How many of you were influenced by Magnum PI when you bought your 308/ 328?

The 308 was the only thing I liked about that show... I only watched parts of a few shows as a kid. I had a red 308, a white countach, Samantha Fox, and Paulina Porizkova posters on my wall... 1 down, 3 to go

 

I had a Phoebe Cates poster on the back of my door

About 4 years ago I walked into a store in NY and she was there - totally took me off guard as you can imagine. My girlfriend immediately looked at me and said, "That's Phoebe Cates! - are you going to be ok?"

Not the same girl that she was back in 83 but it was still a big thrill to meet her finally.

 

Magnum PI didn't influence my 328 purchase. I was influenced by seeing five or six 328s parked side by side in front of the Casino in Monte Carlo three years in a row the night before the F1 race. However, after seeing this I bought several red (and one champagne) 928s.
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Tommy, I grew ip 30 miles outside of Manhattan, on Long Island In Woodbury, NY. There was a repair shop - Lynmor Motors - which as kids we could walk to and see mid 60s Ferraris sitting in the gravel parking lot awaiting service. I Would go to NY Auto show at the NY Colosseum, starting in '66, with my dad for my b-day. Saw, fell in love and lusted for a Ferraris at a young age.

They were not unknown to me and most of my friends, as we were car folks as kids. We loved cars, had mini bikes & go karts which we would keep runing on our own and dreamed of owning a Ferrari one day.

To me Ferrari cheapened the brand with their involvement in a the 2 cheesy shows Miami Vice & Magnum PI. I hated Magnum, still hate Magnum and always will hate Magnum. Same goes with Miami Vice. Now I was not a kid when these shows were on TV and it definitely has something to do with it, but they were cheesy.

For me, Ferrari was something you had to have a interest in european cars to really appreciate and even know these high level sports cars existed and it was cool. They tossed it away with these cheap shows. And reality is both those TV Ferraris helped to mainstream Ferrari.

For me, I have always felt Ferrari was more than something everyone had to know about Like an eames chair, it's fabulous and not everyone needs to know what they are, you have to have an interest. I'm probably just a bit of a snob, well maybe I am a snob.

I no longer think of Ferrari as "The Car" like when I was younger and those 2 cars really led to mass exposure for them as a company, for the worse for me. I'll never own a new Ferrari, as I dont think they are anything close to what they were back in the day. So yep I think they lowered themselves.

 

I grew up watching Magnum PI and found the car to be attractive. When I got a job, an Fcar was still too expensive for my budget so I went with BMW and Porsche instead. Then I saw a red 328 making a left hand turn in front of me, and that was the beginning of the end. A few years later, I bought my first Ferrari. Has not looked back since.

 

You like what you like I guess. I was 12 when Magnum aired and 16 when Miami Vice did. I watched them both then so they were current with the times for me (vs watching them for the first time now). Plus I was a kid looking to see the cars. Fun times for me.

Ferrari was on its back foot back in the late 70's. Think about what was new and on the showroom here - the 308 and the other 308 which had to be rebadged a Ferrari to increase the sales. That was it. The Boxer and 400 were overseas, basically unavailable without some considerable effort.

FAF and its co-founder John Apen (who I bought my 308 from, it was his personal car at the time) had to get creative to keep their head above water. He got in the parts and merchandise business with the dealership and promoted the hell out of that when others weren't. I still have a lot of their old glossy catalogs.

Then Magnum became a hit. Four years later, Miami Vice - and even though the 365 was a fake, it didn't matter. Both shows were hits and Ferrari was on everyone's TV twice a week for the first time in history. I was a major help. Ferrari could have been Lamborghini (financially speaking) had those shows not been on then, who knows.

I guess I was born at the right time to not view it as a "sellout", for lack of a better word. Frankly, I didn't really know what a Ferrari was until Magnum but that is mostly due to my age then. By the time Miami Vice rolled around I was hooked for life.

 

here in Europe we did know Samantha Fox too in the eighties beautifull creature