Greetings from Brazil. In the 80's I didn't miss a single episode of this wonderful series. Everything was iconic, the songs, the cars, the clothes, everything. The 80s were wonderful. Today I'm a police officer, and when I go to Miami on vacation I keep trying to imagine what it was like in the wonderful 80s. Excellent video.
Not certain this is all accurate. First, Tom McBurnie built the original two cars (not 'Tim'). Second, there are number of ways to distinguish the Miami Vice replicas from the real car (in addition to the fly-windows), such as: the replica's Corvette windshield is nearly vertical compared to the steep rake of the real car; the replica's fenders are flared out aggressively while the original has very thin/small fenders, the replica's rear quarter panel marker lights are recessed within the body-line, while the real car's are above the line and ringed in chrome; the replica has big chrome handles set in the doors, while the originals were just little finger pulls positioned on top of the frame; the replica has square headlamps while the originals are circular; and the seats/interiors are completely different. Third, while the Carl Roberts cars were commissioned during Season 2 for use in Season 3 (to supplement the two McBurnie cars seen) they never made it on air due to the Ferrari lawsuit against Tom McBurnie and ensuing deal between NBC/Universal to replace Crockett's "Daytona" with the Testarossa. Fourth, the production destroyed a miniature Daytona on air, the real cars weren't damaged.
I was thinking the same thing when watching this. Any real car guy would notice the difference between this replica and the real thing. The GM sport mirrors are a dead giveaway, the real one would of had a small chrome mirror with round face.
@@cwindsor8585 : No. Just two cars were used for the show. One is in the Vuolo museum and the other is owned by a private collector and hasn’t been seen in decades.
@@ThomasFerrugia there are cars that you've seen shot from other vehicles and there are cars that have the camera mounts on them for in car shoots or above car shots this particular car is called a camera car The cars you're thinking of don't have any modifications these cars have been jumped and wrecked and put back together
@@cwindsor8585 : I’m well aware of how TV shows and films are produced. Again, only two replica Daytonas (in total) were used for filming the TV show. One based on a ‘76 Corvette and the other on a ‘79. That’s the entirety of the cars NBC had (please go ahead and look it up). One went to a collector and the other was later featured in the movie Speed Zone before winding up in the Vuolo museum. This car’s interior and badging are all wrong anyway. If it has markings of camera mounts, it may be the Daytona replica featured in an 80s TV movie called ‘Moving Target’ starring Jason Bateman. Or, it could be one of the cars that NBC commissioned after season 2 for season 3 that were never got used.
Truthfully the only reason you would really want a Ferrari Daytona is as a collector and hopefully an investment other than that their shit most died by fire, I would rather have this and be able to drive and enjoy it you wouldn't want to drive a Daytona just because of what you paid for it and the cost of maintaining it.
This car was from 84 to 85 almost 40 years later. Love it. The pilot was in 84 an if you where a teen back then like I was it's cars an girls. So it was a definite hit back then an still is an 80's time capsule Miami Vice is.
Nice to see that this "corvette" version is in good hands. Even if its replica, i liked it much more than original Testarossa. MV is still absolutelly my favourite series! For sure only missing in this replica is no pop-up headlights like a original 365...
With all that proof of authenticity and the condition it's in, this car would be any collector's dream. Great to see that it's still in Florida, which kind of seems like its natural habitat. 🙂
@@srobak The owner of this car is in the movie car business has multiple cars that have been used in movies and just showed the documentation to prove it but you know better
@@cwindsor8585 good for him - but if he has documentation for this one it is forged. McBurnie himself even said this was not a car used in the show, and other folks in the comments are part of the network of people who own vehicles from the show. Sorry.
Man I remember when I was a kid on Friday night this show coming on. One of the best TV shows ever from music, movie and TV stars, to the cars and boats. We all wished as kids to be adults, we are all here now and it sucks. Can we somehow travel back in time to when this show was on? Life was much simpler and I could go to my grandparents house.
The Daytona in the first scene in the pilot was the real deal. Michael Mann was such a perfectionist he dubbed in the sounds of a real Daytona V12 in scenes like the end of the Where the Buses Don't Run. Such a nice car. Btw the fixed headlights are European spec, very few made it to Ameica. Mostly flip ups here. I think it totally makes the look.
