The Miami Vice Ferraris: American Crime Fighting Italians

 

If you like high-action TV shows with cool cars, you could not have asked for a better show than the 1980’s series, “Miami Vice.” This series received a ton of attention decades ago, as it was groundbreaking in terms of visuals. The show quickly became synonymous with cutting-edge music as well as sports cars viewers dreamed of owning.

If police chases and sleek automobiles were your thing in the 1980s or you're watching the show for the first time now, there's a lot to uncover about the cars used in the Miami Vice series. This is your guide to identifying Miami Vice cars and the backstory of how these vehicles came to be.

An Iconic American Television Series

Miami Vice was an American television crime drama series written by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for the NBC network. The show starred Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs. These characters were police detectives working undercover in Miami, Florida.

The show was on the air for five seasons between 1984 and 1989. The USA Network later broadcasted a never-before-seen episode on January 25, 1990.

Standing out to Mass Audiences

Miami Vice drew heavily upon 1980s New Wave culture and music. The show also became noted for its integration of music and visual effects. It is recognized as one of the most influential television series of all time. People magazine stated Miami Vice was the “first show to look really new and different since color TV was invented.”

But it was the cars of Miami Vice that audiences loved to watch. There was the Ferrari Daytona Spyder and the Ferrari Testarossa driven by characters on the show.

 

About the Ferrari Daytona Spyder

Sports car fanatics recognize the Ferrari Daytona Spyder as one of the most impressive vehicles designed for high-speed travel and racing during this era. The official name of the Daytona Spyder is the Ferrari 365 GTS/4. People were obsessed with the Ferrari Daytona for its glorious appearance — and 352 horsepower thanks to the 4.4-liter engine under the hood.

Ferrari Daytona Spyders (GTS/4 models) were made for a short time in the early 1970s. By the time Miami Vice debuted in the 1980s, the cars were out of production and considered rare.

Details Surrounding the Ferrari Testarossa

The Ferrari Testarossa is a two-door sports car featuring a 4.9-liter engine, five-speed manual transmission and upwards of 385 horsepower. This performance car was to serve as the successor to the incredibly successful Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer.

You could find the Ferrari Testarossa on the market from 1984 to 1996. Under 10,000 units of the Testarossa model were produced during the vehicle's life span, so owners of the sports car had something fairly exclusive. Viewers of Miami Vice were seeing the latest models from the Italian automaker — or so they thought.

Replica Cars on the Set of Miami Vice

Many people are unaware the Spyder used during the first two seasons and two episodes from the third season was not a real Ferrari. Detective Sonny Crockett drove a black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4 replica with a Florida license plate ZAQ178. Ferrari North America turned down the request by Miami Vice for authentic Ferraris.

Although Tom McBurnie is credited with planting the Daytona Spyder in the mind of the public, it was actually Al Mardekian, an importer of gray-market exoticars, who sold Miami Vice the two look-alike Ferraris for $49,000 each. In total, two Corvette Daytona replicas were used for the show following the pilot.

Building the Vehicles for Miami Vice

McBurnie was hired to build the bodies for the Corvette-chassised cars. One was blown to pieces on the show with a hand-held Stinger missile launcher during an illegal arms deal. The "Ferraris" used in the first two seasons were actually re-bodied Corvettes based on a 1976 Corvette and a 1981 Chevrolet C3 Corvette chassis that had been modified with fiberglass body panels. These were brought to life by specialty car manufacturer McBurnie Coachcraft to resemble an early-1970s Ferrari Daytona Spider.

The first appearance of the Daytona in the pilot episode is an authentic Ferrari. The vehicle only gets about 10 seconds of screen time. The car is stationary and Sonny is sitting in the driver’s seat, reading a newspaper. It can be identified as a real Daytona (American version) by the door handles, side markers, windshield rake and side vent windows.

Lawsuits and the Miami Vice Television Series

Ferrari filed a lawsuit demanding McBurnie and four others stop producing and selling Ferrari replicas. Miami Vice producers, on the other hand, wanted no legal troubles and accepted Ferrari's offer of two free 1986 Testarossas on the condition that the replicas be demolished.

