I think so many people back in the ‘70s and ‘80s, when they were growing up were watching Magnum PI. It was just that time. It was the 80s. It was that lifestyle--the 308 was just at the center of that for me. And then I forgot about it. I got involved in aviation, went and flew old warbirds and stuff like that. Then I started thinking about the 308 again and this one popped up. I noticed that it was manufactured in March of 1985, which just happened to be the same month as my 16th birthday. I thought that was pretty cool.
It's not my dream car, but it fulfills a dream I had when I was 16 years old.
Fast forward a couple of weeks, I'm still looking at close up pictures of it, still thought it was a cool car. Then it was my 50th birthday and I was sitting at my desk. I had gone to work that morning with no idea that I was going to buy the car. Then I thought, “You know what, I might as well just buy this car”. So I picked up the phone and I talked to Adam Merlin of Merlin Auto Group in Atlanta, Georgia. On a whim, I just committed to buying the car over the phone. Then I walked downstairs into a surprise party for my 50th birthday. I just thought It was a normal birthday, then all of a sudden, I'm shaking hands and talking to people, and inside I'm going, “I just bought a Ferrari”. It's not my dream car, but it fulfills a dream I had when I was 16 years old. I like to say that I bought this because I wanted this, not because I couldn't get that. The dream car is something very historic, like an original 289 Cobra racecar from Targa Florio or something that Dan Gurney drove.
If I could have just about any car, I wouldn't pick a car based on resale value, I’d pick a car based on what it is. Some cars are worth more than others. This 308, they're not that expensive, but I bought it because I like it, that's what I go by. My favorite cars have a story, a place in history. To me, it's the story that matters.