On an 82 gtsi, did the factory speedo only go up to 80mph?? I see that most cars I see have 180mph speedos........ Thanks-
This is one of my favorite 308 mysteries I have been paying attention to this since they were new and there is such a mix that I have given up trying to figure it out. I have pictures of an 80 and two 81 models that I took in 1983. They had the 85's. Same year in Aug I took pictures of an 82 model that had the 180. I sat in an 82 model in June 82 that had the 180. I have pictures of that speedo too. Since then I always look when I see a 308 anywhere even ebay. I'll scroll down just to catch a glimpse of the speedo to see whats in it. It is about 75% 180 and 25% 85 now. At least from what I have seen. So anyway, you car is correct with the 85 for sure, one way or another...
"I would love to do it" I don't think its that difficult - either get an old one off Ebay (they come up occasionally) or aren't there previous threads about Palo Alto refurbishing them to 180 ? In fact practically the first thread when I searched was about how easy & cheap it apparently is http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2938&highlight=palo+alto+308
My 81 came with an 85 (removed and packed away) and will soon have a 85 re-faced to 180 in its place. Had an "extra" speedo laying around so........ what the hay?
Hmmmmmmmmm....It almost sounds as though Most were probably upgraded as opposed to replaced. I heard that the odos are easy to set back, but I would imagine that they would leave the reading intact as per milage. The reason I'm inquiring.... I recently bought an 82 and it has the 180 speedo. I didn't buy it as a collectable, I wanted a good looking 308 that I could enjoy for a while without the stress of parking it anywhere. I've owned too many cars that too nice to drive and realized that staring at them got old real fast! Any way, there's a pretty silver 82 on ebay and the owner is claiming that milage is original. It has the 180 mph speedo!??!??!!
No expert so take what I say with a (BIG) grain of salt. I seriously doubt it is the original speedo IF the car is a US spec car. I seem to recall that all US cars and imports, within a time frame of the early 80's, HAD to be equipped with an 80MPH speedo. The law was repealed after a couple of years. Mine is a NA version 308 and it still came with an 80MPH unit, but I do not think Canada had that US BS requirement during the early 80's where all speedos could only read up to 80 MPH. Someone more knowledgeable PLEASE chime in.
I'm going to lay claim to being our resident Mercedes-Benz (classic) expert here and concerning speedometer changes made back then the 1982 M/Y MBs (except the 240D..for good reason) all made the change from the previous 85mph speedos to 120/160mph speedos respectively. My '82 308 has a 180mph speedo and I have no reason to question it seeing as how my car has high miles
I own an 1982 GTSi, #40969. Last Saturday, June 28th was the 21st anniversary that I've been the caretaker of the car. I have never changed the speedo. The car has always had an 180mph speedo as far as I know. The car was originally sold in Southern California.
I did a ride and dive with the FOC about 15 years ago in Southern Cal and did touch 120mph. I guess you'd still be doing 85mph. I don't know the reasoning for the two speedos but all I know is mine came with the 180.
It was a law (NHTSA Part 571 Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, Subpart B, Standard #127: Speedometers and Odometers which is also sometimes referred to as 49 CFR 571.127). It required that all cars have speedometers with a maximum of 85MPH and that 55MPH be larger/highlighted. As is typical, there was a long lead time in the law in order to give the Manufacturers time to implement the change one reference said it was passed in 1976 but became effective in either Sept 1, 1979 or Sept 1, 1980 (I have seen different references) the Sept 1, 1980 reference is on the NHTSA site. Ferraris solution was to take their standard speedometer (and faceplate), and put a pin in to stop the indicator once it reached 85; the last number printed was 80 but the needle was stopped by the pin shortly thereafter at 85. Ferrari then marked the faceplate red past 85MPH, where the higher numbers would otherwise be listed. One source indicated that the rule was officially revoked effective March 25, 1982. The larger manufactures took a bit of time to revise their speedometers, but Ferrari was much quicker to make the change. I thought that Ferrari kept the 85MPH through the 1982 model year and switched to the higher speedometer in conjunction with the introduction of the QV in MY1983, but it is possible that they put some of the newer speedometers into the late production MY1982 cars. My 308GTSi is #39789. It was produced in Nov 1981 and has an original 85MPH speedometer. It has been over 25 years, and we all know to never use the term always to refer to Ferrari production practices, so any additional insight would be welcomed.
This is my first post on ferrarichat after lurking for several years. Very impressive collection of enthusiasts and a fantastic database of information for this first time Ferrari owner. My '82GTSi has the 180 mph speedo with 54K documented miles showing on the odometer. I have been told this 180 speedo may have been a dealer installed option to skirt the 80 mph speedo law the manufacturers were compelled to comply with. The rules for dealers might have been different than the manufacturers. Last week a (new in package) 180 mph speedo sold on ebay for about $450. No doubt this was purchased by a Ferrari owner with a 80 mph speedo which seem to be on half of the 308's I have seen up for sale. Incidentally, I upgraded my 308's speedo and tach lighting with brighter bulbs last week and was fairly surprised at how easy it is to get the guage pod from the dash. The simplicity of this job would make it fairly for a 308 owner to change over speedos and also (unfortunately) disconnect the odometer which is not uncommon for some less-than-ethical car owners. Cheers-Colin Firth-Ontario Canada
My reference was to US law. I don't know if Canada adopted a similar law, or if the 180MPH speedo was OK in Canada. Was your car originally sold in Canada?
My 308 was originally sold in California. New laws in Canada and the U.S. often work in lockstep so it wouldn't be a stretch to find that Canada implemented a similar law at the time. Since Canadian Ferrari's are imported through Ferrari North America it would have been easier and most cost-efficient to for them to do one speedo change for both countries at the same time. Cheers-Colin Firth
I checked my car,'82 308GTSi #40969, and it was built Feb. '82 and according to the owner's manual it was first sold and delivered in May '83. Either from the factory or dealer it came with the 180 speedo.
I purchased my 308 #36947 in Sept. 1989. It had the 85 mph speedometer and I asked Shelton's to replace it with a 180. The cost was $300, I believe. I left the new one at zero and recorded the original mileage, 22,915, which I add to the current unit to determine service intervals. I just couldn't see having that mandated unit in the car, and parts were readily available then.
By mistake I bought a speedo that does not fit my car (early carb), it fits the injection cars. I can sell it if someone is interested: Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have an injection car with the 85MPH unit, how much for yours? or pm me at [email protected] Thanks! Dennis
