Ferrari Daytona - Popular Culture

Popular Culture

• A red Daytona Spyder was one of the "stars" of the 1976 film Gumball Rally. Other films in the 1970s featuring Daytonas were A Star Is Born, The Long Goodbye, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Swiss Conspiracy, and Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo. In 1988, a Daytona was featured in Rain Man.
• In the 1980s, the car gained new notoriety on the first two seasons of NBC's hit television series Miami Vice. The black car used in the series was a replica built on a Corvette chassis. Ferrari execs were not pleased that their company and one of their products was represented on TV by an imitation car and sued the manufacturer of the kit for trademark infringement and trademark dilution. The Daytona replica was eventually destroyed on-screen and replaced with a donated Ferrari Testarossa, the company's newest model during the time.
• In the 1990 film The Rookie, a Ferrari Daytona is stolen from a valet parking service and loaded on a semi-tractor trailer by the thieves. It is later wrecked in a collision.
• It was also dedicated in song metaphorically by Chris Rea, titled "Daytona" for his 1989 album, The Road to Hell.
• The show Top Gear featured James May, in a 1.25 million pound power boat, racing Richard Hammond in a Ferrari Daytona from Portofino to Saint-Tropez. For May, the journey was rough, damaging the in-vehicle camera. Both Hammond and May were pulled over by the police. May won, but Hammond explained that the boat might have been the fastest way to complete the journey, but the car would always be the best method.
• The cover of the Carpenters 'Now and Then' album features Richard Carpenter's red 365 Daytona coupé with Karen Carpenter in the front passenger seat.
• In the Columbo murder mystery "Short Fuse" Roddy McDowall is the owner of a Daytona.