McBurnie was hired to build the bodies for the Corvette-chassised cars.
In total two Corvette Daytona replicas were used for the show, car 4 and then car 1 after the pilot which acted as the stunt car. 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.
Ferrari North America had turned down the request by Miami Vice for authentic Ferraris (they did the same with Magnum, P.I., forcing that production to purchase 308 GTSs). Ferrari Daytona like the one used in the showĭuring the first two seasons and two episodes from the third season, Detective Sonny Crockett drove a black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder 365 GTS/4 replica with a Florida license plate ZAQ178.
