Thoughts needed on this 308...

If this dealer is your friend, then at least maybe *you* might get to drive it. I was told by the salesman they aren't letting *anyone* drive it, in spite of the fact I was willing to travel some distance to inspect it. At that point I started to smell a rat.

This car was on ebay a month or so ago. Sold, delivered, and titled to the winner. Now it's back. I'd want the names and phone numbers of both the "one-month" owner and the guy who traded it in. One or both of them might have an interesting story. Good luck.

Seamus

 

The rear deck lid is also a US model so that makes it a US model with Euro bumpers and a US style diaper on the rear. The non-CAT sticker was likely replaced.

Looks like a nice car. Leather is in good shape. $27k is about the limit for a car in its condition.

 

Three more things that make this a US-version:
-the side markers (allthough they are easy add-ons)
-the rear undervalance with the exhaust bbq (sorry, no better word for this)
-the shape of the airfilter housing. The us-version has a square "neck"


and one more: full size spare.....

 

I remember this car from Italian Car Fest 2005 in Grapevine, Texas, this past September. I remember talking to the owner and I remember that it was for sale. The Nurburgring decal on the back was the tipoff for me. I think he'd owned it for a fair amount of time.

The interior looked so fresh that I remember commenting on it to the owner. It was a very nice car.

Rob's right, a call to Norwoods might be worth your time, since this was a car local to Dallas/Fort Worth.

 

the GTS was available in late 77. there are several know to exsist. this is a usa spec car. there are also many late steel 1976 308gtb's. i know of a true euro dry sump with original italian plates still on it ( single dizzy) . i have seen and driven the car as its in a collection here . car has a very high vin number in the 22xxx rabge, but is a 1976 steel car. my old gtb was *20433* and was a "low" serial number for a '76.

 

From what I can see the front bumper is a Euro type or 288 replica bumper. If it was US there would be two black "lobes" on the lower side of the bumper about 1/4 way in from each end, right where the open gaps in the upper grill bars are. If I am correct then there is a savings of about 26 lbs there.

 

I am the previous owner of this 308GTS. Bob Dezzany informed me about this discussion and it has been fun to read it! Lot's of speculation, some right, some wrong. I'm glad somebody finally recognized the decal of the Nuerburgring Nordschleife on the back. Did a couple of BMW driving schools there, and it is indeed the Holy Grail of road courses (almost 13 miles around).

A few comments:

1. Yes, I traded it for a (silver) 2005 Pontiac GTO. Heresy, I know, but 400HP, 6-speeds, and all the comforts of home are pretty nice.

2. It is definitely a U.S. car and I owned it from 9/91 until I traded it to Sewell in 10/05. Won several trophies with it at the old Automobili Italiani Concours in the early 90's

3. Previous owner was Bill Mitchell who lived in Colleyville. He was a big Ferrari collector back in the early 90's, but I don't know where he is now (maybe he will read this!). He did much of the cosmetic work on this car himself - new Connally leather interior, new Wilton Carpets (yes, I know the floor mats are ugly, but the carpets underneath are pristine), bumper springs removed (that answers that question), and a paint job that reportedly cost $7K!

4. The distributor is a Norwood point-less (as opposed to pointless) conversion. James, who now owns Norwood, did dozens if not hundreds of those. As I recall, the distributor cap is a small block Chevy V8 item and the rotor is a '57 Ford part. The inductive pickup is a Mopar part and the electronic ignition is a MSD-4 box (special version for Chrysler products).

5. Norwood did the mechanical work when Bill Mitchell owned the car. I had the timing belts (and all the usual related stuff) replaced by Classic Ferrari a couple of years after I got the car. I drove it very little - it had ~37K miles on it when I got it and it now has a bit under 40K miles on the clock as noted in other posts. I did the belts myself about 18 months ago as a preventive measure because of the passage of time. The old ones looked fine.

6. Regarding the catalytic converter issue, the car originally had cats and an air pump, but they had already been removed when I got it. I spent a lot of time on the Weber setup and got it to where it would pass the emissions test without a problem. Of course the bar was set pretty low for the older cars, and now this one is exempt. The original emissions decal on the door jamb was peeling off and the one that's on there now is a replica I got from ItalianCarParts.com out in Oregon. I questioned the "non-cat" designation, but he said that was the only one he had for 1979 - possibly a convenient "mistake" to ease passage of emissions inspections?

Lot's more to tell, and I'll be glad to reply to any other questions. I believe TCT now has my phone number from his "friend" at Sewell and will be giving me a call.

 

There you have it boys. Straight from the horses mouth (or Mac in this case). Welcome to the board. Spend any time here and you'll wish you had that 308 back. It looks to be a very nice car (except the floormats of course).

Good luck to whoever ends up with it. Hopefully it finds a good home.

John

 

Is the forum great or what? Sorry, I have nothing to add here but this is the type of thread that makes F-chat so special.

 

Hey spang308/John, I should mention I still have a fiberglass 308GTB in the garage, so it ain't over yet. I don't have a chance to check the board very often, even though I've been registered since 10/03. I too hope this 308GTS finds a good home. I know I could have gotten a few $K more by selling it myself instead of trading it in, but I just didn't have the time to deal with the hassles of a private sale - PPI, you guys critiqueing it, etc.. An e-Bay auction with its well-deserved reputation for ficticious bids and failed transactions was the last thing I wanted to get involved in. There you have it.

By the way, if any of you folks are looking for a nice little daily-driver, good gas mileage hot rod for yourself or your kids, I'm selling my unmolested 1999 Ford SVT Contour (2.5L/4V V6 - 200 HP) with just 28,500 miles on it. I'm the original owner and have all the documentation (window sticker, SVT build certificate, etc.). Asking price is $7,500, details and images available.

 

Yeah, I don't think this is a euro car. It has U.S. side markers and engine cover grilles. Looks pretty clean though. This looks to have been modified by someone. Best to find out who and how well it was done.

 

hanknum - I would refer you to my previous posts about this car which I owned for 14 years. It is a U.S. spec car which has been judiciously modified over time to restore its appearance and performance to the original Euro form/specs while maintaining its ability to meet our Texas emissions/safety requirements.

 

Thanks for the info....that NON CAT sticker was either BOGUS or all my twenty years of 308GTB market research was seriously FLAWED!!! LOL!

Whew!

A 1976 308GTB glass 'dry sump' car popped up in Autoweek yesterday, not yours????

$39K.....

PM me if you are serious about moving your other glass car.

I also agree the GTO is nice, I have a similar drivetrain in a Trans Am, even mine doesn't make 400HP.........they say the steering feeling is a lil' mushy in the center though.......

 

You know, I was thinking about this...you may want to let that guy know about the sticker......

No big deal to have a private owner put that on....could be a BIG DEAL if a dealership sells it like that.....


.02

 

Big Tex - not to worry, the current owner works at the dealership and bought it from them. He is selling it as a private deal.

Mac