The market effect of Magnum P.I.

Maybe, but you are not going to pull anything in to the military's tarmac space with out serious permission.

 

This is what I found about that car:

Famed journalist and writer P.J. O'Rourke wrote an essay about the same exact 1979 308 GTS that was used in the "Pilot Movie" (and all of Season One). It's called Ferrari Refutes the Decline of The West, and it appeared in his book Republican Party Reptile (1989). In 1979, Ferrari asked him (and his boss at Car & Driver magazine) to drive the car from New York to L.A (as part of the process to get the car to Hawaii) and write an essay about it. The result was a fantastic road trip story at 140 mph!

 

Seems that Ferrari understood the value of marketing to a huge audience in out of the box ways.

 

Of course Ian Fleming had an Aston in the original novel "Goldfinger" way before any movie was made. However, it was a carpool car -Bond himself always owned a Bentley in the novels. The book says Bond had his choice of the Aston or a Jaguar 3.8S.

In this case, I think A-M was more than a little hot around the collar after the two film episodes featuring the BMWs.

BTW, did you notice that yesterday in the movie Spinout where the girl crashes the 275GTS into the river, they wisely substituted a red TR4 in the semi-underwater shot?

 

Well-played card.
Doubt Jacques will be posting....

 

Well, according to the gods of Wiki:

Anyone can track down the history of the 28251?

 

I was under the impression that the sales of 308's in late 70's early 80's provided a very large influx of cash for Ferrari and likely laid the groundwork (financially) for Ferrari of today. I think that Magnum was a direct cause. I am not saying Fcars weren't already known - just that Magnum increased the public knowledge/desire/market demand for the car.
mbrown

 

It's called good marketing.

 

308's were out before a few years before Magnum, plus Magnum was not in Europe. 308's were a big hit from the getgo amongst car nuts. Magnum did give them a lot of exposure in the US. From a business standpoint, the 308 may have been the most important car Ferrari ever produced. Ferrari was in trouble in the early to mid 70's. The Dino and Daytona were gone. The GT4 was not well received. The boxer couldn't be sold in the US directly. Ferrari needed a hit real bad and the 308 knocked it out of the park. It would have been a real struggle if the 308 had not succeeded in a big way.
Dave

 

+1

Don't forget that there were two energy crises in the 1970s. Old timers will recall reading stories about Daytonas sitting forever at dealers. Supposedly, one could still buy a 'new' Daytona 2-3 yrs after they went out of production.

In particular, the first gas crunch in 1973/1974 just about creamed the sports car & blvd. boat market.
I remember VW bug commercials for a new bug at $1995 right before the crunch. Then, these babies were all of a suddent $3000 or $4000. Pretty substantial increases in 1974 dollars.

Then there are the stories about 308GT4 cars being warehoused by Ferrari cuz none of 'em were selling.

SO, the 308GTB/GTS really did save Ferrari's bacon, as that was IT in the U.S. for several years. And, back then, the U.S. was by far the big dawg for Ferrari; much more so than today.

 

There seems to be some holes to this stories validity, perhaps you can clear them up. The main problem is landing on a military base is absolutely not allowed except during emergencies. Even then you may be denied. But....

Why would they need two racing trailers, and why two jumbo jets? Why not just deliver a well prepared car by transport? And...

A racing crew? Dont those guys work on F1 cars? No racing team is going to put a crew onto a road car for something they arent even trained for.

There used to be a link in one of the FCA chapters, NW IIRC, that listed all the Magnum cars by serial #.

Butch Hooper told me alot about them, specifically how Tom couldnt fit in them as there just wasnt any leg room. The cars drivers seat was dropped and moved back to allow him more room. It was accomplished by cutting the fiberglass floor out, lowering and moving back the seat mounts, and refabricating the fiberglass back in. As it was I still dont think he could drive with the roof on.

 

There was one episode where it was raining and he looked like they wedged him into the car. It was a stand still scene. If he had to drive it, I don't think he could have.

 

I'm (only) 6-1, and the first time I tried to sit in a GTS I bummed. I did not think I would ever be able to drive the car I dreamed of for so long. On top of that I have wide feet, EEEE 11's, its like having flippers for shoes. There is not a lot of foot room down there for big feet, and tennis shoes just make it worse. Butch calmed me down as did others, It was suggested I try sitting different and try different shoes or go bare footed. On my next attempt when my friend offered to let me drive, I drove in my socks. By then I worked trying to get the seat back a bit more, I angled it back as far as possible, and drove in the typical Gorilla position.

