From hagerty

Cool
Silver over red is the best combo

 

Saw the car in person out in Scottsdale and it really is just stunning! On a side note.... Yes the lights are wrong... Sorry Brad!

 

Why are the tail lights so often wrong? Annoying . . .

 

Why are the tail lights so often wrong? Annoying . .

Good question.

 

Those tail light believe it or not came out of the factory that way. Once in a while a 308 will be put together with what you call reverse. I don't know why but that's how Maranello is. I've met a few original owner who bought their 308 brand new with the reverse tail light orientation.

 

Just watched the entire clip and had not realized the owner actually addressed the question in the video.

I'd never heard that . . . so bizarre. I've long known about the theory that they would simply grab whatever was on the shelf that day . . . but I'd never heard about this.

Explains a lot LOL

 

Did US cars come with metric wheels standard in '83? He has the original window sticker so I assume it did.

 

Great car and surprisingly it looks good in a boxer color configuration.

 

My '83 GTB has 16" and the original sticker doesn't list them as options

 

around 2:27 he shifts from 3rd to 5th , skipping 4th. anyone know why he would do this?

 

Sure. If he's completely done accelerating, and wants to just maintain speed at low Revs.

 

You go to the next gear you need, not the next gear.

I turn down a hill from a stop sign every morning. First from the sign, then third. Don't need second after first down that hill. That sort of thing.

 

thanks, I never knew that. I always go in order. Ive only just been driving stick for a year since taking a long break from the stick cars of my youth.

 

That's not true. The guys at the factory had no confusion how the tail lights went.

Good wives tale but just not true.

 

They came both ways.

 

+1

 

You shift to the gear you need. you can go 3 to 5 to save some gas miles. The more important thing is downshifting. If you are on a high speed straight and need to go from 4th to 2nd. No time to stop for 3rd.

 

Hello everyone- glad you enjoyed the video, I'm certainly enjoying the car as you can see! The car is unfortunately still in Arizona, I didn't see any point in bringing it home to Maryland until winter was over with. I learned a lot about the car in the week I was able to actually have it in my possession. Couple of notes:

1. The Birdman site apparently references the commonality of swapped taillights, but who knows. The original owner swears he never messed with them, so I'm a little confused in the matter.

2. In "cruise mode" I found going 1-3-5 through the gears was no problem, and while a hair lazy, 2nd seems pretty unnecessary most of the time unless you're trying to move out. I'm sure it did look a little funny to see me do that, though...

3. I have a lot to learn still about the car, but I LOVE it. I've been doing a lot of reading here on F-Chat and you guys have been more helpful already than you know!

 

dang all this talk makes me want to get out and drive. Angeles Crest Highway sounds like what I need.

 

That was great. Pretty car in a beautiful part of the US.

 

In know. Tried to go today, but 70mph winds scared me off. I was literarily about to back out and watched the garbage cans roll across the street. Maybe tomorrow.

 

I have a little bit of info on why some 308 that had the tail lights changed. Apparently a new law that went into effect (early 80's) in some states, NY, MA, etc stated that you had to see some of the stop light from a certain angle that includes part of the side of the vehicle so some Ferrari dealers changed the order of the back lights so that the stop light on the back was closest to the side and could be seen from almost a 90 degree angle.

 

Thanks! I guess it only takes a few minutes to switch them back and forth. I may move them around to see what it looks like, but I don't mind it the way it is...