Interesting that it has a Maserati Badge. I would like to see it from other angles. I noticed the hood is much different than a 308 as well as the body line is much higher. Was this a prototype?
Why is it strange that a Maserati Merak has a Maserati badge on the front grill? The image is a Merak that I photo-chopped when I was considering buying a car to do this with for scooting around town.
Perhaps I should add that #49543 has a full 17 digit VIN as if it was intended for the US market (= not an european VIN). Rgds
I think it looks okay but um... isn't the GTS a "Spider"? They need to come up with another name and maybe cabriolet is no good either since it doesn't appear to have a top. Maybe just seno nudo - "topless"
Will, I thought it was another 308 converted to Spyder since that was the topic of the thread. I didn't realize what you had done.
...which is indeed very interesting given that it is a dry sump carb car...or...had a dry sump motor placed in it at some point.
Lets get this back on rails boys. https://www.herando.com/cars/3783/Ferrari-308-GTSi-Cabriolet-F106AS/?lang=en Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login This one in Red looks a tad better to me but still not loving it.
Oh, and if any of you like the side mirrors from Koenig on the above pics let me know by PM. I have a set you can score for free!
The back end now looks like a Alfa Romeo Spider to me; A car I adore, but this doesn't work on a 308.
At the risk of running against the common taste, I actually like it. With the soft-top on it will certainly be ugly as hell, but open – as presented on the photos – I find it really nice, especially in this colour. Robert www.308gtb.de
I agree...this car looks pretty fun with no top, no rear roll bar thing like the red one...and with a dry sump carb car, should be fun as hell to drive around in the mountains on a Sunday afternoon. I-m a hard core GTB fan as some might well know, but I would rather have one of these than any GTS. Not kidding.
Found some old pics of a Lorenz and Rankl Cabriolet – with and without the top. With the top on it is indeed ugly... and I wonder how fast you can drive until it gets blown away. A pure 'good weather car'. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I think to problem is the mid engine. Back is too long. I don't love it but it certainly looks more awkward with the top up in my opinion. I don't blame someone for trying, though.
I just don't understand the utility of it. Did someone buy a GTS and think, "Gee, there's not enough wind in my hair, and I can totally have an audible conversation with my passenger?" It looks lopsided.
that means they started from a GTB version of the 308, so without the structural reinforcement of the GTS. I do not know if the chassis should be very "fun" to drive .....
Strictly from a design point of view, I think it looks quite good (top down) and consistent with design trends up through the 1980s. Yes, the soft top is awkward, but the one by Ferrari on the yellow 328 prototype looks very good (no surprise), providing a GTB silhouette and done similar to the Mondial T cabriolet's. The "big-bustle" design trend in recent open cars is not as appealing to the eye (IMO), however realizing it is now needed to integrate safety roll hoops and in some cases folding hard tops. Having said all that, my Sawzall will stay in the box...
Agreed it MIGHT not be reinforced, but the GTS is not connected from A to B and neither is this cabrio car, so no reason it can't be made just as "Good" as the GTS (a car I hate, by the way). If I did one of these I would get rid of the doors entirely and just slide over the "door" area to get in the car. The car is so low, that is very simple. That would leave plenty of latitude for strengthening the frame. That is what I had planned for my Merak idea (see page one). Having a carb dry sump cabrio would be cool. If I didn't already have three of these cars, two more than I need at present, I'd like this one...seriously.
The 308 GTS chassis wasn't simply a GTB chassis with a bit of extra bracing welded in here and there - It was designed with its own bespoke chassis to give the car some strength back from removing the roof section. That doesn't mean that, as a complete car, the GTS was as rigid as the GTB, but it does mean that the GTS chassis was already designed to have no roof, whereas the GTB chassis wasn't. Turn a GTS and a GTB into a full convertible, and suddenly the tables are turned - It will be the GTS that will be the more rigid car. As for you hating the GTS: Trust me on this - Nobody cares!