Kenneth Li has achieved something no-one will ever be able to repeat.
Penning one magazine article he achieved more than others could do with a full library of tomes.
Penning one magazine article he achieved more than others could do with a full library of tomes.
The article dealt with the then new thing of souped-up imports racing in America and provided inspiration to make the first Fast & Furious movie and consequently to launch the franchise which is still going strong a couple decades later.
There is only a small number of films that were based on magazine articles, and of course FF cannot happen over again, so Ken Li's rep is now and forever secure.
The article titled Racer X is even included as bonus materials on some editions of the FF DVDs so you can read it on your TV screen as I did and that is also how I become aware of it.
Here is the seminal article in question and I am quoting it in its entirety.
Estevez leads a new generation of fearless young racers burning up New York’s streets and racetracks in their tricked-out Japanese compacts.
At dusk, they take over the road. Roaring and buzzing like locusts, the swarm of asphalt-scraping Japanese cars — with swooping rear wings and brightly colored logos — merges from the side streets of Uptown Manhattan onto the traffic-congested Henry Hudson Parkway. Zigzagging back and forth like jet-fueled go-carts, they slow to a stop, blocking off three lanes of oncoming cars in preparation for the infamous mile-long run.
A black Nissan 300ZX and a white Mitsubishi Starion pull out of the pack and creep up to the starting line. As the sun dances on the nearby river, the sound of honking horns and screaming drivers is drowned out by the sonic blast of the two engines revving for takeoff. A stocky Latino dude in a blinding yellow shirt stands in the middle of the highway and raises his hands. Both cars lurch and halt like chained pit bulls, their wheels spitting out black smoke. The hands drop.
