That's what I thought too, so I emailed the factory regarding the difference between the manufacturing date shown on the factory plate on the door jam (November 1976) and the April 21, 1977 date on the Heritage Certificate. They replied with: As regards your request, we would like to inform you that we have carried out the relevant verifications and the correct date to be considered the official production date is the one you find on the Heritage Certificate. Moreover, we would like to inform you that we were unable to understand what was meant by Factory Plate: when the vehicle is produced, the only number branded on it is the VIN number, without any date. My response: The Factory Plate I referred to, showing the date of manufacture, is referred to as a Conformity Label on page 10 , Paragraph 9A of my owners manual (308GTB - North American Version). The label reads as follows: Ferrari Manufactured by Ferrari AUTOMOBILI SEFAC Modena Italy On November 1976 This vehicle conforms to all applicable Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards in effect on the date of manufacture shown above. (vehicle weight data is also shown) Vin (Chassis Number) 20425 Type - Passenger Car The question then is: Why does the date of manufacture on the conformity plate not agree with the date of manufacture as shown on the Heritage Certificate? Factory response: Thank you for contacting us. We would like to inform you that your 308 GTB is a 1977 model year, but for homologation purposes at that time Ferrari was obliged to communicate to the US authorities the chassis numbers that would be produced the following year. This is why your car actually carries the plaque with a production date from 1976, when it was in fact actually manufactured by ourselves as one of the early steel-bodied cars for the US in April 1977. Therefore, we kindly invite you to take as correct the date shown on your Heritage Certificate. My response: Since this is an early steel car is it possible to identify Chassis 20425 in the production cycle? In other words - where was it in the sequence of production? In talking to previous owners I have been told it was anywhere between the 3rd steel car produced to the 5th. Factory response: We regret to inform you that we are unable to confirm the data concerning the sequence of production. END of correspondence So ended my quest for information. The car came to me titled as a 1976. A car title originates with a Certificate of Origin, therefore it should be a 1976. So there are discrepancies with date of manufacture as well as no sequential information available .
cool great. can you (or anyone) think about reason of this? that solution would be more convinient for european winding roads
After having been through similar exchanges with them for years they cannot tell you with certainty what happened yesterday. Forget getting accurate info about 30 years ago. I also know and have seen in the case of US cars late production dates on early VINs. It often happens when the window is closing on a models homologation for smog or equipment legislation. Cars continue to be built with earlier production date plates so the can be sold. For example 91 TRs were not allowed in California. I have seen 90's with later VIN's than 49 state 91's. Ferrari has long been known for playing fast and loose with ID #'s, production dates etc. Add that to their poor record keeping and poor institutional memory and it is not surprising that the good historians often have different information than the factory. The historians want facts, something that has never held any real importance to the factory.
Excellent post. I think it is very likely that the factory gave RMDC a BS answer thinking that he would not pursue it further.
I cannot comment why some cars were dry sump and why others were wet sump however here are two images that show the differences I explained earlier Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
it is weird how they numbered them. my old red 77 was *20433* and it was a november 1976 build date. my current one is *21311* and it has a july 1977 build date.
Probably some secretary that was tired of digging through incomplete records in a row of old filing cabinets and cardboard boxes with papers strewn out all over the floor so she just made something up.
There are a lot of number stamp sets laying around the factory. I have recieved replacement motors that had the same number as the original motor. Matching number car??????? Noooooooooooooo problem.
Riflediver - Thanks for your info. Explains a lot. Nuvolari - Now that I read the factory replies again, it does sound like BS. I will make one more run at it. My wife and I will be visiting relatives in Torino in the fall and plan a factory tour.
#20817 - Build date january 1977, steel ...weird I put in for my heritage certificate and still have recieved nothing via email. How long does it take. It has been 3 weeks. Anyone?
Submitted mine on a Friday and received an email back on Monday, but that was 6 months ago - They want a 5 digit chassis number and a 5 digit engine number, plus the tranny and color. On another thread, some one said they submitted the chassis and engine type along with the actual numbers and that was enough to screw things up. The owners site gave specific instuctions , along with pictures on where to find the info. Don't know if it's all still there. .
Can somebody post a link for the heritage certificate form? I had to do mine by filling out a written form FNA faxed me and I had to snail mail it back.
I believe its in the classiche section of the ferrari owners site if my memory serves me, I submitted mine for the 308 no probs but the boxer cant be done so they tell me .
I have seen the following in print when describing Fiberglass production: Cars were done in Fiberglass because it was the easiest way to start production of the series quickly. Fiberglass was discontinued because it was to expensive. Fiberglass was discontinued because Ferrari owners did not like non-steel Ferraris.
21181 is steel, dated March of 77 on both car and on heritage cert. 21645 is dated on both as of May of 77. Various parts of the motor from 21181 are dated 1976, so its more than obvious they had a long lead time. Seeing as the first show car was in late 74, early 75, and that production actually started in late 75 IIRC, its probable that each car was built in various components at verying periods and then brought together in final assembly. Whats odd, if if Scaglietti built up the chassis and delevered them with sheet metal attached, did they also deliver the glass car chassis with the glass attached? On a side note, I would like to see more information regarding build numbers. 21181 has the number 277 stamped in all major assemblies, chassis, doors, headlight buckets, fiberglass wheel wells, etc., etc.. 21645 has number 311. It would be highly interesting to document these numbers and compare them with chassis numbers to see if they follow actual production.
#20369 Glass Wet Sump Australian Delivered Build November 76 (from Heritage Certificate) Assembly No 131 AU
there is a thread on this somewhere with a bunch of our build numbers. i think i posted all of mine. i dont recall them off the top of my head right now, i have been at work all day. there should be some numbers from members 76-77 GTBs.
Some would say because of poor sales of the gt4 there was a concerted effort to get the GTB out ASAP, hence using glass molds to get production going while the steel pressings were being developed. The gt4 has a 20cm longer wheelbase, yet is only 8cm longer overall.
