I know this is venturing into heresy, but I just thought it would be fun food for thought. There are lots of 308 to GTO conversions out there, some good, some not. Has anyone ever made a 308 to F40 conversion? I think the F40 is the best looking "super" Ferrari, and one that I will likely never be able to afford. There must be others like me out there that love the F40. Why hasn't someone made an F40 body kit for a 308? Not sure I would buy one, but then again, you never know. Take a 308 with accident damage to the panels, add one of these newly developed supercharger kits and an F40 body kit and you would have a low budget F40 clone that goes like stink and you can afford to drive and insure. Could be fun! <ducking to avoid flames> Birdman
There's at least 1 kit out there to convert a 3x8 into a 288 Evoluzione. I have no idea if it's any good. See http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84080&highlight=Evoluzione+replica
The F40 is essentially a 308 on steroids. Is the steel frame the same in both cars. The dash on the F40 looks like a very cheap 308 dash the windshield & cockpit shape are the same, so it probably wouldn be super expensive to make an Fglass F40 kit for the 308
And this comes from an F40 owner! That's what I was thinking...the GTO evolved from the 308, and the F40 evolved from the GTO, so it's not a terrible stretch to make an F40 clone from a 308. I would never consider one made from a Pontiac, but from a 308 at least it's a real Ferrari. Birdman
An F40 with a back seat....they definitely wouldn't believe you if you said it was a real Ferrari! Birdman
That kit would be interesting, I saw a 288Evoluzione kit at ferrari of atlanta which looked good, I believe it is the owners. It has all the makings of the real car, wouldn't mind trying one myself
I know there is a F40 body kit for the Fiero, that might be easy to adopt for the 308. http://toronto.craigslist.org/pts/456781796.html
I been saying this for years. Look at the center section of an F-40 compared to a 308. Its vitually identical. It would be rather expensive to pull it off, though not anywhere near the cost of the real deal.
Funny enough I was only wondering this yesterday when I was looking at this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1991-Ferrari-F40-Bodywork-RARE-Genuine_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6763QQihZ017QQitemZ270179305405QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW
The reason for the 308 to 288 GTO clones is fairly simple: The window glass, windshield, rear window, headlights & mechanisms, taillights and a host of small parts is the same as a 308. Many of the 288 body kits don't bother with the 4" wheelbase strech, and bolt onto an unmodified 308 frame, a dubious practice at best. Unfortunately, to do it right, there are virtually no carryover parts from a 308/328 to an F40. I'm assuming you'd want the transverse motor, because it would be a damn sad clone to see a "normal" 308 motor under that expanse of Plexiglas in the back. The block casting is virtually identical to that of a 328, but the bore and stroke are different... not something that would show in a clone, however. If you really attempted to mimic the cosmetic look in the engine bay, you'd spend $60,000 easily, and a ton of "love" hours (that's $0.00 labor). The chassis mods would be extraordinarily extensive, but possible. In the end, I'm not sure I'd trust my life to the post-modified version though. I'd say in the end, you'd spend $100-$150K to get the car right, hundreds or even thousands of hours, and end up with a car thats worth half that. Or, you could really leverage the same $100K as a down payment, and buy a car that's currently appreciating, and looks like it will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. Hmm, my finance degree says, "only if you really, really, really, really, really want the project..."
