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DeTomaso Appearance
Although the episode credits read "Crockett's
Car Furnished by Ferrari North America," the real star is the DeTomaso
Pantera that does stunt duty for the delicate Ferraris.
Michael Mann needed a plot device to introduce the Testarossa, so he had the
gunrunners launch a Stinger missile at Crockett's prized Ferrari Daytona,
which was a rebodied Corvette, and blew it
up before his very eyes. A month later (the next episode), Lt. Castillo
told a still-grieving Crockett to check out back for his new car. Sonny was
greeted by a white Ferrari Testarossa with Florida license plate
ATF00M. He proudly recited the specs of his new toy to Rico, "345 hp and 180
mph!" Much like his treatment of women, Sonny soon forgot about his past
relationship and eagerly moved on to the new one.
Two show cars were provided by Ferrari North America and were originally
delivered black, but were repainted white for better contrast when filming at
night. In addition, a stunt car was created by the Roberts Motor Co. by
beefing up a 1972 DeTomaso Pantera chassis with salvaged Testarossa body
parts. The mid-engined Pantera replicated the Ferrari much closer than
the Corvettes used to create the Daytona look-alikes.
Images
Pantera stunt double diagram from July 1987
Popular Mechanics
Details on the Pantera
Where does "Miami Vice" get all their neat cars?
They rent some and build some. Sources include individual collectors, auto
specialty shops and car fabricators like Roberts. The original Ferrari
look-alike used by Crockett was spotted on a lot in Newport Beach by the show’s
producer. He knew the car had the perfect image for his lead character. The car
was a custom-built machine using Ferrari-design fiberglass panels adapted to a
1980 Corvette chassis. And some real Ferrari hardware integrated with the car
added to the Ferrari effect.
When the new model Ferrari Testarossa came out, it was decided to update the
Ferrari on "Vice" to the trick-looking new machine. Plus, the Ferrari North
American people got a little miffed that the fakes were getting so much
attention. They offered to supply two real Ferrari Testarossas for the show. The
Testarossa was Ferrari’s latest model and one would be used regularly and one
would be kept as a backup. The cars were supplied to the producers painted
black, but when they didn’t show up well in night scenes, they were later
painted white. (We saw one of the black Testarossas in the episode "When Irish
Eyes Are Crying" when the Daytona Spyder was blown up). To create a car that
would perform stunts, "Miami Vice" producers turned to Roberts Motor Co., which
had specialized in safety-oriented stunt cars for the movie and TV industries.
Carl Robert’s assignment was to build a Testarossa look-alike that would be able
to stand up to the rigors of stunt duty. In effect, Roberts was asked to build
an automotive Thespian that would breathe life and action into the show just as
much as the human players. Unlike the front-engined Daytonas, the Testarossa was
a mid-engined car, so using a Corvette chassis as a starting point wouldn’t
work. The proportions of the car were wrong. So Roberts took a 1972 DeTomaso
Pantera - a perfect car with 12,000 miles on the clock and a collector value of
about $30,000-and chopped it apart.
Roberts designed Testarossa look-alike, fiberglass body panels working from
pictures in a magazine, and parts he salvaged from a wrecked Testarossa. He
molded a 1-piece nose for the car that was easily removed for service access to
the front end.
Another reason for the fiberglass body sections is that they were easily
replaceable in the event a stunt got out of control.
To beef up the Pantera’s chassis to handle jumps without the force of impact
causing the roof to buckle, an additional subframe was bolted to the chassis.
The subframe also works as a skid plate to protect the bottom of the car from
impact. The suspension also was upgraded with stiffer springs to make the car
more rigid, plus Koni shocks. To get the additional ground clearance necessary
for the jump maneuvers, the body was shimmed up some inches and extra body
mounts were added for more support.
Drivers protection presented a problem from a
visual point of view. A full roll cage would have been the way to go for maximum
safety, but the roll bars would have been visible around the windshield posts. A
compromise was reached by installing a roll bar just behind the driver’s seat in
the engine compartment. The bar was attached to reinforced areas of the frame
rails. A fuel cell was used to prevent spillage during rollovers or crashes, and
a competition safety harness was installed.
The Grant steering wheel is another safety feature. It is easily removable in
case of an accident so the driver can be freed in case he’s pinned inside the
cockpit. The wheel is a popular item among the street-rodding set, who remove
the wheel to prevent their cars from being stolen.
Since the car would be used interchangeably with the real Testarossa during
filming, they had to be as identical as possible. One discrepancy that caught
Robert’s eye is that the Ferrari sat lower to the ground. The seats of the
Pantera were up too high. The situation was easily rectified by cutting out the
Pantera’s floor pans and dropping the seats. The Ferrari was also wider than the
Pantera. While the Pantera’s body panels could be blown out to the required
width, the rear tires didn’t sit out far enough in the wheel wells. The
solution here came in the form of a set of custom Sbarbaro wheels. The rear
wheels were offset 6 in. And were built with a 12-in. Width. The Pantera rim was
only 8 inches across.
Power from the stunt car comes from a 351-cu-in. Ford Cleveland engine that runs
a Predator carburetor from PCI, Inc., to minimize fuel lag and poor throttle
response when the car comes out of a slide.
Foam was added to the carburetor float bowl to keep the fuel from sloshing
around during stunt maneuvers and high-speed chase scenes.
While the stock engine is good for about 300hp, Roberts wanted more power for
that extra margin during stunts. He decided against going the supercharger or
turbocharger route because of the expense and the room the system would have
taken up in the engine compartment. Since power-boost requirements were needed
for 10-15 second bursts, a nitrous oxide system was installed. A shot of the gas
gives an instant 100-plus hp, enough to handle any situation.
Backing up the Ford powerplant is a ZF 5-speed transmission. A special braking
system uses a second brake pedal to activate the rear brakes only. Locking the
rear brakes helps the car spin out or spin around in the classic bootleg U-turn.
Source: Popular Mechanics, July 1987 (Cliff Gromer)
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