Embarrasing/Funny Moments in your 3x8

Sorry, I have no such story in my mind, but your second one reminds me of some workshop idiots, who mixed up front and rear wheel bolts on a friend's 308.
When they realized, that the rear wheels were loose, they tried an impact driver.
With the result of five 'nice' 3mm deep imprints on the uprights and smashed rear wheel bearings.

Best Regards
Martin

 

Well, there was the time that I drove through a parking lot past a local Harley-Davidson gathering... not especially surprised to find the bikers looking and pointing, but seemed like they were laughing more than cheering.... Looked in rear view mirror and the engine cover was unlatched and flapping up and down. It's not easy to make a 308 look ridiculous, but it can be done.

 

After I got my GTSi, I went to the 7-11 for gas. I looked all over that car for a place to put the gas in. I had the front bonnet open, then the engine lid all at once, and was walking around the car scratching my pointed head. The people around me must think I'm some kind of nut. Finally I gave up and took it to it's new home. I have a hangar at the local airport where she now lives. I put her in her spot, and went to the refer and got a beer. While sitting there looking at my new treasure, my eye caught the lock on the louver, and I remembered the funny looking little keys on the key ring. Needless to say I felt like a f###king dummy. Now if I can figure out where to put the oil in I'm good to go. That's what I get for driving Pcars all my life.

Klatu aka dumb sh#t

 

I think I have these posted here already in a similar thread, but
1) Pulled into a parking garage in NYC. They wouldn't let me park it myself so I wanted to leave, but couldn't get the car into reverse. I didn't know then that the linkage bushing decided right then & there to fail. The garage valets helped me push it back out on to the road. They got a nice tip anyway.

2) Turning on to Canal off the Henry Hudson, the car just died. The fuel pump fuse blew. I managed to roll off to the one place where there was a shoulder & swap in a new one (I carry extra). This is NYC, so sure lots of cars blew there horn even though I wasn't blocking them.

3) Sure, I've had an unsecure trunk flop open going speed bumps a couple times..

4) Giving an enthusiast a ride home from an Arena motors event, the car started running on one bank. The bank 1-4 light came on. We pulled over to find out the distributor cap had oil in it from a leaking cam seal. Drove her the rest of the way home. Rather than a spirited ride, the young kid had a disappointing ride nursing the car back.

5) For quite a while, I suffered from the Hot-start problem. She'd pick her moment when she simply wouldn't start. Gas stations, auto parts stores, restaurants, etc. btw: took quite a while before a Ferrari dealer found it to be a failing fuel pump.

 

I had the gas filler problem with a Countach. Took me 30 minutes to find it. If you know you know, but if you don't...well good luck finding it then.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Went to a petrol station to fill up the nearly empty GT4 and only then noticed that i brought the keychain without the fuel tank cap key.

So what i did was to open the engine cover lid, unscrewed the fuel gauge sender on the top of the left tank, removed the sender and then filled the car up using the sensor hole while trying to pretend that this is how it is always done with these cars. That worked out quite well but took a bit longer than usual.

 

I cringed and shouted "stop!" while I watch a non-Ferrari mechanic push real hard to close the front hood on a 2Vi... he eventually stopped after the hood bent.

 

Great stories! I am going to have to think of some...


PDG

 

I was in a rush (isn't always the case) and stripped the oil pan drain hole.

So stupid on my part. Really embarrassing having to explain what happened to the mechanic.

 

In May last year I had just finished some work on my 84 308 GTS, and decided to drive my 16 year old daughter to her track meet in it. I parked, turned it off, and opened the trunk to get her track bag. She walked off, and I sat down into the car, turned the key, and "click... click..." The starter had siezed! As I got out of the car, a good looking woman walked by and said to me "any car that gorgeous should be illegal!". I thanked her, and was debating if I should ask her to help push start the car... embarrassing! There were crowds of people coming and going to the track via the entrance right beside where I was parked.

