My 1974 Dino 308 GT4 is finally home

Yesterday I went to pick up my Dino 308 GT4, it was a very emotional day
I forgot to take pics of it before it went into the garage, so here is my best shot at some pictures.

Next step: getting a new battery and waiting for the car to be able to go for a service. And then we're ready to use it as often as I can

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If you want to see a video of me picking up the car, have a look at my youtube channel
The channel will document the long road for chassis 08788, first to full road worthiness, and I have found a Ferrari specialist trained in Maranello at about 4km from my house, at this stage the Dino will become my (almost) daily driver and I'll document what that's like, and then we'll start restoring the car; original paint (white goes so much better with the blue interior) all the orignal Dino badges back on it etc etc... check it out, give it a like and subscribe if you want to see where this will go.



Oh and yeah, the music may be a bit too much in this episode... LOL... I'll do better next time

 

Hope it all goes well recommissioning etc .
GT 4 ( Gandini style family ) are special Ferraris . The worlds waking up to this member of the “ Dino “family.

Congratulations.

A couple of appetite wetter pics

My cars nose in the for ground .

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Those are some great pictures @Portofino !!

 

Congratulations!

 

I want to "love" this post but FChat only has a "like" button.

 

That blue interior is so crazy-cool....think it would also look great with a nero, grey, or verde germoglio(!) exterior.
- Dave

 

Thanks Dave, and yes that would be great colours as well. I actually think that one of the most beautiful colours for a GT4 is "Marrone Dino Metallizzato" but obviously not with the bleu interior!

 

But I assume that Bianco Polo Park 20-W-152 is part of the BIG PLAN? Not many white one's around anymore...

 

The arrow shows how some owners feel after getting the first bill.

you may have just made a new meme!

Here’s to much joy and happiness with your new adventure!

 

I have the same colour interior, but my car is Argento. Can't say I've even been a fan of white cars (I've owned 2) but if that was the colour it was born ...

And it will look nice with the blue.

 

That's hilarious! I didn't see that yet.... Now I can't not see it!! LOL

 

Yeah, that is still the big plan. I think with the blue interior it will look striking. Other things that are part of the big plan: putting the original nuts back on the steering wheel, changing the horn push button to a Dino one, putting the original wheels back on, fixing the dashboard (taking the 308 GT4 badge off.... and fix the hole), getting the nose redone (the Ferrari badge is inserted in the bodywork), but... not yet putting the Dino badges on the bodywork, once the nose is done and the body resprayed, we'll cover up where the badges should go, then me and my teenage son do a road trip from Hasselt to Maranello and get the badges put back on there. It's where it received the badges in 1974 and it would be a cool symbolic act to put the Dino badges back on in that same place. If I could Ferrari to do it, that would totally blow my mind - LOL - just a local garage would be fine though.

 

Coincidentally, my GTB was born Argento/Blue, but sadly the years have seen the Silver turn to Red and the Blue to Tan/Black. The current paint and interior are in perfectly good shape, so not in any hurry to make a change for change's sake. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
- Dave

 

If anybody is interested, second episode is uploaded. Turned out a bit longer than I had wanted but I hope you like it!? All feedback, good and bad, is always welcome!

 

I subscribed and getting caught up! hit me back at TheItalianTuneUp ! Even if you think you may not know what you're doing... yet... this group will help you! Don't be afraid to try some simple service items to start with. Also great to do with your son - I learned on my GT4 as my dad passed it to me before he passed.

 

Thanks a million for the subscription!! Means a lot! I subscribed to your channel as well and also catching up - lol - I'm afraid that my son will never get enough interest in cars to start getting his hands dirty but he has surprised me in many other ways, so who knows! My daughter I can see doing it quicker than my son

 

It's a great way to bond and create amazing experiences with your kids!

 

Sadly tech (phones and gaming) for the most part has replaced cars as the most important interest in today's boys. When I grew up in the 1960's cars, and the independence and social status that they brought, were every teenage boys dream. Fortunately for me my son and now his son are car guys.

As far as your daughter (I have one daughter, 3 grand daughters, 4 great grand daughters so I have some experience) your statement reminds me of a great episode of "The Andy Griffith Show" back in the 1960's. Andy's girlfriend at the time worked at the general store in town and a girl (late teens in age) along with her crusty father would come in for supplies for their farm and of course the girl would migrate over to the cosmetics counter as her father (a widower) gather his supplies. He would get angry at her for wasting time on such items as she had work to do at the farm. Andy heard multiple complaints from his girlfriend about the farmer not allowing his daughter to be a normal teenage girl. At one point Andy, as the town Sheriff, had some official duty to see the farmer about and while talking the subject of his daughter came up and the farmer argued that his daughter (whose mother had died) had to do all the "woman's work" plus help him with the heavy farm work as he had no son(s). Andy had noticed that 3 teenage boys from the neighboring farm were giving the daughter a lot of attention and the discussion went to Andy convincing the farmer that he should view his daughter as an "asset" to attract a potential future son-in-law to provide much needed help on the farm.

