328 Production Number Breakdown

Already discussed many times, but:

According to Dirk-Michael Conradt, in his book "Autos, die Geschichte machten" (Motorbuch Verlag, 1990) (You guessed it, it is in german...) the production numbers by calendar year - i.e, from jan. 1st to dec.31st, were:

328 Berlinettas (= GTB)
1985: 53 / 1986: 373 / 1987: 335 / 1988: 334 / 1989: 249.
Total 328 GTB built: 1344

328 Spiders (= GTS)
1985: 550 / 1986: 1467 / 1987: 1414 / 1988: 1548 / 1989: 1089.
Total 328 GTS built: 6068

The break down between "serie 1" and "serie 2" cars (those with modified suspension and bulged wheels after 76626) is not known, but I have "guestimated" it at:

More or less: 800 GTB and 3623 GTS "serie 1"
More or less: 544 GTB and 2445 GTS "serie 2"

The breakdown by chassis number is impossible to know, except for the first and the last, because Ferraris are numbered consecutively, as they are put on the assembly line, whichever type there are:
ie, numbers following may be a Testarossa, then a 328, then another 328, a Mondial, etc...

Of course there are "trainspotters" that are painstakingly collecting chassis numbers, but to the best of my knowledge, no-one has the full list of the 7412 Ferrari 328 build, to which you should add the 1136 "Turbos Intercooler" (cars that have the same body but an engine with a Turbo and an Intercooler built for the Italian market)

Cars have an "assembly number" on a chassis bar in the engine compartment by type and market (all GTBs for the European market have consecutive assembly numbers).

Rgds

 

Due to US regulation the start and end of model years for US version cars is somewhat different than for the rest of the world.

US VIN's are approx. as follows

MY 86 Starts 56211 Ends 66295

MY 87 Starts 66301 Ends 74331

MY 88 Starts 74333 Ends 78828

MY 89 Starts 78835 Ends 83136


The actual month of start and stop dates are set by the manufacturer and are not consistent from year to year in the case of Ferrari


MY 86 ended in 7-86
MY 87 started in 7-86, ended in 9-87
MY 88 started in 9-87, ended in 9-88
MY 89 stated in 9-88, ended in 9 or 10-89.

There are specific VIN's dated outside of these ranges. With Ferrari the exception is the rule.

 

To illustrate Brian's remark above, there is one 328 (at least) outside these numbers and brackets, this is chassis 49543, that should be added to the above numbers: it is the one and only factory-build 328 cabriolet (I mean, full cabriolet, with cloth-top, "à la Mondial cabriolet") that is Giallo Modena in color over Black leather, and is extant today in Italy.
It has been discussed here (history, etc...) already.

Rgds

 

Are you sure it would be 49543?? That's likely an 83 or 84 year car - even my 85 is 58XXX which is almost 5,000 cars later.

Not doubting you, just never heard of a 328 being so far OUT of sequence....




PDG

 

Hi Patrick,

No harm done, you CAN doubt me! But 49543 it is, and it is also a 1984 car.
So: "sure, pal, I'm sure!"...

Trying to summarise briefly the discussions about what was, for years, the "white elephant" (well, yellow, in fact!) for 328 enthusiasts (we discussed it here in a topic about a year ago I believe).

For me, the key of its history came from that little book in German, "Autos, die Geschichte machten, Die Ferrari 308/328", by Dirk-Michael Konradt, Motor Buch Verlag, 1990.
Page 57, there is a pargaraph entitled: "Der One-Shot: Wie war das mit dem mysteriösen 328 GTS cabriolet?" (you guessed it, no? "The one-shot: what about the mysterious 328 cabriolet?")

It seems that Ferrari was already well into thinking about replacing the Q.V in 1984, and that they decided very early on that, if replacement of the Q.V should be a car derived from it (there were different lines of thought at the time) it should have an engine slightly enlarged in capacity, and also THREE different bodies (= what was made later for the 348 and 355) a coupé (Berlinetta, in italian = GTB) a spider (= GTS) and a full convertible with the same clothtop mechanism as the Mondial.

