out of the plane, parachute opened correctly, car landed on its wheels, mission accomplished. But then the wind picked up and dragged it about a half mile across the desert, ripping every body panel off of it and stuffing cactuses through the windshield."

On working with Walker: "With Paul it was really easy choosing the cars for his character because all you see Paul driving in Fast & Furious movies are cars he would drive on his own – the GT-Rs, the Subarus, the Supra. Those are all cars that he loved and owned… He was the one guy that was usually my first call when one of these movies got off the ground. He'll be truly missed."

See the full BoldRide interview here. And let us know what you think of the cars McCarthy picked for the Furious 7 by posting on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook Fan Page.