I decided not to ask for her help, as I was stopped on a very slight down slope with the wheels against a speed bump. Nonchalantly I pushed the car forward so the wheels were over the speed bump, then hopped in and coasted along the parking lot road, hoping nobody would turn in front of me and force me to brake. After 30 or 40 yards, I had enough speed to bump start the car and drive home.

 

Oh dear.... let's just hope that no other GT4 owner pulls into that particular station and asks them to fill the tank....

 

A month after getting my GT4 the battery needed replacing so l drove to the local car parts store to buy a replacement battery..

In fear that my car wouldn't start l left the engine running while l went into the store to get the battery.
My brother was with me and remained in the car.

When I tried to open the front bonnet/hood,the release lever snapped off in my hand and as it snapped, my hand bumped the ignition key and snapped that as well..

So not only did l have to replace the battery,l had to replace the hood release handle as well as pick out the broken key...

That was a long sunday afternoon.

 

The day my car came off the transport truck, it was backed off at my curbside but facing the wrong direction for me to just drive her into the garage. The petrol guage showed very little fuel remaining but no low fuel warning light. I decided to drive the one mile around the block to get her facing the right way. As soon as I was heading away from home, the low fuel light came on. I thought to myself, there should still be plenty of gas to drive another three-quarters of a mile, surely. Well, I ran out of gas about a half a block from my house.

The car stopped right in front of an elderly woman's home. As I started to push my car towards home, the woman, who had to have been at least 80 years old, asked if I wanted her to help me push! I gave her a big smile and a little chuckle, thanked her sincerely, and told her it was a pretty light weight italian car, so I thought I could handle it on my own. I still smile every time I drive by her house thinking of my first day with my 308.

 

A few years after buying my '88 328, my son was driving the car around with a friend and stalled it at a stop light about a mile from our house. Couldn't get it restarted as they had apparently flooded it so they pushed it into a nearby parking lot and called me. I came to the rescue but couldn't get it started either, even after a few hours. I finally called a tow truck. The kids got bored and left. The tow truck couldn't safely get the car on the truck so they called for another 'lower profile' truck and brought plywood and 2x4's. After a few more hours and a very complicated procedure, we finally got it on the truck and I paid $150 for it to be delivered a mile away to the house.Then another very complicated reverse procedure to get the car off the truck. By then (5 hours later) my son had come home so I asked him to sit in the car and steer it while we pushed it into the garage. While we were pushing, he turned the key.....and the car started. He drove it 4 feet into the garage. The car had never flooded before, and never flooded again. Most expensive one mile ever put on the car.

 

This was in the first week of 328 ownership. I decided to show off the car by driving to a friends barbecue in it. When I left I immediately realized something was not right. Instead of accelerating away from the watching crowd the car popped and banged and would not accelerate at all. In fact it was so slow I managed to block the traffic slightly as I turned into the main road. Totally uncool.
Drove down the main road still spluttering. Because I was preoccuped by this, I made a wrong turn and ended up in a crowded high street (Dorking in Surrey) and then found the car would not idle either and stalled at lights in the middle of the high street.

I got it started in the end and surrounded by crowds I opened the engine cover and for some reason, some kind of intuition told me to fiddle about with the coil LT wiring. Suddenly there was a loud bang which rather surprised the crowd. This was all the unburned fuel in the dead bank igniting (as thats what the problem was) . Then it was running fine so I drove away trying to look cool (but failing).

 

My wife got her hand stuck in a 308 headlight door at the Auburn auction park.

 

Here's my story:

1985 308GTSQV... driving from New Castle PA to Atlanta Ga. circa 1999 or so... with my wife of one year. she said she would come with me if we broke the trip into two days and stayed up in Asheville & do the Biltmore & the sites.... so we leave My folks place at 6 AM - drive through PA, WVA, into NC about 2Pm = only 2 hours or so from Ashville .... my wife has been complaining about how uncomfortable she is cant sleep in the car too noisy etc... finally she's sound asleep... then I hit what looks like the cord from a truck tire .. just clip it... could not get out of the way - too much traffic ... only going 65 mph.. about 10 min later the steering wheel starts to shake violently, smoke coming from passengers front wheel well.. she wakes up screaming what happening... FLAT TIRE! its totally flat, shredded... the cord i ran over was stuck in the side.. so pull over get the jack out to change the tire... cant get the jack under the car... so move the car, in the process of getting the jack ready I un wound it and broke the jack. State cop stops = "you need any help"? - "Na, I'm good "- embarrased to say i broke the jack.... finally fix the jack, another state cop stops by - he helps me get the car up on his small floor jack. & I change the tire... for the spare.

