A Bit More Trivia About Magnum's First 308(s) Season One

As an addition to my thread here about the 308's used in the pilot/first season of Magnum:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/490589-magnums-first-ferrari-revisited-interesting.html

I got really lucky yesterday and was able to talk to Erin Gray about the episode she was in back in 81. Not really much to add but for everyone here that enjoys unimportant Magnum PI 308 trivia:

She told me that there was only two cars on the set We know there were at least two used in the pilot based on the inspection sticker on the rear bumper. That much is certain. Three cars are a possibility, I suppose, because of that brief moment seeing the car with a different plate other than 56E478 (see the link above). Of course, that could simply be because the tag wasn't switched before shooting the scene. A blooper. However, it does create the possibility that three cars were on the set from day one. We probably will never know.

But she remembers only two of them when she was there 16 episodes later from the beginning and it is likely she is remembering correctly because she's actually car person and loved the Ferrari. She told me about a time when she was 17 and had a little speeding issue with the cops while "racing" to school in her Mustang. Also, she had recently been given a gift for a day or so with Club Sportiva down in LA and spent some time driving several different exotics. She was as enthusiastic as I would have been telling someone about it. Man, she really like cars, I'll say that. Getting behind the wheel of a Ferrari was a big deal to her back then. It's cool knowing she like it so much.

She said she did all the driving in the episode too. There was no trailer towing the car which they did with Selleck for many scenes throughout the run of the series. She said they had a camera rigged on the front of the car.

She clearly remembered that the scene where she pulled into the estate (this picture) gave her some trouble. Evidently, that was shot first and she told me she wasn't used to the car - heavy clutch, trying to remember the lines, that sort of thing. That had to be shot a couple of times. I guess they just had her pull in and leave it at that since she wasn't speaking in that scene.

Last Friday I got an idea and popped in the DVD, took a couple of pictures of her and the 308, printed them out and brought them with me. Instead of the stack of Buck Rogers stills, etc. she has to sign, I thought I would see if she would sign a Magnum one instead. I had 4 or 5 and she picked the one she signed for me.

I watched that episode when I was in 7th grade when it first aired. It has always been one of my favorites (not just because of the 2 Ferraris thing but because I had a huge crush on her when I was 11 from her Buck Rogers days) and it was just a big bunch of fun to watch her thumb through those pictures and tell me about doing that episode. She was just super nice lady, took the time to tell me car stories for maybe 10 minutes.

So, anyway, the evidence suggests two cars on set, not three during that first season based on witness testimony . Let's just file this away with the rest meaningless Magnum PI 308 mystery trivia.
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Yeah

He was a 928 guy. He LOVED those, and ironically it was almost the car to be used on the show.

 

Erin and I this past Sunday.

When you really really need a picture, why is it the person you are with always has to be the one that just cannot seem to be able to operate a camera phone??

Is there some software out there that can clean this up?
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I'll post a link shortly by a guy that was a set designer on the show for many years and he said this about the trailer.

Obviously it wasn't all the time but for the scenes where the camera was on him through the windshield, I guess it was easier for him to hang on to the steering wheel, say his lines and not worry about trying to actually drive. Who knows.

 

Here it is:

Magnum P.I. Set Decorator

Scroll down this page until you get to the picture of the Ferrari and he mentions the tow thing there.

"... This was the "driving " Ferrari. They also had a "tow" Ferrari which they used behind a camera truck for when you saw Tom inside the car "driving"--which he wasn't. Again, cutting back and forth between actual driving shots and sitting behind the wheel shots, it looks pretty good."