McBurnie Coachcraft 'Ferrari' Daytona Replica - 'Miami Vice Style'...

[crowe-t]

I'm attempting to build a model of the McBurnie 'Ferrari' Daytona Replica that was used on Miami Vice. I'm combining a Revell/Monogram 1/24 Miami Vice Daytona Spyder kit with a Revell/Monogram 1/24 '78 Corvette kit. The Miami Vice Daytona kit is actually based on the Monogram 1/24 '78 Corvette's chassis. When Revell(then Monogram) made the Miami Vice Daytona kit they got it half right. It has a C3 Corvette chassis and drive train but the 'wrong' body. Well the body isn't 100% wrong. Instead of taking measurements of the kit car(McBurnie) body, they instead took the measurements of an actual Ferrari 365 GTS/4 Daytona.

The kit's body is actually correct to a real Ferrari(including the Ferrari windshield and frame) and correctly scaled in 1/24, only the wheel base was lengthened 4mm to match the Corvette kit's longer wheel base. The kit also included a 'correct' Ferrari Interior. These features always bothered me about this kit and kept it from looking like the replica Daytona car used on the TV show.

The McBurnie(built by McBurnie Coachcraft) replica used on Miami Vice had a basically stock Corvette interior. The dash was slightly modified and the seats were re-upholstered in the pattern used in a real Ferrari but they are still Corvette seats and it incorporated the Corvette windshield as well. A C3 Corvette is similar in measurements to a Ferrari Daytona however a Corvette's wheel base is roughly 4.5 inches longer. The funny thing is the width of both a Ferrari Daytona and a C3 Corvette is basically the same when measured from the wheel opening lips(not the actual body). Now this is where it gets tricky. A C3 Corvette has a 'Coke' bottle shape so the width of the cowl/doors(actual width of the car) is about 5 inches narrower then a Ferrari Daytona. The Corvette's wheels actually stick out further then the actual body thus the fenders and quarter panels 'bubble' out to accommodate this and give it the 'Coke' bottle shape. It's a really nice feature of the Corvette and gives it it's unique appearance.

Due to the 'Coke' bottle shape of the Corvette, the body of the McBurnie Daytona Replica is 5 inches narrower(since it's fenders and quarter panels don't 'bubble' out like a 'Vette's). What (Tom) McBurnie did to compensate for the narrower body(and wheels sticking out) was to flare the wheel openings' lips a bit. I think it actually gave the car a cool look.

On to my build...

I started by narrowing the Ferrari's body by 5 mm and attached the Corvette's windshield frame. On an actual Ferrari 365 Daytona the windshield frame is flush with the door skins. On the McBurnie replica Daytona the door skins are a couple of inches wider then the windshield frame. Instead of cutting the hood in the middle as I did with the body, I removed 2.5 mm from each side. I did it this way since the 2 hood scoops(indentations) are actually closer to the sides on the McBurnie replica then on an actual Ferrari. I'll be adding a piece of styrene to the rear of the hood to extend it to the windshield. I also added some 1.5 mm styrene strips to the sides of the Corvette interior tub as well to give the door panels a bit of width. I'll be adding the flared wheel openings too and most likely will extend the rear of the doors back.

I did a lot of research for this build and learned a few things about the McBurnie replica and the C3 Corvette in the process.

On the TV show Miami Vice, there were 2 cars used, both McBurnie Coachcraft replicas. The 'Beauty' or rather Camera car(Car 4) and the stunt car(Car 1). Car 1 and Car 4 are just numbers McBurnie gave these cars when they were built. I'll attempt to make this build resemble Car 4 since it was the car used for close ups but I'm not going for an exact build, but something close.

Here are some pictures of the build so far:

Here are some pictures of actual McBurnie Daytona replicas for comparison:

Edited 29 Aug 2013 by crowe-t

[Jeremy Jon]

Good start Mike, looking forward to seeing more!

[PappyD340]

Very NICE start Mike!

[Bastardo]

Butchery - darn right I'll be following this one!

[Bastardo]

Butchery - darn right I'll be following this one!

[Matt T.]

Neat job so far! In a sea of 1/24 Ferraris & "kit cars" your build will stand alone as truly unique. (And I learned a lot from your write-up too!)

Keep up the good work.

[Daddyfink]

This is very educational! This is one to follow!

[sjordan2]

McBurnie has made some pretty cool replicas, including a Porsche speedster for Thunder Ranch (distributor of some very nice Beck 550 Spyder replicas). While the Ferrari lawyers made him stop producing the Daytona replicas, I think they really pounced on him for 250 GTO replicas. This is from Wikipedia:

"McBurnie is a US bodywork company mostly known for their replicas of Ferrari Daytona Spyder. The Daytona replicas are based on the Chevrolet Corvette C3 and became very popular because they were featured in the TV series Miami Vice where the main character Sonny Crocket drives a black Daytona Spyder. Ferrari reacted and managed to get McBurnie and other replica manufacturers to stop production.

- Tom McBurnie went on to manufacture the 34 Lightning, the RSK550 and a Porsche speedster replica. He is now making cars under his new company Thunder Ranch. As a runner up on Mr. McBurnie's TV fame he also produced the RIOT car as seen on Baywatch. Mr. McBurnie is still making quality Sports cars. Using the RIOT car he developed Tom partnered with SDSU early on & made an electric RIOT car that has amazing Hybrid technology and Incredible Range. [1] The Rights to the RIOT were sold to Nathan Wratislaw who is taking the car a new Green Vision of Hybrid Electric Technology. Tom continues to make 5 different Models of Sports Cars."