Wow, this car was like a dream to me, so sleek and sexy. It barely got any camera time in the show. I almost cried when they blew it up. I wish the real Daytona Spyders looked this good.
The real 365 GTS/4 Daytona Spider looks much better. The Tom McBurnie kit car is great but the original is on another level. It's proportions are perfect, and you can't even compare the interiors.
A few things here. First, great video and beautiful machine! Second, people in comments complaining about stuff is kind to f hilarious. And lastly, The amount of people here who actually still believe they blew up the hero car (or even a real car) in the show is embarrassing. Many videos and interviews from production crew and stars that clear up that that was the story told to Enzo to appease Ferrari. The actual scene you guys got fooled by (as did Ferrari) was a scale model shell. Fairly convincing but still not any of the cars. Not hero car, not stunt car, not camera car. A shell! Yeah Also, I don’t know if this was a show used stunt car or not but the Mcburnie cars were fiberglass with emblems attached with adhesive so a corrected hood placement would leave no “mounting holes” in the hood like a true 364 or 365 GTB, because mounting was different because 80’s fake. 🤷♂️🤦♂️
The Testarossa stunt car made out of a Pantera was noticable from the real ones, because the stunt Testarossa had deep dish wheels because of the differnt widths, the real Testarossa's where flush rims. Also the Testarossa's were painted white because the black didn't show up on film during the night shoots.
The actual original car from the show was on display at the Ft Lauderdale swap shop outdoor flea market. They had the car inside for years and years inside a gated display that no one could touch. I used to work there and it may still be there on display. It was actually a corvette with a Daytona Ferrari body kit. Since this show was filmed down in Miami it’s safe to say the original was 25 miles north in ft Lauderdale at the ft Lauderdale swap shop. At least it was for over 2 decades. I believe they still have the white testarossa from the show as well. If you google them you’ll see the white one in the pics inside there.
@mickywinters8451 You are correct. Owned by Mr Preston Henn. The C3 Corvette sat in his Hillsboro Mile home from time to time.. I got to sit in it once.😃
He said the only visual difference is the quarter light windows, the big main visual difference is the door handles, the Daytona had little finger handles on the top of the door, you almost can’t see them, these are off a Mondial
So the original replica builder had his cars confiscated because Ferrari sued him, but the movie company were able to obtain them and use them. So corrupt (but not surprised).
I am a bigger fan than you are, and I would love to see this in person! Thanks for sharing this video! That’s awesome what he has shared in this video. Thank you!
Back in 1992 and 1993 I went to a vocational school (BOCES) in Oakdale NY on Long Island near my childhood home... I was in the 2 classes for autobody repair we had/helped build 2 of these one just like the Miami Vice car and the other was red C3 vette frame/drivetrain with faux Ferrari body Mr. Palma and Mr. Pontieri They both scared the crap outta me but were both excellent teachers.... BTW My 2 favorite TV shows ever were not only from the 1980's BUT both based in Miami . MIAMI VICE and GOLDEN GIRLS
Who owns the Miami Vice Ferrari? Currently one Daytona (Car #4) is in a private collection and the other (Car #1) is on display at the Volo Auto Museum; the Ferrari Testarossa stunt car resides in Kingsport, Tennessee and is owned by Carl Roberts of Carl Roberts Motor Group.
Very interesting and awesome! In the overhead shot here of the car's interior, it looks to me like this model is an automatic based upon the way the selector stick appears, whereas a genuine Ferrari Spyder would have a gated stick shift. I can see that this Corvette-based, Miami Vice replica is, naturally, not gated; however, I can't really tell for sure just by looking whether it's an automatic or manual. And, I know various C3 Corvettes, except for one model year, could be either automatic or manual. Can anyone confirm for sure whether this iconic replica model is automatic?
Did anyone Cringe a bit at 11:38 when he laid the script with these Metal clips on the Glossy trunk lid thinking "Hey! You're Scratching the car, Man!!" 😅
I was looking at a McBurnie and was $5k shy of their asking price, then lightening struck and a 57 Plymouth Fury dropped into my lap.. I am still eyeing the McBurnie though, but Christine needed me so I couldn't argue lol Love this car and as Ferrari is, they need to relax, Consider it an homage to the real deal.
