Ferrari dealerships when the 308/328 series was new

The interesting thread about original dealer license plate frames got me curious about where my 1978 308 GTS was sold new. I see per the warranty book that it was delivered in the spring of 1979 at the Griswold Co. in Berkeley, California. In my internet research about Griswold Co., I see that Rifledriver worked there at some point, so it must have been a very cool place!

Where was your Ferrari delivered? Any pictures? It would be great to see how the dealerships back in the day compare to the glass, chrome, and Keurig equipped dealerships of today.
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Jeff,

I was thinking of posting a thread very similar to this myself once I found my '84 308 was originally delivered to Monterey Ferrari for a Pre delivery service and inspection. I was curious about any history of that process. It appears my car was delivered to Monterey from the factory, and on May 29, 1984 the Pre delivery Inspection was performed. The car was then first sold on July 31, 1984 to a gentleman from Rochester NY. The car has since returned the Monterey Peninsula where it will remain.
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My 85 308 GTS was originally deliver to Ray Ramsey's in Monterey. They did the pre-delivery service at the end of January 1985 (as indicated in the warranty book). But the car then went to the Washington DC area dealer American Service Center with a first retail sale by them late August 1985.

 

The dealership growth is certainly an interesting topic. Given the resources present within FChat, I would think that it would be relatively easy to put together a "census" of Ferrari dealers from warranty books. This could be a spreadsheet at 5-year intervals to start and later go back to fill in the gaps. A map(s) over time would also be interesting. Gentlemen, have at it!

 

well mine shows Ferrari of Houston with Chris Watson as salesman on Aug 10, '88

and what is Tuff Coat Dinol?

 

Here in Quebec it was Luigi. It was a very small place compared to todays FoQ. Today's dealers are huge and impersonnal. I way prefered the smallest and warmest car dealers of yesteryears. Any brand.

 

I remember back in the day that all "foreign" car dealers whether it be MG, Fiat, Triumph, Volvo, etc. were small independent businessmen entrepreneurs. Small make-shift facilities in contrast to today's acre+ chrome and glass monuments.

 

My 1983 308 GTS QV had it's Pre-Delivery Inspection completed in December 1983 by Mike Miller of Ferrari West Monterey at 851 Delmonte Ave, Monterey. It was sold and delivered in January 1984 by salesman George Mahi.

Interestingly, the 1,500 mile inspection (1984) by Mike Miller was again stamped "Ferrari West Monterey" still at 851 Delmonte Ave, Monterey, however the 7,500 mile inspection (1985) by Mike Miller was stamped "Monterey Jaguar - Rolls Royce - Ferrari" now at 735 Del Monte Blvd, Monterey. The last stamped inspection page is for the 15,000 mile inspection which is unsigned but stamped "Monterey Jaguar - Rolls Royce - Ferrari" now at 1711 Del Monte Blvd, Seaside. Three locations.

 

I used to own a 328 originally sold by Big Red's Sportscars in OK.

Dave

 

I used to work at Knauz!

 

I have a 78 308 GTS Griswold, too. And the handwriting in my warranty book is exactly the same as yours. Thanks for sharing.

 

The upper half of the page was filled out by Ferrari. The lower half by Jerry Gamez.

 

Manufacturers went around to independent garages and offered them dealerships. They just wanted someone known in that market and could support the product.

Griswold was authorized service before it became authorized sales and service.

 

My car was delivered to me by Stan Nowak at Bob Sharp Ferrari in Danbury, May of 1985. My understanding is that Sharp bought the franchise when Chinetti Motors in Greenwich closed. Miller Motors bough the franchise from Sharp and sometime later, in the early 90's, moved it back to the site of Chinetti Motors in Greenwich where it is today, though much expanded.

 

My '75 gt4 was spec'ed by and delivered to Ron Tonkin for his first cousin Bert Tonkin, a San Francisco fashion entrepreneur. I have some documents that link the car to R.A.B. In Marin (perhaps for delivery to Bert). I believe my dad picked up the car in December '76 from Los Gatos Ferrari.

 

My '74 GT4 was a dealer demonstrator or possibly a directors company car

It was registered to Lancaster Garages in Colchester UK for the first year of its life. They are still a Ferrari dealer to this day, I must call in there one day to see if they have any records.

 

Thank you. very nice to know that detail. Our documents were filled out 3 months apart @Griswold and our chassis numbers are a few hundred different. But the handwriting is so similar, the books could've been penned the very same morning

 

F40 & Bob Sharp (of the eponymous dealership)
Newman & Bob Sharp Racing Nissan
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I believe it's dinitrol. That thick waxy bronze undercoatimg on the frame to prevent rust.

 

I never managed to find out where my car was sold. I wrote to Algar and a few other east coast dealers and while some had seen the car in the past and provided redacted records, none could tell me the initial dealer for 26359 in 78 or it's early history.

 

This is an interesting thread to me.......keep 'em coming

 

my 75 308 GT4 was also from Griswold

 

Does anyone on the off chance, have the dealership sticker for Melbourne Garage Car Sales Ltd, Jersey, Channel Islands?

Would love to make a repro.

Thanks.


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My car was ordered and delivered through Newport Imports in Newport Beach, CA.

It was actually ordered new for a fellow F-Chatter. Years later he ordered a new 430 Spider in the same color combination.

 

Would love to see some photos of these dealerships back in the day. Many I'm sure were pretty unimpressive showrooms by today's standards.