Looks like you're going to end up with a great piece of work.

Edited 29 Aug 2013 by sjordan2

[crowe-t]

Thanks everyone for all of your encouraging words! So far this is a fun project to work on.

I'm still trying to decide if I should make the fixed headlights behind the acrylic glass covers or not. I have the head light parts but can't quite figure out how to make the clear covers. I'm thinking maybe attach clear styrene sheet over the headlights and just mask it off before painting the body. I'm sure there are any number of ways to do this.

If anyone has any ideas on how to make and attach the clear headlight covers please let me know. Pictures are also welcome.

Here is a picture showing the clear headlight covers.

Edited 29 Aug 2013 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

I did a quick mockup today to make sure the chassis fit OK. I narrowed the chassis' front wheel wells by 2.5 mm on each side so it now fits nicely. Since Monogram made the Daytona body the correct width(to a real Ferrari) the body was actually 5 mm wider and there was a space on both sides of the chassis. It looked and fit terribly. Now that I narrowed the body it fits nice and snug to the chassis.

The Corvette interior tub now fits really well too. I still have to lengthen the hood to meet the windshield.

In the 2nd picture the front appears to be sitting slightly higher then the rear but it is just placed together for the pictures. When I hold the chassis tighter against the interior tub it sits nice and level. I also have to put a styrene spacer between the rear of the interior tub and the chassis since the chassis has nothing to attach to in the rear.

The one thing I'm not crazy about is the profile of the tires. They are slightly too high but not too bad.

If anyone has a spare set of 1/24 tires in a slightly lower profile then the Monogram tires please let me know. I don't think 1/25 scale tires will work with the kit's 1/24 scale wire wheels.

Mike.

Edited 30 Aug 2013 by crowe-t

[Jeremy Jon]

I would suggest some slightly smaller O.D. tires, those are quite tall IMO, but looking good in the mock up there Mike!

For the light covers, build in a rib of thin styrene rod, on each side, inset the thickness of your clear cover being used - easily cut from clear packaging - then use clear set adhesive to fix in place after paint work done, then will be flush fit result

Similar to the manner I used here for headlight slats

Edited 30 Aug 2013 by Jeremy Jon

[crowe-t]

Jeremy, thanks for the advice and the picture you posted. I'm tossing around a few ideas and hopefully will come up with something in a couple of days.

Mike.

[crowe-t]

I started working on the head lights. I cut out the openings and filed down the area of the body in between. I'll attach a single piece of .015" clear sheet styrene over the both the headlight openings and the center section. Below I attached a picture from a Miami Vice episode showing what this area looks like without the clear cover. I also attached the picture from my post above showing what it will look like with the clear piece installed. I won't attach the clear styrene until after the body is painted.

A couple of progress pictures are also posted showing the work so far on the head light area as well as a picture showing the hood extension progress so far. The rear of the hood looks a bit off, but that's just an illusion caused by the wide angle picture. It's all nice and even with the windshield.

Edited 3 Sep 2013 by crowe-t

[Customman]

Mike,

Try the tires out of a Revell '90-'91 Cougar kit they don't look to be as tall as the Monogram ones you have.

[crowe-t]

George, I just ordered a set from a member here, Joseph Osborn. He makes replacement tires in a correct height specifically for Monogram 1/24 wheels. He's making me the tires in rubber.

http://www.fireballmodels.info/fmr-020.htm

Edited 3 Sep 2013 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

Time for another update! I started adding the fender flares. I glued in .015" sheet styrene around the perimeter of the wheel openings and added a couple more strips on the outside top to strengthen them a bit. Putty is now applied to the front flares.

Here are some progress pictures.

Edited 5 Sep 2013 by crowe-t

[crowe-t]

The tires arrived today from Chief Joseph(Joseph Osborn) aka Fireball Modelworks and they are perfect! I highly recommend them.

[Joe Handley]

  On September 3, 2013 1:02:48 PM, crowe-t said:

George, I just ordered a set from a member here, Joseph Osborn. He makes replacement tires in a correct height specifically for Monogram 1/24 wheels. He's making me the tires in rubber.

http://www.fireballmodels.info/fmr-020.htm

Oooohhhhhh, Iike those tires as well as the big and bigger BFG's!

[Jeremy Jon]

  On September 6, 2013 4:40:24 AM, crowe-t said:

The tires arrived today from Chief Joseph(Joseph Osborn) aka Fireball Modelworks and they are perfect! I highly recommend them.

+1 excellent gent Joseph is!!

[crowe-t]

The fender flares are almost done! I still have to shave off about .5 mm from the front flares and finish the work on the hood and the head lights.

Here are some pictures of where I'm at with the body.

[crowe-t]

Here's a small update! I re-scribed the front and rear of the doors to look the way they do on the McBurnie Daytonas. The doors are also a bit longer on the McBurnie Daytonas.

Here's a 'Before' picture:

Here's how it looks now with the re-scribed doors.

In the next few days I'll work on the headlight areas and remove the Pininfarina logos from the fenders.

Edited 15 Sep 2013 by crowe-t

[Tompidom]

Wow, I never knew that this one was a replica, but now that your pointing everything out its starting to look less and less like the Ferrari. Fantastic attention to detail and execution!

[frozono]

Nice, I like it. need to see more............

[PowerPlant]

This is sweet!

I did know the Miami Vice "Daytona" was a Corvette based replica, but never realized how different in fact it is compared to the original car...

Your dedication in replicating this replica correctly is very commendable indeed!

Edited 1 Oct 2013 by PowerPlant