No air in the spare tire. limp 20 miles on partially inflated tire to gas station - fill it up with air - fix a flat just incase its got a leak.... drive to Asheville - Grove Park lodge - covered in brake dust, have a crappy meal... dead tired.. next day - tire is holidng so we go to biltmore come out - tire low on air ... more air more fix a flat - make it to Atlanta - wife does not ride in the car for about 3 months... Oh funny part ... is when i take the car to FOA for service - Wade says - I see you got the tire fixed.. I say how did you know? he says - yea, I saw you I was headed north bound but it looked ok you had a cop with you.....

 

I've got a few of good gt4 stories...
The first was getting the car...
Although I am a long time Alfa Romeo owner I have always wanted a Ferrari . Of course this fell on my wife's deaf ears. One day when she was really particularly tired of hearing me whine she broke down and said; "Tell you what, you really want a Ferrari, we have an 8 year old child so if you can find a Ferrari with a back seat she can ride in you can have it." As she tells the story, the car was in the driveway two weeks later.

I have sworn that if I ever get back up to Northern VA I am going to break most of the assault laws in the state regarding the people who serviced the car before I bought it. If they could have bodged, duct taped or junk yard rigged the repairs, they did...
So, while still with the PO the clutch cable had failed and instead of replacing it, it was brazed back together and ground to fit through the mounting nut. Fast forward to my ownership of the car. I notice the cable "repair" but we are getting ready to drive the car on a 500 plus mile round trip to North Carolina and the cable had not been an issue in two years of ownership. In fact if I had not replaced the clutch and rebuilt the linkage I wouldn't have know about the cheesy repair in the first place. Anyway, me, my wife and my 10 year old daughter are in the car sitting at a stop light, the light turns green and I push in on the clutch pedal when there is a loud bang! My wife says that didn't sound good and want to know what happened. I told her that the clutch cable broke and to get out and start pushing. We bail out and start shoving the Dino through the intersection when a passing motorist jumps out to help. Pushing the car he says he always wanted a Ferrari. As we pushed the car into the parking lot of a friends Italian restaurant I remembered the back driveway was down hill... Imploring my wife and the friendly stranger to keep pushing (my daughter had stayed blissfully uninvolved reading in the back seat) I jumped back into the Dino and on the downhill section of the lot managed to get the car back into gear and drove home without the clutch. As I drove away I heard the stranger say to my wife that I had left her... She replied it was OK she knew the restaurant owner and that she would just go in and drink until I came back... Which I did about 40 minutes later in our Ford Escape.

The following year we are taking the Dino on the same North Carolina trip (it was to our Alfa Club Christmas Party). My wife is picking up some weekend chow for the kid and her grandmother and I am finishing the checks on the Dino. I decide to take the car up to the local wishy wash and clean it off. After I finish washing the car I start to drive out of the carwash when the Dino dies. I can't hear the fuel pump so I call my wife and she sends me a wrecker. The guy loads me up and tows me the two miles home (for $150.00) and drops the car in the driveway. After he leaves my wife is steering while I push the car into the garage. I am shouting to her because the windows are up so she turns the ignition switch and rolls down the drivers window. Of course when she does I hear the fuel pump running... "Turn the key further," I tell her... The V-8 rolls right into life and she looks up at me a like I am the village idiot. The problem: I had reverse engineered the Birdman's fuse boxes and one of my solder joints was weak. It broke in the car wash but the bouncing on the wrecker had temporarily restored the connection. A jumper wire kept the Ferrari on the trip and a few minutes with a soldering iron when we got home fixed the problem permanently. So much for saving money on the fuse boxes...

