Foamy extinguishing water mixed with soot is the only thing that reminds us of the perilous adventure that Emmenaar Pieter Hooijboer experienced this afternoon. His classic ‘Corvari’ (undercarriage of a Corvette with the body of a Ferrari Daytona Spider) went up in flames. Among car enthusiasts, the car is best known as Sonny Crockett’s car from the popular Miami Vice police series at the time.
The car burned out on Meijerswegje, where Hooijboer had parked in a garage. Ironically, he was just about to sell the car. “A buyer was interested but wanted more photos.”
The car had to go outside for this. Attempts to start the car fail again and again. “Apparently I went on too long, because at one point there was a flame near the carburettor.
Hooijboer had to push the car outside again to prevent a fire in the garage, but the resulting flames quickly spread around him. The fire brigade manages to extinguish the car, but it is as good as lost. “Deadly sin,” he sighs. “The buyer was willing to pay 15,000 euros for it.”
For clarity; this is a replica: “Just say the affordable option of a real Ferrari.” Hooijboer obtained the car ten years ago in a special way. He came into contact with a man from America who offered him for sale. “But it turned out to be a fraudster who had already bought the car three times before.”
It also happened to Hooijboer, who did not let go of the deception. He successfully filed a lawsuit. “I did win, but the car turned out to be a mess. That man had hidden it somewhere.”
Fortunately, Hooijboer was not left empty-handed for long. Two years later, an acquaintance spots the Corvari somewhere in Florida, in a badly neglected state. “The paint was dull, the hood was broken, and so on.” But Hooijboer has the car brought over with the intention of restoring it. He recently retired and the decision was made to sell the car. The sad result is the fire.
Irony again: the Miami Vice counterpart also came to a violent end: “In the series, the car was destroyed by a Stinger missile. But the producers got three Testarossas in return. I got nothing at all.”