As this last option was the biggest challenge from a rigidity point of view, this was choosen as the 328 prototype. The car was driven a lot in Italy during the last part of 1984 (autumn and winter). The outcome was that rigidity was considered satisfactory, but the marketing men were afraid that it would kill the sales of the Mondial definitively; these sales were never considered satisfactory until the "Mondial cabriolet" came along, and there were fears that a full convertible of the 328 would kill the Mondial sales, that were only taking off, for good.

The car was featured in the June 1985 issue of the british magazine "Motor", that is before the official launch of the 328; it was also exposed at the 1985 IAA in Frankfurt, Germany, at the same time as the official launch of the 328.

Lots of people talked about it without any definite proof after all these years, until it re-appaered in Italy a few years back, in private hands. Should you see pictures of it (there were some in last years thread) you will notice that it has the "long front bumper" of American-market cars, showing clearly towards which market it was intended.

Another oddity that proves that you can never take anything for granted...

Rgds

 

Post-scriptum:

The post were the car was discussed at length is under the title "328 carbriolet??"
(note the mispelling in title: caRbriolet, not cabriolet).
Opened in 2010, pics added in 2011, not last year; when you begin to think that it is only one year from now, whereas it is two, you are getting old...

Rgds

 

Nerofer - Thank you for your reply. I love learning information like that from all the members here. Its a good day when I learn something new.



PDG


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I had always heard that my car (#74333) was the first built in 88 but wasn't exactly sure... If the chasis list is correct, the first 328 GTS built in 88 (black/black) is alive and well resting comfortably in my garage!
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It seems to me that it would rather be the first 1987-build car registered as a 1988 model in the USA? Because with that chassis number it was built in august/september 1987; the first cars actually built in the calendar year 1988, that is to say leaving the factory after Jan 1st 1988 were in the 75900 range.
Again, this is what Rifledriver underlined above: the concept of "model year" and the actual date of build are two different things.
The factory was still answering enquieries by E-mail about the actual date of build of any car (day/month/year, so you have an official "date of birth", so to say) two years ago, this against an official proof of ownership of the car; AND they didn't charge any cost for this!

Rgds

 

In general the info I gave was approximate however in the case of your car I have data also on 74331, one car before yours. It is also a US model and is an 87 so I think it's pretty safe to say yours is the 1st US 88 328.

 

In the USA, by tradition and by law we always refer to a car by it's model year especially cars as late as 328. Actual date of build is of lesser and really of no legal importance. By the time of the 328 due to our laws any ambiguity of model year was pretty much gone due to various Federal laws. Model year by this time was dictated by the manufacturer and there is some flexability. This was important due to various emission and safety equipment required for various model years.

For example 83 308's were built from Jan or Feb 83 until Dec 83. The 84 was only built from Dec 83 until Jul 84 and the 85 from Jul 84 until Jul 85.


I can't post photos or I would include a photo of a sticker that is under the hood of all emmission era US cars that lists the legal model year. It is also indicated by the 9th digit of the VIN. In the US that dictates the year of the car, no matter the production date.

 

Interesting that the 328s started with 56211 as that has to be an early 85 build. My car, 58027, has a May build date. Was that a pre-production car?? Just like the one Nerofer posted about earlier in the thread??



PDG

 

I think everything prior to 593xx could be considered preproduction but my records for cars before then is very limited.

 

Patrick, Brian

A quick look at Matthias Urban's book ("Handbuch der Ferrari Seriennummern 1947-2007") published in 2008 reveals this:
- entry for 56211: only the chassis number, no full VIN= "GTB, a prototype, maybe mistaken with a 308?"
- then 59105, a 328 GTS
- then 59301, 328 GTS first

Then, a look at "Supplement n°1 to the "Handbuch, etc..." published april last year (= 2012)
- entry for 56211: the full VIN = ZFFWA19B0058211, " 328 GTB, a prototype?"