Long story short: maybe their is a car guy son-in-law in your future that will share your interest in cars, don't give up hope yet.

 

True dat! Those can be helpful and teach skills, like in the game Minecraft. However most of them are just designed to consume time. Its a big industry though...

It sucks the complexity of cars got people away from working on them, but really they're just machines. As a 70's / 80's baby, I used to love being in the garage with my dad, when he had time (cats in the cradle). I'm going to be a little sexist here, but I think girls still find it hot when their man can fix something. As a guy, now twice divorced, my current girlfriend, a giver who doesn't want to get married again, too... She pervs on me when I fix stuff and I perv on her when she works on the cars with me, I just convinced her buy a manual BMW and learn how to drive it as her daily - she's a keeper.

learning the process of how to build and fix things is valuable, because it can be applied to so many aspects of life. It teaches value and respect.

When my dad was dying he gave me the choice of a Lotus Elise, which was his last indulgent purchase, or the GT4. He said "one will always work and your life will be easy. The other one will challenge you and be very expensive, or you have to learn how to fix it yourself. I need to sell one. You choose." It was never a question. One was a new toy and one was a family member and really a part of me. My journey began and it really changed me.

 

lol - I think if I give her a screwdriver and explain things (but I don't know anything myself - lol) she would love to just thinker with engines etc.

 

To be fair with most old cars , you need a bit of background mech knowledge / DIY ability.
Otherwise you will be at the auto shop every months with something or other , AND crucially experience excessive down time .

The combo of the two ^ might just dull the classic F car experience.

Not suggesting dive in immediately and do a belt service .Stuff like that’s ok in my book to farm out as it’s infrequent and better to have a Indy stamp somewhere.[ there’s a FB post from “ Merlin autos “ of there head tech doings his 5 th in a row engine out on Testarossa- that’s the sort of guy you want doing your belts ]

Talking basic car 12 V electrics to get things working , lub changes , brake service that’s pads , disks , fluid flush .Maybe wheel bearings , rubber hose replacement, hand brake adjustment, + gen dismantle and lub / free off . Eg my wipers slooooowed right down .A 10 min google came up with the grease in the gear mech hardening.
A mornings work to wrestle out the motor ( tiny hands + tools ) from under the scuttle .Dismantle it , clean it , free it up , re lub it , re fix it .Hey presto a fully functional wiper system.

Similarly the rear side window rubbers looked perished / not fitting . = remove the window glass involving drilling out rivets ( you need the know how ) replace ing the rubber and re riveting the glass frame back in .

The bumper rubbers distort ( GT4 s ) as the metal reinforcement corroded s .The fix is to remove the bumpers gouge out the corroded steel , replace it with something equally suitable but none corrosive and make good . Then refit to car .

Just age related stuff .

In fact it’s an ongoing process .
They say with boats and this applies to classic cars this …..1/2 the enjoyment, ownership experience fun is actually the maintenance of the thing . The other 1/2 is driving using it .

Now like the rest of us with a NEW car , esp under warranty it’s easy mentally just to compartmentalise the maintenance and repairs to the dealer. After all the maintenance side of say your BMW / Merc dealer relies on a significant revenue from this side . Not just the sales . After sales somewhat keep the monthly cash flow flowing .
I don’t mess with our new cars the family wagon either .

But a classic be it Ferrari or Fiat it’s a different mind set .

Anyhow it will interesting to see how the hands off approach works with a 50 yr old 3#8 ?

 

Got a son + daughter . One Xmas home from Uni it was the daughter who helped fit the sports exhaust.
Son was ( like everyone has inferring) up to his neck in tech gaming with his mates online . Not interested.

The Ansa was corroded . I did a bodge repair but eventually replaced it .
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Went for a Nuvolari SS single pipe as the OEM 208 s left the factory with a single .
It’s all about originality these days .
Back in the days the 80 s when these car were under £10 K many were modded “ upgraded “ eh fit a quad ANSA to make it look like a 308 etc etc .

Mines got a Ferrari badge on the boot lid . I have thought about it but the paint is very good and after a while I have come to terms with it .I realise it’s a mod . The cars a late 76 build reg 77 mk2 so right in the middle of the rebadge melee .

Bcz no one really knows ( min factory records ) of the precise badging I have decided to just roll with it .

It s not a show car …..bought for classic rallyes which it has done a few .

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There all sorts of condition here ^

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Hoping you get as much enjoyment out the GT 4 as it’s given us .