'76-'77, 308s Side Mirrors Positioning History

Photo of my Nov 78 build 308 in Feb.1979 with its original mirror. First owner added stripes at bottom of 308.
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This is fake and insulting for all the Italians! We in Italy always use rear mirrors!! (in a reverse…)

ciao

 

lm2504me, it's not me who makes the laws, I'm only stating after all.
There are always special cases at Ferrari, like everywhere else, I'm not in favour of saying that there is only one stock version and the rest is owner adaptation, it's been too long since I see particular things .
Nevertheless, I do not know if there was a change in this period of the late 70s or if the different states could ask for different things but it is clear that this is not the majority of cases.
Moreover, in 1978, the owners could also want the European look on their car. Adding tapes is not trivial either in the desire to have a private car.

Parts catalogs show the same mirror but with different references Euro / USA ... and the wrong position so it goes in the direction of understanding they did not make the change in the drawing (I have many other examples).
And the US commercial catalog shows the Californian but the photos had to be taken very early in the development of cars because the front spoiler, rear apron and lid are of Euro model ... so impossible to have the certainty of that side either ....

 

...maybe that's why we say it was the dealers who installed the mirrors. They may be changing from model to delivery depending on the state legislation.
Unfortunately, I have no pictures of the factory in 1977/78 showing US cars clearly...

 

Dear all,

Many, many thanks for your input to this topic. Definitely it become more interesting that I thought.

Having all your inputs I decided to install back the Tornados.

I would say 2 action points remain open

• Obtain factory photos of early 308 US versions. @Marcel Massini perhaps could help with this please?
• Find and interview a dealer from that time to find out what the process was for mirrors fitting in the US

Best Regards to all

Julio

 

Triple:

Sorry, but the first statement is nonsense...there are many early 308 carb cars still around the US (like mine) with their original mirrors and they are always Californians. Many have added baby tornados later, but Californians were standard from everything I've noted here. Your quotes of federal law and making a case for why tornados may have ended up on some cars makes sense, but they didn't come to the US with tornados in place that I can tell. And people certainly took a very large number of these cars home from the dealer with Californians in place. You'll have to prove your tornado statement some other way...at least for me to believe it.

 

To OP...put your tornados on if you want...of course. But they are NOT right for your year car. Californians are the only correct mirror for the early 308 GTB/GTS even in the US. Anything else is a mod, either by your PO or a dealer.

 

You are absolutely right, do you mean that all the Vitaloni Baby Tornado we can see on US cars had been added as aftermarket mod?
That's a lot, and it is always the same model of mirror.

 

Yes, the second owner of my 308 removed the Californians and had the tornados installed. He wanted a better view of traffic. I have the receipt when he purchased the tornados and had them installed. He kept the original mirrors in a box. I installed the originals.

 

Triple:

I want to be clear that I’m not against much of what you said. Your research into our cars is invaluable and I appreciate it beyond measure. Really.

I just wanted to be sure we don’t jump to stating the tornado, or any other mirror than Californian, was standard on US cars. I admit I don’t know for sure, but given the number of Californians on US carb cars, they still outnumber other mirrors by a wide margin.

Thank you for your contributions to our knowledge. I never knew about this rules, for example. That said, Californians are made of such brittle plastic, they are effectively “Break Away” mirrors anyway!

 

On the contrary, I do not claim to have inherent knowledge, I collect data, that's all. To have a contradiction makes the subject go forward for everyone and I was not very careful on that, I admit it willingly..I sometimes have to leave a postulate to go further, even to question it later.

I never explained to me why the factory decided to install mirrors a little more back on the US model compared to the European. I have not managed to find a federal law that imposes either a certain angle of vision, or a certain distance driver/mirror. that's why I thought, considering the many cars equipped all the same model of Tornado, and what is more, with this obligation to be able to swing back, a square surface was a « plus » to see backwards and so the factory choice became more logical.

The side mirror laws are very different from one market to another, the Europeans have theirs, the Japanese others, the Australians still others ....

Indeed, already the visibility of the Californian is not terrible placed forward, but I do not dare to imagine the comfort of vision placed at the quarter of window...It is very difficult to work on these points of detail from pictures of cars that are 40 years old, for parts that are very, very often changed by the owners.

 

Tommy, I just read all your post.
Thank you so much for sharing those pictures and especially the memories.
I guess at the end of the day that's what it's all about.
Beautiful post. Thank you!

 

My pleasure.

Welcome to Ferrarichat!

 

Lovely set of period photos
Thank you!


Sent from my Lenovo YT-X703F using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

FWIW. My ‘78 GTS. Sold in 1978 at Ferrari of Los Gatos, CA. No passenger mirror.
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Wow, US car with european position mirror?
Was it imported? Black market?

 

Yep...another oddity but cool.

 

Agree it is cool, and annoying [emoji23]

 

Position of Dane's mirror is not the European one, look at post#24, it is slightly more in the corner.

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Here's a better angle (no passenger mirror). Again, this is on my 1978 GTS sold out of Ferrari of Los Gatos, CA, in 1978.
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Attached image shows a better angle and the pre-delivery paperwork showing Ferrari of Los Gatos, CA in 1978; finger is to conceal original owner information.


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Agree. The Euros...this is my glass '76...have the Californian base less than half the length of the base back from the front door edge...
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I concur as well, and thanks much for sharing.

A Euro glass '76...awesome. Bravo to you, sir.

 

Thanks for your contribution Dane, and what's more, with an unknown chassis number....
Could you tell us a bit more about it? Engine? Body number?
Do you have an August or September 78 door plate?

Here is some picture of a Euro side mirror, more or less like yours to show you the fraction of an inch difference...


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Maybe because the position makes sense for the Californian. The Baby Turbo works in what we think of as the USA position.