Magnum's First Ferrari Revisited - Interesting

I know this chassis number thing with Magnum has been beat to death here but I noticed a couple of things for the first time in 35 years ( I was sitting in front of the TV when the pilot aired and never missed a show in 8 years start to finish). Interesting stuff to me:

Two chassis numbers for the carbed cars have been circulating forever 28251 and 29109. Despite my best efforts I cannot seem to get most folks to count a third - 28525 based on photos I took at a car show I was at back in the mid 80's. Please see post # 70 here:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/322953-vintage-pictures-i-took-308s-1981-1997-a-2.html

I suppose it could all be a big fake letter and all but we will never know. The little sticker on the bumper (more on that in a moment) looks a lot like what Hawaii used back in the day. The little design to the right is the same as on the cars from the show. Someone reading this that lived in Hawaii back then may be helpful here.

We also know that P.J. O'Rourke drove one of the cars across country from New Jersey (and right past my house) delivering it for the shoot. Now I have always assumed that the pilot used just that one 308. No reason other than my guessing they were trying to pitch a show to a network, maybe keep the costs down, etc, etc. No reason to have several at that point in production - especially when we consider that 308's had to be a pretty rare bird back then. Still, just me guessing. I figured the other car came along later, maybe late in the first season but certainly by the second.

Well, for the first time in my life, I think they used not one but three cars in that pilot which may finally account for not just the two popular chassis numbers but also finally giving my plea for that third car reasonable validation.

Take a look at these pictures (sorry for the resolution) The car speeding out of the estate moments after Magnum picked the lock and figured out the alarm code is NOT the car he pulls over by the side of the road for a moment and eventually peels away in. Look carefully at the bumper. There is a sticker on the top of it while he is still on the grounds. Once outside (third picture), the top sticker is gone and there is a different one on the edge of the bumper. I have no idea why I never noticed that before.
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Now here is my favorite part of this discovery. In the scene when Magnum is being followed by the bad guys just before entering the tunnel - check out the tag, it isn't 56E-478.

A third car?
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Unfortunately the far right of the bumper is never shown so we can't know if this is just one of the other two cars that someone forgot to swap tags out on before the scene. I guess we will never know

 

Here is a better shot of one of the two stickers - the one on the car in the opening scenes.
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Happens a lot.

These are the ones generally agreed were used on the show for sure.

28251
29109
34567
38527
45579
45607
51941
57685


Please add my 28525 to the list too

 

Here is the car at the Naval Base. Same car used in the opening credits, but not the one he "stole" from the estate.
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I actually remember seeing that shot on previews for the show and wondering if it was a Lamborghini or something before I watched it

 

They used a 328 once for an interior shot only

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/308-328/384957-they-did-use-328-magnum-check-out.html

 

Isn't that what these are?

 

There is a number on the one that is on top of the bumper. The one on the side looks like the sticker was torn on half. That little emblem looks similar to the one on the bigger sticker with the number.

 

Nope.

Drives me crazy too.

 

The carbed cars were used during the first two seasons. It wasn't until the third season that we saw the first 2Vi cars. There is some VIN and manufacture overlap early in the model changes at Ferrari but a rule of thumb for an 80 model are the vertical clock and oil temp gauges. They showed the inside of those cars a lot and never were the gauges vertical.

When they began shooting the third season (82-83) in 82, I am sure they would have brought in the newest model and that would have been 81 at the very latest at that time.

 

He used an 83 model for one season.

Problem is we can't tell a visual difference between the 84 and the 85 model on TV. You have to get a really good look on the inside to tell.

Based on the chassis numbers 28251, 28525 and 29109 are all 79 models. 34567 is an 81, 38527 is an 82, 45579 and 45607 are both 83 models, 51941 is an 84 and 57685 is an 85.