Poor, poor 308

That's a great car to make a 288GTO replica out of.

 

As bad as that thing looks I would just tow it home and take it totally apart, throw away everything that is shot and put the rest in my store room out back. Sheet metal and all. I would have my own little T. Rutlands out there when I needed it.

 

Sounds like a plan. Need help taking it apart?

 

Only because it is so close to where I live...I may really have to think about this.

 

I feel like I've just seen an abused puppy that needs rescue. This poor car's seen no love. It's clinically dead...organ donor...it's sacrifice can extend the lives of others!! PARTS, PARTS, PARTS!! If it was a 328, I'd think about it myself!

 

why is everyone saying its an organ donor and a dead car ?

At this price its a perfect Ferrari ! It will NEVER be a garage queen unless you want to lose many thousands but as a real Ferrari, one that actually gets driven, this thing looks quite ready for a second life.

I am in S. Calif. and very seriously looking into it, already talked to Ca. DMV about how to bring it in, but I need to know if it was a Euro car or a legit U.S. car, that makes a big difference on the DMV regs. Next thing is how much rust it has, I won't deal with rust on anything but the smallest scale.

Fresh 10ft. paint, fresh interior (that one I can do great) and new suspension and motor again done by me, and its on the road. Only 10ft paint though since it will be a driver.

Yes, you have to be able to do all the work yourself, its way too far gone for a checkbook restoration.

But why are you guys saying its gone ? If I can figure out how to get it to Calif. and registered and the price does not go much higher, you will see me bidding on it and it will be on the road by Summer 2006.

 

Please, please somebody give this poor orphan a home - makes me want to cry seeing a 308 like that...

 

Therein lies a problem. Looking at the pics its evident that the interior has been exposed to the elements, including rain, for quite some time. The leather deterioration, fogged gagues and the rust on the ashtray attest to that. The damages done due to moisture trapped under the carpeting, etc. is worrisome. It was even apparently raining the day the pics were taken!

 

You're fortunate, but not everybody can do all the work themselves. I am still thinking about it, though.

 

"But why are you guys saying its gone ? If I can figure out how to get it to Calif. and registered and the price does not go much higher, you will see me bidding on it and it will be on the road by Summer 2006."

Because many of us have already gone through 308s that were in much better condition than this one, and know first hand how much cash it will take even if you do the work yourself!

 

It's a Euro 308. The rear gives it away with the fullsize license plate indentation, underside rear valance/exhaust and also the louvres on the reardeck lid.

 

Well, this is proof that not all Ferraris are garage queens...

 

If the car starts with starter fluid I think it's promising. It simply means the engine is not getting fuel... bad fuel pump, clogged line, bad gas...

Yes, it would cost a TON of $ to get it back to Ferrari OEM, but if you can do the of the work yourself (or at least some of it), are willing to look/wait for parts, do the interior with a local shop, etc... you could have a nice driver for a pretty reasonable price.

Which is worse, letting a ferrari die a slow painful death for lack of using anything other than Ferrari parts or doing what you can to get one back on the street and in the hands of someone who would care for it?

I say let it live!

 

If it was a GTB, it would be a perfect donor for a "308 Challenge" version that I've got in the back of my mind...

 

Take it to Earl Scheib for a repaint, some rubbing compound and you will have yourself a concours car.

 

Well its all yours, maybe it will be a donor, that would be too bad as in my opinion it is easily restorable for $10k-15k. Although as PMDDMD said, who knows what it looks like under the carpeting since it was exposed to the elements in its past. Someone else commented on how it was raining the day they took the pics, I am not sure it was, the top looks dry.

But it does not matter, its a Euro car and without its DOT papers, I am not going to go into the probable mess with the CA. DMV. I assume at one time it had papers since at one time it was registered and should be able to be reg'd in CA but I will keep hunting and find something that is easier to do.

My wife did give me permission though but she also thought my time and money would be better spent on a less ambitious project, it took forever to save my F-car cash, a nice 308 running and already CA registered is possible for me, I just like to work on cars and this would have been it.

Soon...but for now back to my Dino and this one is all yours guys.

 

What are you guys talking about? Throw some sheepskin seatcovers on it, change the fluids, and off you go!

 

You guys are sick with your "Part it out" mantra. You obviously don't really care about saving another Ferrari, you just want to fill up your parts bin. I've seen more dignity expressed toward a '66 Chevy Impala. Do you guys wear a shirt more than 3 or 4 times, or just throw it out after that because it doesn't become "cost effective" to wash and iron it anymore???

 

Hey Arlie, the first car I owned that "ran" was a 66 Chevy Impala.
The boat that would float!

Sure you could always buy this car, not knowing any of the history,
engine not running, interior trashed, body rusted and dinged, in need of more than not, which when finished, will put you well over the purchase price of a nice 308 to begin with.... Or
Right down the street from you is an extremely nice 77 GTB that is getting new paint as we speak, has a new interior, custom cooling system so the car never over-heats, fully adjustable racing suspension, electronic ignition, and well over a thousand pictures documenting it's restoration, from bead blasting the chassis and undercoating, to rebuilding the suspension with new poly bushings. And the car comes with a spares package including things like a Craftsman ball-bearing rollaway loaded with goodies like new timing belts and tensioner bearings, new clutch and pressure plate, extra plug wires and distributor caps, and so on.

Once it hits ebay, there will be a bidding war!

 

Sounds like a great car Dave. How far is it located from YOUR car???

 

I had a light green 68 Chevy Impala 4 door in high school for a little while. It had a backseat as big as a livingroom sofa and a trunk you could stand in when you loaded it. I sold it for $100 my first year in dental school

 

I've never seen a seat in such horrible condition Was the previous owner an elephant? lol

 

it was not horrible, it was easily restorable and I disagree that you would have been over your head ASSuMING you could do the work yourself. If the motor was good, you saved yourself a ton of money from a running 308, if the motor was shot, you were on a break even deal, might be in a few thousand over the cost of another one but the car would have been perfect by then with fresh motor. I have no problem with having a few thousand more into a car that has rebuilt everything and I know for a fact its condition, since I drive my cars.

Key word is "a few" I am not rich and I did not know how bad the rust was under the carpeting, etc. But remember by the time you had $25k into the car, it had new suspension, new motor, basically new drivetrain and yes, you can buy 308's for that money but are they new internally ? no, so this was a good deal.

now of course whoever let it get this bad in the first place should be severely punished

 

it's a shame to see the car in that bad a shape, hope someone has the willpower to take on the task of saving her.