Austin Butler’s Miami Vice ’85 Character Drives White Ferrari, Not Black
Austin Butler and Michael B. Jordan were filmed in a white Ferrari Testarossa on the Miami Vice '85 set. The choice breaks with the original show's black Daytona Spyder, and a decades-old legal fight with Ferrari may explain why.
Austin Butler cannot drive the iconic black Ferrari in Miami Vice '85. New videos from the set show Butler's Sonny Crockett and Michael B. Jordan's Ricardo Tubbs in a white Ferrari Testarossa instead, and a decades-old legal dispute likely explains the swap.
The wrong car for the period
The footage was filmed in Brooklyn and shared on social media on November 8, 2026. Director Joseph Kosinski's film retells the 1980s TV series. The Testarossa does not match the period he is adapting.
In the show's first two seasons, Don Johnson's detective Sonny Crockett drove a black 1972 Ferrari Daytona Spyder convertible. A Stinger missile destroyed it in the Season 3 premiere. Fans still joke about Crockett's gaping reaction.
The Testarossa did arrive in the show's canon. The Miami-Dade Police Department supplied Crockett with a white 1986 Ferrari Testarossa in the second episode of Season 3. In the series, his cars were assets seized from criminals and loaned to him for his undercover identity.
The replica and the lawsuit
The Daytona Spyder on screen was never a real Ferrari. It was a replica built on a Corvette C3 chassis, because Ferrari North America refused to supply the show with an authentic model.
Ferrari then went to court against the show and the replica builder, McBurnie Coachcraft. The company cited trademark infringement and brand dilution.
The user @CinemaIsLife on X recapped how it ended. "They eventually settled the dispute, winning broad legal protections for their trademarks and even the 'shape and profile' of the car," the account wrote.
The same post said the settlement came with a condition. Ferrari donated two authentic Testarossas, its new flagship car at the time, to the production. In return, the fake Daytona had to be "dramatically blown up on national television."
Why Universal may be steering clear
That history suggests Universal is avoiding another legal headache. Dropping the Daytona Spyder from Miami Vice '85 sidesteps the protections Ferrari won over the car's shape and profile, even though the white Testarossa departs from the show's early canon. Neither Universal nor the filmmakers have publicly explained the choice.
Production and release
Miami Vice '85 has been shooting in New York and New Jersey. Production will move to Miami once hurricane season is over.
The film opens in theaters, including IMAX, on May 19, 2028.
