While on the run toward the Mexico–United States border, and the subject of radio news reports, he is cornered in a small Southern California coffee shop by a zealous citizen who is suspicious of the stranger.

The film was based on a story by Roger Corman, who had recently moved into producing with Monster from the Ocean Floor (1954) for his company Palo Alto Productions.

"[11] The deal that Corman set up included having the local Jaguar dealer donate his cars as well as having scenes take place at the Monterey race track.

"[7] After weighing offers from Columbia, Allied and Republic, Corman made a deal for The Fast and the Furious to be picked up for distribution by a new company, American Releasing Corporation (ARC), formed by Sam Arkoff and James H. Nicholson.

Corman said "I realized that the trap for an independent producer was that you made a picture but waited a long time to get your money back.

[14] Corman's Palo Alto company planned to make three more features over the next twelve months, starting with Five Guns West in November.

[15] Variety said "High-priced sportscar bombs furnish most of the action" saying "Racing footage is interesting but becomes repetitious and helps to string out the running time to an unnecessary 73 minutes, an unhandy length for supporting playdates.

"[18] The film was popular but struggled to recoup money for ARC because it often played on the bottom of double bills, which meant it received a flat fee instead of a percentage.

Alex Gordon confirmed that saying "it soon became obvious that single B-pictures like these first three [The Fast and the Furious, Five Guns West, Apache Woman] would not work out for the new company – they played the bottom of twin-bill programming at $25 per booking.

[22] Corman recalled the story differently in a 2022 interview, stating that Moritz had been struggling to name his new film and had turned to his father, a former AIP executive.