During an early 1980s interview, producer Stephen J. Cannell referred to the then-upcoming series by the working title Rolling Thunder.

The show's premise was partly recycled from a previous Stephen J. Cannell series, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, and was created by Patrick Hasburgh and Cannell as executive producers.

The season one theme song 'Drive' was composed by Mike Post and Stephen Geyer and sung by David Morgan; for the first 12 episodes of season two it was replaced by 'Back to Back,' sung by Joey Scarbury, who also sang Post and Geyer's theme for The Greatest American Hero.

Due to public demand, the original 'Drive' theme was reinstated starting with episode 13 of season two and remained through season three.

The Coyote X car driven by McCormick was built from custom molds based on the McLaren M6GT, using a Volkswagen Beetle chassis and a Porsche 914 engine, similar to many kit cars of the era.

For seasons two and three, producers switched to a Coyote based on a DMC DeLorean body powered by a Chevy V8 small block engine because actor Brian Keith had difficulty getting in and out of the original car.

The stunt/skid Coyote car used across all three seasons was later reconfigured for the Knight Rider 2000 television pilot, then turned into Jay Ohrberg's show car 'Taz-Mobile,' before being sold in 2011 and rebodied back into its original Coyote configuration in a private collection.

A season-two/three DeLorean-bodied Coyote car briefly appeared in the sixth episode of season five of the sitcom Married... with Children.