The market effect of Magnum P.I.

Well, I'm 40. I had the poster on the wall and everything -- but my FIRST exposure to the car was in Vacation and Magnum PI. I doubt I'd be interested in them if it weren't for that influence.

Of course, it helps that the car is gorgeous and holds its own stylistically. Thank goodness they didn't use a GT4 or Mondial!

 

Yeah, thank goodness it wasn't an MGB!

Not sure I buy your story either, though. How come your pride n joy isn't red then? Aha!

 

Shhh! It is red, it's just REALLY dirty!

 

There is no way to know what effect it wouldnt have had had it never been aired. Its only speculation. But I wanted a 308 long before Magnum pi, and over the years I wish the show had never been on. I liked the show at the time, I still watch reruns, but having the car continuously refered to as the Magnum car etc., etc., has not really helped my enjoyment of it that much, IMHO. Maybe back in the day it could have helped production, no one can know, its just as possible the buyers could have cared less. Toss a coin.

 

Magnum is what did it for me. I watched the show when I was very young and loved the car. From then on that was my dream car. 308s are still my favorite cars of all time.

 

Slueth TV - re-runs of both everyday

 

Initially the show helped sales and made Ferrari a household name.

I think alot of 30 and 40 somethings link the car to the show and think of the car as a novelty. Those with the novelty idea wouldn't pay alot for a 308 as the connection to the show is seen as cheesy.

As time passes the beauty of the 308 will continue and be appreciated by the younger guns without the Magnum connections.

Sitting at the drive thru the other day and two guys on bikes stroll by and one of 'em says "whoa look at that car". The other guy say's "yeah that's Magnum's car". First guy didn't know what Magnum was and asked what he was talking about. Point is the guy who didn't know about Magnum was impressed with the car despite never seeing or hearing about Magnum P.I.

Young boys from 5 on up will point and yell out FERRARI!!!

 

I get compliment all the time from today's High School students whenever I pick up my nephew from his HS.

 

It had such an effect that I get comments like "Oh, that's the Magnum P.I. car" all the time. Too bad I drive a Testarossa.

I think that because they referenced "the Ferrari" on so many occasions during the series it had a much greater impact than Miami Vice had for the TR.

 

my first exposure was a magazine article(Car & Driver) in which a writer(P.J ORoark)sp? got to take one(deliver?)cross country or thereabouts and during the trip a switch to turn off the fuel pumps(under the drivers seat) was constantly giving him fits.

then after that read i saw a real one(prugna, no less) in my home state on a vacation trip(it was on I-79, but i dont remember what plates were on the car,maybe New York?) and when i got home i dug out that Car & Driver to verify what i thought i had seen(i drove along with that prugna 308 on the interstate for a good bit, in my little 71 celica)

this was all during '78/'79


oh , the memories!!!

sometime later in life there was a dino in pieces in a hemmings ad for 10,000.....i called but the car had been sold already :-(

 

That conflict sub-plot that ran around the car all the time did play to Ferrari's image.
Was it the valuable asset that should be locked up cleaned and cared for, as Higgins saw it, or the wild free sportscar that should be driven like you stole it as the Sellek character proved it to the audiences' great satisfaction every night?

Agree with Birdman though it'd be OK if no-one ever yelled "hey magnum" at you.

Also think many of you forgot where your mum learnt Ferraris are cool when Elvis' 250 SWB had her pulse racing ten to 15 years earlier guys.

 

LOL You may have been driving a Mondial today. It might have lasted well into the into the 355 and 360 era with additional positive and helpful improvements/developments.

I think what Magnum did was convince North American society to see how a Ferrari could fit into everyday life and that it wasn't just iconoclasts and self mechanics that drove them. I don't find Magnum reruns cheesy. They are afterall twenty to twenty-five years in the past.

 

Well, why not use a 911SC Targa? Remember "against all odds" - the targa racing the 308?

Anyway, I don't see how Porsche can control whether a TV producer modifies one of their cars - or uses one in a TV series or a movie.

 

I'm also doubting every word of the story in post #18.

 

It sure doesn't sound like the Enzo Ferrari I always read about - you know: the guy who sent none other than F. Lamborghini packing for complaining about his car.

 

Magnum PI was the hook for me. Of course, National Lampoons and a certain blond helped "solidify" the deal, ah hem, as a teenager.

I have the first episode permanently stored on my TIVO. "Don't eat the snow in Hawaii"

 

Yep.

1st question would be, why land at an Military Base?

2nd, how would you even get clearance for that esp when the civilian airport is WAY WAY WAY easer to get in and out of.

So....
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This story needs a total re-write before it could even qualify as an "urban legend".

 

Maybe Jacques has additional tidbits from the set.

 

if it hadn't been for emma peel or the prisoner i don't think i would have ever owned a lotus...anyone out there old enough to have watched 77 sunset strip would know where a whole generation of hotrodders came from. never underestimate the power of the tube....

 

They intentionally introduced the last DBS to the world in Casino Royale.

 

i wonder if the whole magnum thing is what lead to the red / tan / GTS "standard" for the cars.

i say no to red, i seek out the GTB versions, and prefer euro cars !

just say no to red 308's !


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Dear Ferraristi,

Magnum PI was absolutely instrumental for introducing me to Ferrari. When I was about 15, Magnum was already out of prime time but on after school on A & E network. As a young kid flipping channels, the opening credits with the 308 ripping the streets and the accompanying music really made a splash with me.

Even today, though I drive a Testarossa ( big Miami Vice fan ) and Lamborghini Diablo VT Roadster (no TV appearances ) , I still have such fondness and love for the 308. The 308 was the car I grew up with. When I finally bought one, it was the most exciting day of my life. Even buying the TR and even the Lamborghini ( 10 times more expensive ) did not have the level of "over-excitement" as finally being able to buy a FERRARI....my first REAL exotic!

Today, I mainly drive my Lamborghini, but just can't part with my TR ( wouldn't buy another F car if I sold it ) It's just happy memories of growing up in exciting times (greed is good 80's )

....kinda like the smile you get on your face when you remember the first girl you had sex with.


Shamile

Freeze...Miami Vice !

 

Honolulu International Airport and Hickham Air Force Base share runways, so one could sort of use them interchangeably. the rest of the story is utter BS.

 

You can't forget Wyatt's red Mondial Cabriolet in Weird Science. Some nice sounds, some nice driving shots....