Miami Vice Scarabs

Maili Mike · 09-12-2003, 06:44 AM

I purchased a 89 38kv here in Hawaii about six months ago. After reading posts on this site and looking at the pictures, it is just like the one in Germany except for the Miami Vice logo. It has the same interior and deck stripes, where "free's" boat has a different deck and arch stripes. Is the boat rare enough that I should keep it all original? It could use paint (has scratches) and a little interior work. How fast will it go with the 2 380hp engines and TRS drives? Any info would help.
Thanks, Mike.

29scarab · 09-12-2003, 09:46 AM

Theres been quite a few post in the past about this boat. I'm sure you'll get a lot of input on this. Glad to see we have friends in the islands!! Whats the weather like over there??

Good luck on your boat!

09-12-2003, 08:24 PM

Hello, One of the Last Scarab
Boats I built while I worked
at Team Scarab was a 29ft with
twin Outboards.
I built it for for a man in
Honolulu and the boat is named
"A-Hui-Hou" its blue/yellow.
Can you send me a photo of the
boat and perhaps info about
who owned it and I might be
able to help you.
I was also involved with the
Scarabs and Scaribs used on
BayWatch both on the mainland
and in Hawaii.
Mike J.

Maili Mike · 09-15-2003, 01:58 AM

Is there a collector value to the boat? Would I hurt the value by painting the deck a different color or changing the interior?

Mike.

09-15-2003, 08:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Maili Mike
I purchased a 89 38kv here in Hawaii about six months ago. After reading posts on this site and looking at the pictures, it is just like the one in Germany except for the Miami Vice logo. It has the same interior and deck stripes, where "free's" boat has a different deck and arch stripes.

I looked back in my old 80's catalogs and found 2 MV editions. One had a padded sunpad, the other had engine scoops. The arch stripes were different also. One had a horozontil rainbow and the other had almost vertical stripes.

09-15-2003, 04:32 PM

Mike, Yes there is a Collector
Value for a Miami Vice Boat.
I lived in hawaii for a few
years and I don't remember seeing a Miami Vice boat over
there.
I would say to first make sure
it is a Vice Boat and not a
stock boat painted and a arch
added.
Mike J.

Maili Mike · 09-16-2003, 04:35 AM

How do I tell if its genuine or not?
MikeJ, How do I send you pictures?
I first saw the boat about 5 years ago. It was parked at a friends house for storage. Two years ago it was used as a tour boat at Hawaii Kai. They left it in the water and made a mess of it. It is a documented vessel, named "Nice Vice". I paid $25000. Is that a good deal or not? Thanks for the info so far.
Mike.

09-16-2003, 07:58 AM

Maili Mike, The 29ft Scarab
"A Hui Hou" is in the Hawaii
Kai area also.
I will be back on sunday and
will send you my shop Email
to send the photos to.
The Vice boats are a little
different in the deck area.
Mike J.

09-18-2003, 08:38 PM

I didn't know scarab made a special edition miami vice scarab. Thats cool. Alot of people get the two boats used on the show confused. The one shown on the credits in the begining of the show is a 39 Chriscraft Stinger. don Johnson on certain episodes actually used his own boat which was a scarab 38KV, It had a cool paint job that i never saw before, sorta purple fading into pink or the other way around. I would like to see it again its been quit some time since I saw it. I called Wellcraft about boats they built and they don't keep records of the boats they build. So I guess if somebody wants a certain scarab badly enough they will pay for it. It only worth what the person that wants it will pay for it.

09-20-2003, 05:54 PM

Maili Mike, The story of the
Miami Vice boat is the producer of the show went to
Wellcraft and did not like the
deck on the sample boat and
had a photo of the Betty Cook
KAAMA boat and said that was
the deck he wanted, Flat deck
with a fiberglass wind screen
not the plxiGlass one.
So see if you can find a good
photo of Betty Cooks Boat.
The best I can tell there were
100 Miami Vice boats built not
counting the ones for the Show
Same thing happened with the
26ft Scarab F1 Boats a few
years ago, The top deck is a
old deck made for a boat called the Corvette and the
mold was found in a field in
mid florida that everyone thought had been junked.
I think theres a photo of Betty Cooks Boat on a thread
about OLD TIME offshore racing
running now.
I will EMail you a place to
send me your photos.
Mike J.