Guide: Miami Vice Ferrari Testarossas
Created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC, Miami Vice ran for five seasons between late 1984 and early 1990.
The show starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as vice cops, Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs.
Most episodes focused on the fight against drug trafficking and prostitution. The choice of music, fashion and cinematography borrowed heavily from New Wave culture of the 1980s.
Nearly all filming took place in Miami. Many episodes were filmed around Palm Beach and the South Beach section of Miami Beach, an area which, at the time, was blighted by poverty and crime.
During the first two seasons and two episodes of season three, Crockett drove a replica Ferrari 365 GTS/4 based on a Chevrolet Corvette C3 with McBurnie Coachcraft kit.
However, once the car gained notoriety, Ferrari filed a lawsuit that demanded McBurnie cease production owing to infringement of the Ferrari name and styling.
As Ferrari did not want to miss out on the massive publicity being generated by Miami Vice, the Italian firm donated two US-spec. 1986 Testarossas to the production company.
Chassis 63259 and 63631 were a matching pair of metallic black Testarossas with cream upholstery and the early single wing mirror configuration.
Producer Michael Mann was famously obsessive about the colours portrayed in the show. going so far as to ban earth tones such as red and brown. To make the Ferraris more visible when filming at night, both were repainted white soon after they arrived in the US.
The Testarossas starred from mid way through the 1986 season until the show’s demise.
Thanks to the use of a De Tomaso Pantera stunt car equipped with Ferrari panels, both Testarossas survived filming intact.
They were sold off by the production company when a sixth season of Miami Vice was cancelled.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Universal: http://www.nbcuniversal.com/