My GTB seat was not sliding well, and when I removed it to work on the tracks I found them all full of dirt and carpet fuzz, and rusty. Some clean up had them 20 times smoother, and on reinstall, the seat slid back all the way, so far I couldnt push the clutch or gas pedal all the way down, I actually had to pull it up a couple notches. I will always wonder if my friends GTS also had gummed up rusty seat tracks. But that targa top is so thick it does scrunch you for head room. I cant imagine being 5 inches taller and trying to drive the car.

 

I think I read that Tom Selleck told many he liked the fit of the Mondial better. A cabrio would have gone well in Hawaii.

 

I am just over 6'1" and a big boy. I drove a mates 308 GTS last year! It was a MISSION getting behind the wheel let me tell you!

I wear size US 14 Nikes and I had to remove them so I could drive the bloody thing! My head was also just sticking out the top of the car. My eyes were nearly level with the top of the windscreen.

I am assuming there is more room in a GTB because the seat goes back further because no top is stored behind the seats?
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we have 4 308s and a 328 in our shop right now...at least once a week people will remark about falling in love with ferraris because they watched MAGNUM PI...heck even i liked watching him dump the clutch in the grass and slide it onto the pavement...it wasnt until i actually drove one that i discovered the power band sucked so bad the only way to really spin the wheels at launch was to start on grass!!only thing more fun back in the late 80's was teasing my neighbor Steve who had a 308 !he was a fireman with the same frame as Sellecks,wore the baseball cap the whole deal except no mustache!! and after he told me his co-workers called him Magnum so did we!!everytime we sawe him we'd scream MAGNUM!!
he got so fed up with it he bought a Daytona coupe!so we just started callin him Sonny Crocker!! TRUE STORY!!

 

Haha!

 

I think the floor is different between them. Seriously. There is so much more room in my GTB it doesnt even seem like its the same car. I remember riding in the GTS I always felt that a hard stop would shave my skull on the windshield frame. I wonder if they dont shorten the seat track so it wont mash the seat into the targa top.

 

Cool, thanks mate.

 

I have never seen an episode of Magnum. Or Miami Vice. Not interested in either.

 

+100 here.
Magnum defined 'cool' for me as a 14 year old. I have wanted a Ferrari ever since. I have had pictures of Ferrari's on my walls since then. It really started my obsession with them. I can count about 10-15 people off the top of my head all about ages 35-45 that have bought Ferrari's in the last 2-3 years because they watched Magnum. Heck, one of them even has ROBIN I as his 328's license plate!

Last year, when I really started to be serious about buying one, I almost bought a 308, but just couldn't stand the thought of a Soccer Mom in a Mazada Mini van blowing my doors off at stop lights...so I got a 360 instead.
But, one day I'll get a 308 just because I think it's still such a beautiful work of art.

Hunter

 

I'm 6'3", size 13 shoes, and I fit fine in my GTB, with an inch of headroom to spare..

I can confirm that the GTSs I've tried on have been much tighter in the headroom dept. The curved thinner roof of the GTB allows taller people more room apparently.

I removed the rubber pedal covers and put aluminum covers on them, plus gas and dead pedal. These allow more space between pedals.

The first Ferrari I ever saw was actually a 246 Dino, parked near the ferry in Sausalito, CA. I must have been 15 years old or so. Love at first sight, even though I really didn't know what it was! When I saw the 308 on Magnum, I became aware of the Ferrari brand. The show definitely ignited my passion for this beautiful car. It became a prime objective to someday own one. Never thought I'd end up with a GTB; I always wanted the red/tan GTS. The GTB fit me so much better it was a no brainer, not to mention the stiffer body. My 77 GTB makes decent power, enough to put a grin on my face!

 

1978 and i'm 10 years old driving home from basketball practice with a car full of boys:

One of the kids say's "do you like 302 engines or 350 engines"?.

I say "i like 308 engines".

Other kid says "what?, You don't do engines like that"

I said "I do"

The boy's father knew what i was talking about and told the kid he'd explain later..seemed to think it was a snobby answer of some sort. I'd seen the car a year or so earlier on a magazine and just remember seeing the numbers 308 and was sold for life at that point.

29 years later and I made good on my dream. Magnum had nothing to do with it.

 

"1978 and i'm 10 years old driving home from basketball practice with a car full of boys:"

Heck, I'm just impressed that you were behind the wheel at age 10... ah, the 70s... truly a different time...

 

Good one.

I Was a passenger at the time..lol.