Carl Roberts offered to build two new Daytonas for the 1987 season (the third season of Miami Vice). When Roberts learned that the Daytona was out, he proposed a trade. He would build Miami Vice a Testarossa stunt car in return for the doomed Daytona. Carl's original plan was to remove the Daytona skin from the Corvette and replace it with Testarossa body pieces, but this resulted in poor results and led Roberts to devise another plan.

Getting Creative With Vehicle Modifications

Roberts searched and found a 1972 De Tomaso Pantera, which was perfectly suited for the Testarossa body pieces. The Pantera was rigidly modified to withstand the duties of filming:

• The vehicle was raised 1.5 inches for additional ground clearance.
• Wall-thick, 2.5-inch square tubing was used to prevent roof buckling.
• A reinforcement railing that doubles as a skid plate was mounted.
• An auxiliary braking system designed to assist drivers in controlled spins was integrated.
• The master cylinder was repositioned in the brake line to feed the rear wheels, enabling the driver to lock the brakes on command.

Vehicles Used for Intense Scenes

In the second episode of the third season, Crockett complains to Lt. Castillo about driving vehicles that did not fit his cover as a high roller drug dealer; that he was going around “looking like Li'l Abner,” to which Castillo told him, "It's out back." Sonny is delighted to find his new white 1986 Ferrari Testarossa, Florida license plate AIF00M. The original Testarossas donated by Ferrari North America were black metallic but then painted white.

The Testarossa briefly appears in black in the season 3 episode, “El Viejo,” which was intended to be the season opener, but was switched with, “When Irish Eyes Are Crying” because it was thought the season needed to start with a “bang” — the fake Daytona being blown up.

Different reasons were given at the time as to why the cars were repainted white, ranging from a driving mishap by Don Johnson on the set that resulted in one of the cars requiring a new coat of paint, to Michael Mann thinking that, unlike the Daytona, the black exterior paint did not make the Testarossa look good enough in night scenes.

The Legacy of Miami Vice and Featured Cars

Audiences would remember the character Don Johnson for decades. For the first time on American television, viewers could see an undercover officer solving crime stories and looking fashionable between each case. 

Few shows on cable made an impact on popular culture quite like Miami Vice. Before this, it was uncommon for viewers to see such high-profile cars in a drama series while hearing songs featuring renowned artists at the time — including Tina Turner, Phil Collins and Jackson Browne, to name a few.

By the time Miami Vice wrapped up its final season in 1989, there were plenty of curious fans left wondering about the vehicles featured throughout the series and where they ended up.

Seeing Miami Vice Cars Today

Miami Vice cars have shown up in various auctions around the country over the last few years, drawing a lot of press and high costs when sold. One is at the Volo Car Museum. This replica Daytona is documented as one of only two Daytonas built for the screen and used in the TV series — it's also the only one on public display.

It was the first Daytona replica ever built by Tom McBurnie. The car was primarily used for driving and stunt scenes. It was fitted with a special stunt brake, skid plates and camera rigging. This Daytona replica was eventually sent to Canada and used in the movie, Speed Zone with John Candy. After filming, the car went missing for some time.

The famous Miami Vice car was found deteriorating outside in the Texas sun. The Volo Auto Museum purchased the car and did a cosmetic restoration preserving what was left from its use in the show. We also spent years researching the car to prove its authenticity.

Identifying Cars Used in the Miami Vice Series

In 2015, Volo Auto Museum was able to verify the car's VIN number against a document from Universal Studios that provided the VIN numbers of the original two cars. The Volo Miami Vice Daytona VIN number matched the Universal document, proving its authenticity and solving the mystery of the lost car.

How cool is that? Only as cool as driving it would be. Fans of the popular show can now see the real replica vehicle on display within one of our unique exhibits in Illinois.

See Our Miami Vice Car at Volo Auto Museum Today

The Volo Auto Museum is home to all sorts of famous cars from television shows, big-screen films and other areas of pop culture. With more than 33 different exhibits to check out, you'll find something for everyone. There's even an on-site pizza parlor and movie theater to give you a one-of-a-kind experience.

Volo Auto Museum is the ultimate destination for anyone interested in seeing rare vehicles up close. You can visit us in person to see some of the most iconic vehicles of American history all in one place.