Rgds

 

Questions that as of yet there is no absolute answer for. My own list has those question marks. Those are 2 of many reasons why this type of information cannot be considered absolute. In many cases even factory records (when available) come into question.

It would not surprise me that a 308 frame was pulled and modified and built into a protoype resulting in #56211 in much the same way 49543 was. But I would sure like to have a reliable eye witness sighting.

 

You are correct. If you look hard enough a the photo I posted, the top of the tag shows that my car was manufactured in Sept. 1987. Like public schools in the US, they must have built cars in the Fall of the prior year for the model year ahead. US automakers did the same thing.

I don't have the original sticker, but I have no reason to believe it isn't one of the first US 328s for that model year.

 

Brian,

The funny thing is there is (was?) one such GTB here in Paris which could fit the description;
it was put for sale by its owner two or three years ago (don't know if it actually sold?).
The pictures showed a Rosso Corsa over Beige leather car which had the "long nose" (= long front bumper) of American-market cars, but otherwise a standard european configuration: no catalysator, etc...
The description said that the car was "an early 1985 development prototype kept for five years in Maranello and only road-registered for the first time in the nineties".
With some research and luck, I maybe able to trace it through friends. Worth the effort, I guess...

Rgds

 

I defer to Brian's explanation as for what is a model year in the United States and how they were determined. We have "model year" also in France since 1979, but it begins every year on July 1st. And even if legally it applies to Ferraris too (the plate put in the engine compartment by the french importer Ch.Pozzi states the "model year" for the car) nobody pay any attention to it for Ferraris, as there are usually no big modifications in Ferraris from model year to model year, as there always is for any other manufacturer; so for Ferraris we only consider date of build, and date of first road-registration.

One short remark from me is that in those days usually the factory in Maranello was almost, if not completly at idle during August every year. Even today August is the main holiday month in Italy. So the actual assembly could even have been July...who knows, with Ferraris?

Rgds

 

Yep! found the add of three years ago...
Look at the car: long front bumper, otherwise it looks standard euro (rear view mirrors, etc).
The text of the add said: "this 328 was development prototype n°3, built in March 1985; was kept at the research department of the factory until mid-1988, when it was first road registered. Very interesting further history; some letters from the factory proof of its history".
Built in March 1985, it COULD be our suspect. The only thing to do now is to trace its former/actual owner, and ask him if he would be kind enough to send the chassis number.
I think I've got a lead...I'll keep you posted.

http://images.forum-auto.com/mesimages/218851/IMG00016.jpg

Rgds

 

Two additional views of the same car, showing that, just as the front end has the "long bumper" of american-markets cars, the rear-end has the more rearwards-bolted grill of American-markets cars, but WITHOUT the letterbox slot for extracting hot air, as the car was put back in european configuration, engine-wise, after the time she spent in development.
According to information given by its owner, the documents he has from the factory states that the car was the "third 328 prototype", dedicated to development of the American-Market version, and has been put back in european configuration by the factory, before being road-registered, except for the bumpers.

Built in March 1985, there is a possibility that it could be our "culprit" (= 56211) and I am trying to have definite proof of this, of course.

Rgds

http://img216.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=226991460_DSC_6569_122_74lo.JPG
http://img208.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=269932626_DSC_6584_122_65lo.JPG

 

Great work.

Now if we can just train people to always photograph the Ch # stamped in the frame it would be so much easier.

 

S/N 56211 can also be recognized by the carpet around the center console (instead of leather). I have done a little research on early 328 GTB's because mine is S/N 58735. According to many sources my car is the first one, but S/N 56211 is an earlier car. I couldn't find any information on other earlier cars, but it's a Ferrari so you never can tell. Maybe mine was the first customer delivered 328 GTB, I don't know...

 

Agreed, however, in my own photographing I usually aim for the plate on the steering column. Its so much easier to get to.




PDG