Where were 308 GT4 Built?

Photographic proof they were stored at the factory after final assembly but I have yet to see a shot of a GT4 bodyshell being welded/painted/fitted-out next to other Scaglietti products. I'm sure they were but I have just never seen a photo.

 

I,am quite impressed with the quality in terms of welding and engineering on the GT4 .Dispite being 40 years old I have to say it’s leagues ahead of the 80 ,s Testarossa I had .The Testarossa has certain not straight edges under panal s like the front hood and rear engine cover , poorly fitting doors etc and not so good general box welding .You could tell if was a Ferrari in the sense the body work was a kinda afterthought, in a Enzo majored on the engine running gear .Looked nice but shockingly screwed together.

The 360 I had while in theory had its subbed out Aluminium chassis imho again Ferrari let’s say lacked attention to detail in terms of coating it with its body .

What I am saying who ever designed , rarther took Gandinis renderings and fabricated up the chassis and body did a very good job from a neat weld and pression panal fit point of view .
It’s stiffer too compared to the Testarossa.

To me it feels different if that makes sense ? A better difference then something knocked up in Moderna .

If there were others around in those days knocking up body’s better imho then perhaps today Ferrari today should in a quest for better quality control re consider there own current in-house production?

Compared to typical German VAG stuff - Bentley, Porsche , even Lambo , and run of mill Audi , Ferrari s body work on current modals are let’s face it shocking build quality quality wise .

As they slip further behind it will bite them on the arse .

Back then in the 70,s / 80 ,s Enzos day job was racing cars .Today the F1 team and car production are very seperate and I think the car body fit n finish side needs to change - catch up with the Germans .If the current Moderna guys lack the know how , find someone else locally that does .

 

That's the Ludwigsen book, Mike? Which year was it published? Do we know if he took the picture himself?
It seems that settle the case for good, even if, considering the logistics, it was a bit debatable: chassis were sent by Vaccari e Bosi from Modena to Grigliasco (=Turin), which is 200 miles by road (today: via Parma and Asti), then from Turin back to Maranello, another 200 miles...
Rgds

 

No rush, Mike...

Rgds

 

It would be nice to have confirmation from another source. I have not read every book on Ferrari but I’ve read many and this is the only place I have read Bertone made more than one (the first) GT4. Then again, there does not seem to be any evidence contradicting it either... for all the photos and videos even of 308 GTBs and GTSs bodyshells being built at the Scaglietti factory... none seem to exist for the GT4


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I found this photo in Michael Dregni's book Inside Ferrari from 1989. It shows 308GT4's in the paint booth at Scaglietti.

The caption says: "The paint booth at Scaglietti. With bake lights overhead, a line of 308GT4 bodies passed down the track to be hand sprayed. The workers had no protection from the paint fumes or spray. In 1978, a new paint booth was erected at Maranello and all Scaglietti-bodied Ferraris were painted there."

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I absolutely agree, David. This is what I had in mind. Always cross-check to establish Something as "proofed".

If there are any aircraft modellers here...and this is not "out of topic", it shows how common knowledge is constructed.
It's interesting to tell the story of the air intakes of the italian F-104 Starfighters. Trying to stay brief: the Italian Air Force used two different F-104 versions, the standard european one (= F-104G) and one with a more powerful engine, and specific to Italy only (= F-104S). For about 25 years, the "common knowledge" has it that it was impossible to model an F-104S from the kits on the market, because not one manufacturer has taken into account the" larger air intakes" of the F-104S (you'd find that "pearl of wisdom" in numerous modelling magazines). Until the day when one italian modeller asked but "how larger exactly are these?" and didn't get any answer; so he decided to go to the next aircraft museum, and measure the intakes of a standard F-104 (= F-104G) and the italian version (F-104S). Except for the auxiliary intake doors of a different shape, dimensionally, the intakes were exactly the same. That was confirmed by measurement on other aircrafts as well, and then by the construction blueprints.
So, why was that "common knowledge" wrong? People started to proof-read all books on the F-104. It turned out that a well-known reputable italian author has written that the intakes on the F-104S were "larger" in 1977; before that, nobody has ever said so. As the man was reputable, no-one did question this "fact", nor checked on the aircrafts or with the blueprints, and most later books simply stated the same thing afterwards, which turned out to be not true, once someone took a ruler to check.

Always cross-check with other sources whenever possible (and sources that are not based on the book that you are trying to cross-check...); if not possible, well; if the author is "serious", it's a strong clue, but still not a fact.
Regarding the picture posted by "Tifoso2728" above, it would be essential that someone could confim that this is the Scaglietti paint booth located in Modena or Maranello. Otherwise, it could be Bertone's, located in Turin...

Rgds

 

There must ( just ) be people still alive who worked in theses sites at the time building GT4 bodies .
They could be more than one site too in the production span , early , middle and run out year(s) .
Of which one may have been @ Marenello .I guess some of the answer depend / interlink with other modal production at the time ,in the sense of useable available shop floor space ?

Would be nice to have the exact linage .

Gandini is still alive and Albert of this parish ( resides in Marenello ) should be able to join the dots up .

 

The 308 GT4 bodies were built by Scaglietti ( a Ferrari subsidiary) in Modena ) I understand all 6 cylinder and 8 cylinder bodywork was built there in the 1970's)
"Ferrari 308, 328, Mondial" by Geoff Willoughby 1982 Page 30
"The complete guide to the Ferrari 308 Series' by Wallace Wyss 1982 Page 20
"Ferrari The Sports Racing and Road cars" 1982 Page 176
"The Ferrari Legend" by Antoine Prunet 1980 Page 412"
"Ferrari" by Hans Tanner 5th Edition 1979 P 447

 

That's what an "historian worth the name" (I have to disclose here that I do indeed have the french university equivalent of an american "master degree" in modern history, among many other useless things...) would call "secondary sources":
that is, writers saying that "they have been told that..." etc...
I have these books, but...which is the original source?
Not that I am doubting this, but...are we sure?

Rgds

 

The photo in post #212 is attributed to Hilary Raab, Jr. I'm sure he'll be at the literature meet in March. He is always happy to share information.

 

For sure. Once you see him, you'll recognize him.

 

Maranello please - not Marenello

 

Another photo shows the unpainted GT4 bodies next to fiberglass GTBs, so unquestionably at Scaglietti:

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But were they built there or just painted? I still have not found photographic evidence. Dregni’s book does not mention Bertone at all but it does have some interesting things to say about Ferrari and Pininfarina at that time. Basically a number of assembly scenarios were in use at the time... Pininfarina produced panels that were then assembled by Scaglietti (365 GTC/4), Pininfarina complete production (testarossa), Scaglietti complete production (308 GTB).
So I think we arrive at three theoretical scenarios:
1. Bertone made the body shells and they went to Scaglietti for painting.
2. Bertone made the panels and they went to Scaglietti for assembly and paint
3. Scaglietti made the complete body shells




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