MAGGIORE 308 M
For those like me who lived their adolescence in the 80s, a very lively historical period in terms of lifestyle and innovations, they will never forget certain objects and cars born in those years that contributed massively to making the 80s legendary and unforgettable.
One of these cult cars is the Ferrari 308, which became famous thanks also to one of the most famous TV series of the time: Magnum P.I. aired from 80 to 88.
It is exactly the Ferrari of Robin Masters, the rich and mysterious owner whose car
Magnum "stole" against Higgins’ will.
The TV series was set in Hawaii and the main car was a 308 GTS (Gran Turismo Scoperta), filmed during several exciting chases and raids by the fascinating private detective, former Marines in the Vietnam War.
In reality, the 308 was presented several years before the TV series: in 1975, first in Paris and then in London, with the GTB model (Berlinetta). Later came the GTS. The first examples were made with fiberglass bodywork, except for the doors, and it is this model that inspired the Automobili Maggiore team to create a challenging restomod with an excellent final result.
The original 308 had many parts of the mechanics in common with the previous GT4 and Dino 206/246 models, whose long side air intake was reused and made stylistically speaking a distinctive element of the new 308 project.
The philosophy of Automobili Maggiore is clear and is perfectly in line with the canons of the most modern restomods: to revive the splendor of an iconic model by making it with modern materials and technologies, thus adapting an ancient project to the most modern needs.
The Automobili Maggiore team makes use of carefully selected partners for the construction of all mechanical parts, carbon elements and interiors. The design of the car and the study of all the new style elements was entrusted to the Dutch studio Stefan Scholten. The car was disassembled in all its parts after which the first important intervention was to prepare the chassis to be reinforced and adapted to the new and more important engine performances as well as to make it more suitable for a more modern driving dynamics.
The chassis and the engine block, where the serial numbers are present, are strictly original as it must be to be able to consider it vintage cars and to be able to talk about restomod, otherwise if it were all new it would be nothing more than a new product with a old design.
After having strengthened the chassis and having fitted modern fully adjustable suspensions, the engine has been revised and rebuilt with some special parts that optimize its performance such as new oversized valves, more performing camshafts, modified pistons, sports clutch, the gearbox remains rigorously manual and the engine remains the rear transverse V8 of 3.146 liters but the power rises to 300 hp from the original 255. As for the general aesthetics and the bodywork in particular, the latter was made entirely of carbon with the exception of the doors, for obvious safety reasons but wanting you can also have the latter in carbon with a surcharge.The bodywork was deliberately made of carbon fiber as an obvious reference to the very first series of 308s which were produced in fiberglass before returning to steel sheets.
The design of the front and rear has been revisited making it more modern, for example the characteristic retractable folding headlights have been eliminated in favor of more current LED lights, the engine hood has been equipped with a plexiglass porthole that highlights the V8 engine. The interiors remain faithful to the original as a design but are made entirely with new materials and with a wide range of combinations: the interiors are completely customizable both in the choice of materials, in the colors, and in the combinations. Leathers, fabrics, aluminum, carbon and even marble are used for an original customization.
Marble is used, a brilliant idea of Gianluca Maggiore (manager and owner of Automobili Maggiore), as a reference to the native land where the headquarters is located: Forte dei Marmi. Seaside resort located in Versilia, Tuscany, famous not only for being frequented by the international jet set, having historic residences and villas of important families, but also for the proximity of numerous marble quarries, hence the name of the town, located in the Apuan Alps behind Forte dei Marmi.
The winning intuition, the touch of style was to make the gear knob in marble, who knows if Thomas Magnum would have liked such a solution ... we certainly do.