Yes I also read that. Evidently many serious film companies only use kit/replicas as the iconic originals would be too valuable to wreck etc…(the old Mercedes in the chase scenes in Raiders of the lost ark were actually modified Jaguars I believe)…
Dear Lord...UNBELIEVABLE! Thank you for sharing all of this infamous nostalgic history! If you could have seen me in 1984! By 1985 I had just about convinced myself that I was actually on the show replacing D.J. Sonny Crocket LOL. I am soooooo stuck on that show, what a great time to live!
No it’s not. The VIN of the 2 cars used are documented on Universal Studios documents and both those cars are accounted for. The documents for this car are fraudulent.
Absolutely. I own 1 of the cars and have the Universal documents listing the two VIN numbers and I know the owner of the other car. I’m also the one who put John in touch with Michael Talbott and shortly after Michael told me he was paid to put his name on the title to make it “owned” by him. I’m also friends with McBurnie who built both cars for the show, they were 2 of the first 4 cars he built and those 4 cars have unique characteristics that only the 1st 4 cars had which are part of the construction and missing from this car. Everything about the 2 real cars is heavily authenticated.
I doubt you own 1 of the four cars. How do you know John? Because I know him personally, he is avery successful individual with no reason to fabricate wild stories . He is credible and has done work with multiple major film and tv companies. Also, are you trying to say that? Michael was willing to tarnish his reputation to be paid to put his name on a car that he didn't have anything to do with for the sake of making a few bucks and to be caught up in a controversy just so John could tell stories to stroke his ego.. like his career with NASA and being an inventor wasn't enough. He had to fabric stories about a tv car to go along with the 20 other vehicles he owns?
Also if you are in possession of one of the cars it's not yours. It's Greg's.. Lol. And there is some question of whether or not that car is legit seeing as how it was acquired without knowing if it was even legit.. universal thought the car was destroyed and wasn't in their possession..
Absolutely loved this car in the show but this car seems to sit way higher at the back than those seen in the show (as if someone's put some bog standard shocks on the rear but more likely the show cars were actually lowered). I don't know if that's because it was the camera car or not but it makes it look so much less cool than those used in the show. It looks like I could fit my fist between the rear wheel and the rear wheel arch yet you'd struggle to slide a piece of paper in that same gap on the show's cars
This men should be so proud to get this awesome car ! I love it for the rest of my life! This replica is one of the most beautiful I think! As a huge fan of Miami vice this content is unbelievable! Thanks buddy
If this is the same car I’ve seen it at a car show in Apollo Beach, Fl. I was parked next to it in my 65 Mustang. I didn’t know it at the time about the chassis being from a corvette. I didn’t put 2+2 together until after.
Wasn’t there also an issue with reliability, because the real Ferrari has tons of electrical gremlins. And it didn’t sit low enough. Ferrari experts spotted these as replicas from the first episode because they rode lower and smoother than the real thing. Literally a case of the replica might have been better than the real deal
I hate to tell the owner this, but there is another difference and that is the top corners of the windshield on the real Ferrari are rounded where the Corvette windshield has squared off, pointy, corners. That is the quickest way to tell a reproduction from a genuine article. When it comes to this one, it is not the one used to shoot the interior shots, as that one was done with a duplicate Daytona interior, including the seats and it had a manual transmission, not an automatic like this one.
The ironic thing was it always made more sense for an undercover cop to be driving a replica than a real Ferrari (which would have been sold at auction for sure instead of being put into service after seizure and forfeiture.).
Theres a few in the comments who are claiming this isnt legit, so I'd like to know how youre an expert. Secondly, im a 70s kid, so I loved ANY t.v. series in the 80s that featured a star car, but I quit watching this show once they replaced this car with the white testarossa cause this one was beautiful compared to that crappy testarossa. The man also said he worked with a Dick Tracy Duesenburg, which is a MASTERPRICE and favorite film, so I wonder if he had anything to do with the pink Auburn Boattail.
Dude, there are PLENTY of people intimately familiar with both real Daytonas and the Miami Vice cars. Including the manager of one of the premier auto museums in the country (which specializes in film / TV cars) who posted above and owns one of the two cars used in the show.
