Magnum's Ferrari

A Ferrari 308 that actor Tom Selleck drove in the 1980s' television series Magnum PI is being auctioned on ebay. So is Kit, the talking car from Knight Rider. Kit is expected to fetch between $60,000-$90,000 and the Ferrari upwards of $100,000. Magnum PI was filmed in Hawaii. It first screened in December 1980 and ended in May 1988 after 162 episodes. The show's original Ferrari 308 was a 1979 GTS. Actor Larry Manetti, Orville "Rick" Wright in the series, bought the GTS when it was replaced by the 308 GTS Quattrovalvole. Two Ferraris were used in the series - one for close-ups and the other for action scenes. Both had the driver's seat modified to accommodate Selleck's 1.9m frame.

MORE MUSCLE FOR MONARO

General Motors says it won't abandon its reborn Pontiac GTO badge, despite slow sales in the United States of the Holden Monaro-based two-door. GM executive Bob Lutz said the GTO was not a sales flop but conceded that "maybe, in retrospect, we should have done a more retro [looking] car." The buzz around GM is that the next-generation GTO will be more aggressively styled, with power bulges befitting the original muscle car.

BRITAIN'S 4WD BOOM

Sales of four-wheel-drives in Britain are up 17 per cent this year. The biggest sales boom is in cities - nearly one in two new car buyers in London are choosing a four-wheel-drive. City-slickers say the vehicles are functional and practical. But their choice appears to have more to do with street cred and style than cost, at least when it comes to insurance. Broker Allen and Allen says the best-selling off-roaders in London are those in a higher insurance category, like the Land Rover Freelander and Discovery and BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz M-Class. These vehicles are also the most popular with thieves, who can find ready markets for them in the Middle East and Africa.

WE ARE THE WORLD

From the doomed before they start file: Arkansas police arrested James Newsome, 37, and charged him with the armed robbery of a store. Newsome was identified from the store's surveillance tape. The coat worn by the robber was found in Newsome's car. His wife said the family car had a radiator leak, and a puddle of antifreeze was found where the robber parked. He also wore a hard hat with "James Newsome" on the front.