 

Some good stories here are two of mine. I suppose like others I felt more stupid than others observing thought I was or maybe not.

First, it was a beautiful sunny July morning, the car was warm, and I had just gotten on the highway. On ramps are always a good source of fun and so I wound it up in 3rd. After passing a few cars and coming up to a 270 degree off ramp, the engine just dies, totally stops, no life. I roll down the ramp and finally come to a stop, open the engine bay. A guy in a Lexus who I had blown by flashes his lights and honks. (The problem was the trigger ring for the electronic ignition had moved and thus zero spark.)

Second, this past December, I took the car on a short errand and then to get gas. It was about 35 degrees out. I filled up the car and then pulled to the exit which was about 100 feet from a four way intersection with a light. I look left, the light is red, I look left and there is a car a little way away but not too far. Pull out and give it a little gas, the rear end slides way out and I am now on the edge of the yellow line and pointed at a van just coming through the light. I kept the car on its line but I was embarrassed. Cold tires and cold pavement.

 

I had my Dino for less than one week and I took my middle daughter on her first Ferrari ride. After we fill it up with gas I get on it to let her hear the beautiful sounds of 7000 RPM and an exhaust valve breaks. The look on her face was pure horror as I am sure I looked the same. I pulled over to the side of the road and the "garbage disposal full of nuts and bolts" sound stops. I get back in the car and she asks me if all Ferraris sound like that

 

Just 2 while I've owned my '87 328:

Refueling at the starting point for an FCA drive with 40 others watching, I climb in to drive away from the gas pumps and the key won't go in. Darn thing simply wouldn't go into the ignition switch. All of a sudden there are 5 then 10 then 20 folks trying to help me, with quite a variety of suggestions. Nothing worked. In desperation after everyone gave up and left, I jammed the darned thing in as hard as I could and Voila, it went right in and turned. Felt kinda conspicuous while the crowd gathered but very relieved not to have to get a tow.

On another FCA drive coming into the restaurant destination, I needed to back away from what wasn't a big enough parking space, only to find that reverse was now neutral. Shifted into other gears then back into reverse, but no grab in that gear. I rolled the car into a parking space, went in and had lunch, on the way out talked with another 328 owner about reverse. He casually mentioned that sometimes his shift lever wouldn't go down easy into gear and my mouth went wide open. I had never once pushed the lever down to get into reverse and it had been working perfectly for 3 years. Back out at the car, I pushed down, and it worked perfectly. I felt stupid, but nobody laughed (while I could see them).

 

With almost 2 years of 308 ownership under my belt, I am starting to rack them up.

The most embarrassing thing I've done is posting for troubleshooting help on FerrariChat when my light buckets would go up but the lights wouldn't come on. Got lots of good troubleshooting suggestions too, ... except the critical one that the top position on the stalk switch is buckets up / lights off. Noobie dumb dumb dumb.

I find it a little embarrassing pulling up to a gas pump and discovering that I'm just a couple of inches too far back to clear the pump protection post and my stupid door will only go 1/4 open before it bumps the post and I can hardly squeeze out. Why don't I just restart the engine and drive forward 4 inches???

And of course there is the constant liability of owning a "Ferraris are supposed to be red" car. At last year's Concorso Italiano I opened the passenger side door of my car, threw in my water bottle and sweater, closed the door and tried to lock it. My key didn't work. The car owner just watched me in amusement without saying anything. Probably done it himself in the past.

 

Several months ago, while driving with my oldest son on the highway cursing about 80ish in the fast lane passing cars left and right, then suddenly I noticed my car began to jerk and it began losing power, so I immediately pulled off at the next exit which I got a quarter mile more out of the car before it died on a residential road. While standing next to the car calling for help, my son noticed this sign that was in the scrubs which was kind-a-funny, but it really didn’t help.

It’s rare that you see a Ferrari pulled over on the side of the road dead… it was somewhat embarrassing having cars whizzing staring at you and the sign…

A good 308 friend came to my rescue and help me get the car home… It turns out it was dead battery caused by the belt slipping on the alternator… easy fix!
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