308 Grill Mod

looks to be a gto style

 

In the book by Wallace Wyss, The Complete Guide to the Ferrari 308 - 328 - Mondial, there are several photos that show this mod. One was done by Mike Sheehan, another by Frank Milne (both on p.68), and another by Joe Alphabet (p.73). The mod was done on US 308s. Must be an older mod as the book was published in 1988. Looks nice but leave the front very exposed to dings, and of course, a total negative for a restored car.

 

This one has the most beautiful colour combination I have ever seen for a 308GTB. I love the brown leather on the seats, and I even dig the modified nose. Don't like the wheels however. I'm glad this car is no longer for sale, it would make me very nervous!!!
http://www.motorcarmarket.com/308_gtb/

 

well, its different looking.......

 

That's a San Diego based car. Ower's name is Ron, who is involved with the local Ferrari Club, one of the club officers I think. I wouldn't imagine it would be that hard to get in touch with him. Definitely leaves the front very exposed and is unashamedly obviously non-original.

 

I don't see how the paint is all that much more exposed with the bumper gone. I wouldn't do it to my car but it doesn't look awful.

 

The front wrap is $4000 if it gets bumped hard.

More air for the radiator.

Loose, what 50 pounds???

Looks good and simple.

cm

 

Do you ever park your ferrari on the street? The number of parallel parkers who park using the brail method in Seattle is staggering. That front nose panel and valence will be scratched and dented in no time if the car is parked on the street.

 

No parallel parking for sure!
The thing I like about the modified nose (not that I would do it mind you) is how well it shows off the true form of the nose. It is very beautiful and displays the art of the metalworker. Unique yet understated. Most folks would not know that it did not come from the factory looking like that.
The yellow car and the red car next to it; have they had the roof spoiler removed? Hard to tell but looks to be missing on the red car.

 

No but I hear ya..

 

I've seen that grill mod before.........The two 308s pictured belong to a fellow Fchatter here in Florida

Unfortunately the red one was lost in a fire The black one is his replacement.
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Too many horizontal lines for my taste, I prefer this setup:
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Yes Indeed.
A very clean mod. and nothing harmed. This car has found it's place in my top 10 of 308's. A car that stands out of the crowd. What is originality when you avoid it? Leaves common sense and a healthy feeling for that Ferrari ownership as a basis.

Regards,
Marcel

 

it makes it look like my mondial...
I like the yellow very much, and with the speedline rims... great
but for me, the others are awfull

 

With the current styling trends I want to see some experimentation with the crisscross hog wire in chrome look such as that from DUB or others for Chrysler 300's and others.. Mercedes etc, even late model Ferraris have a wire type grill on some .

The yellow one looks good on first glance but is hard to see from photos being blacked out but looks like about the spacing of the the gold one. I'd like to see the edges of the grill polished for just a little flash so the nose isn't quite so dead. I did this black out look to my 75 Dodge van years ago and its a great stealth look but it looks like a black hole and isn't in keeping with overall flashiness of either vehicle.The chrome horsie really helps. The black one looks okay but maybe too many slats but it is more easily forgiven because the slats are blackened and only the front is polished allowing it to blend in better? but in a photo it creates a "moire" pattern that might not exist in reality. The red one shows all the curses of too many slats.These should be mocked up in cardboard removing only 2 or 3 slats leaving them finer than the yellow or gold ones but not as busy as they currently are, most likely they were not as this would have been a lot of work but one is trying to improve on Pininfarina, no? a tough task to be sure. the trouble with multi-slat grills is that if you bend a slat or put wow in it it really jumps out like a sore thumb and both the red and the black ones have been tweeked and it shows....its too bad and I know the owners feel violated.

The gold generally looks nice but I think some slats are not wide enough especially in the photos from the side views where it looks deficient (the 3 middle slats look almost the same width and each needs to be wider than the one below it and shows too much air between grill and body. The side shots reveal something disturbing and that is they are either not wide enough or the arcs that have been cut don't allow the slats to land on the body cleanly, every slat should sit back substantially or slightly or be flush with the body (although this seldom done with in any styling exercise as getting things flush is extremely difficult and having a slight reveal will resolve most visual mismatches but here they look as if they clearly vary (or its an "optical occlusion"....no sp....in the photo itself). It may be that the curve of the top of the nose is different from the bottom of the nose and maybe the vertical slats need to be curved (bowed) and the horizontals bowed also (arced) making it all slightly bowed as opposed to a flat but angled grill which is why there is trouble getting an even reveal all around the grill.Its a compromise, maybe, but it still shows and it could be done. Although the top slat spacing looks really nice the bottom suffers a lack of a final slat because of the curve of the body ,,,maybe a shorter and curved (or not) slat to fill in but that has its hazards (curved when the others are straight. Additionally the photos are straight on but the car will be viewed from an eye level of 5'6" and will probably take on a different look asking to have the spacing altered between the body and top slat. Maybe move the whole grill up crowding the top slat slightly and provide more room for a wider additional bottom slat,curved or not, resolving the bottom is more important than the top which is likely to be hidden from most views and could be crowded some. In any case it needs its Horsie!

All are good first or second versions but most need another round of cardboard before committing to a final version. (doing it in metal might be easier in some ways but it won't be the final exacting version either but in the case of these flimsy grills its also not so expensive considering its going on a Ferrari. (sorry no allowances for unresolved final versions here...do the marque justice, improve the breed .......) Cardboard and silver spray paint, simple, cheap and very time consuming exacting work. Necessary for a great resolution or suffer the consequences of mediocrity.

What's missing from the examples is a version with an outer band like the earlier GTO or Barchetta oval grills but these 308s are more rectangular and that may not be the final resolution either. Unfortunately we don't get to see trial fittings only final versions and then only the owners opinion counts but I like the idea that they are willing to experiment ...the cars are not sacrosanct after all.(......of course they are but, hey, I'm just saying...)
OMO

 

Looks like a grinning kid with braces

 

+1 Not for my taste.

Sorry Guys.

 

Which?