What Doug said. 2 replica Daytona's built and 1 real one used for one static scene in the pilot. What makes me an expert is having first hand knowledge of the car in the video and the process they went through to fake the authenticity. Have documentation from Universal Studios showing the VIN numbers of the 2 cars. I own one of the cars with the VIN listed on the Universal documents and I know the owner of the car that is listed. This car is neither. I am also friends with Tom McBurnie who built the cars that were used.
I feel kinda sorry for the younger generation that weren't alive to experience the splendor of the 80s and 90s. It was such a different time. We had many of the same problems we still have today but without the modern technology to deal with the problems.
Jeez, people... IT'S THE CAMERA CAR!!! Because it had cameras mounted in various places, it wasn't used for external shots, so it didn't have to be an exact copy to the other two cars! It only had to be "close enough". Duh! I have a Land Rover that was used in a episode of X-Files: it was used for both interior and exterior shots, however, my truck is a naturally aspirated diesel - and the injector pump timing was off at the time, so it smoked like a chimney! So, they rounded up another one, painted it to match my truck, and used it for external driving shots. When editing was done, they mixed shots of both trucks together. Fine, but the true Land Rover junkie can easily tell that two different trucks were used. (Easiest giveaway: my truck has locking hubs on the front axle, while the "stand-in" truck did not) I have a friend that has a shop, and he was tasked with resurrecting the Peugeot used in the series "Columbo", back in the '90's: same thing - there were 3 of them. They're identical, but there are small differences between them, but, they were close enough. The cameras are only looking at certain things, so while it does help, the cars don't have to be perfectly identical to one another.
There were 2 cars, but its confusing they are known as car #1 and car #4. The numbers had to do with McBurnie's order of build, he built 4 cars originally and Miami Vice got his car #1 and #4. #4 was the Camera car, #1 was the stunt car. The car in the video is neither.
There was a shop building rhino gt Ferrari 250 gto replicas on 230 240 260 z chassis in the Woodlands Texas. Looked fantastic, nice to see cars like that.
I owned a really nice 280Z back in the days and my buddy wanted to do one up on me, so he also bought a 280Z and had it converted to the Miami Vice style conversion... it looked very nice even though not original. but it sure turned heads here in California
I didn't know what to think or whatever but as soon as it started i knew the motor was a v8 and wasn't a v12 so possibly a replicar , because lots of casual car or Ferrari owners will buy a true Ferrari basket case rebuild it but cant or wont afford a new or rebuilt v12 . But its clear after watching the video its a replicar
Thats not the stunt car,that was so badly damaged from filming its actually shorter by two inches on one side due to being crashed while filming. The car stood in the desert for nearly twenty years abondoned and is now partially restored in a museum.You can view it on youtube. You can always spot a Mcburnie replica,the wheel arches are flared compared to a real Daytona and the Mcburnie has no triangular window by the A pillar. Two Black Testarossas were used in filming,subsequently sprayed white and a scaffolding rig was put around the front of the car to mount the cameras and the hood removed,this was used for close up dialogue. You can google the pictures... The other hero car was kept pristine for close ups and recently sold at auction for big money, the Pantera was used for stunts as the Ferraris were too valuable and on loan from Ferrari North America. The Pantera was easy to spot as the wheels were completely different to the Testarossa and the car was much shorter than the Ferrari. Its sad this guy thinks he owns the real car,hes clearly been scammed..nice car though but not a tv car the interior is all wrong.
It's not either of the screen used cars, but... the stunt car is 1 1/4 inches shorter on the passenger side on the stunt car but this was actually due to an accident the donor Corvette was in prior to it becoming a Daytona. McBurnie discovered this when he tried to fit the body. He had to modify the body to compensate for the wheelbase to make it fit.
There were five total Daytonas: 2 by Al Mardekian, 2 by Tom McBurnie, and the 5th was an actual Ferrari borrowed from a plastic surgeon used for one season during long driving shots. Car 3 was destroyed.
Tom McBurnie, not Tim. How would he screw this up since he is fairly well knowledgeable about the history of the car. I always thought the kit cars looked better than the real deal. The Testarossa could never compare with this. Good video.
They used the corvette platform with a Ferrari kit , they didn’t want to tear up the real Ferrari , the testarosa had the pantera platform and a body kit on it because the testarosa wound stall out in the corners , the pantera wouldn’t !!
