308's with radio delete

Ask a specialist like The Ferrari Centre - if they do not have they might know who does

 

If someone wants an OEM cover, I've may decide to part with one at an astronomical price. Please contact me with an offer at [email protected]

 

There's a guy from the UK who makes a bunch of the Ferrari and other marque's decals...he's the one who does the repro delete cover. Good quality for the $40. Once I told him "yes, go please go make one", it was ~4 weeks until it was ready and he listed via eBay Private Auction. I had to purchase some additional M4 x.70 threaded bar and coupling nuts (McMaster Carr) to accommodate the interior shape of my radio slot.

 

Bump: Just picked one up on Ebay from the UK and received it . Yes it's a repro and I thought that it was very good.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/Ferrari-308-GTS-GTB-Radio-Delete-Dashboard-Fascia-Plate-Remake/202354678890?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

PS: no affiliation to the seller.

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When I redid the interior on my former 308 I just made one out of some aluminum. I drilled, countersunk, and then filled screws in from the front before covering with extra vinyl I had from my carpet kit. It looked right at home.

 

I bought mine from the same seller. Good repro for the $.

 

Looks like that ebay listing for the radio blank is no longer active and I can't find any others. Anyone have an eBay link to an active listing? I pulled the stereo and deciding what to do in it's place. weighing:
1. installing a blank plate
2. installing a storage compartment (single din blank possibly)
3. moving the vents up to that position.

 

Why not just install a period-correct stereo and be done with it?

And don't move the air conditioning vents. That's just more work than is necessary, and still will look wrong.

 

Yes I’m leaning away from moving the vents. But would rather have no radio and either have a little storage compartment or a blank faceplate. I like the minimalism of these cars and want to cut out anything not original that I don’t need.


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Well, if you want to stay "original" making it a storage compartment or moving the vents is out of the question.

 

Image Unavailable, Please Login You need one of these, radio dash trim pieces. Very clean look without the need for a radio delete.

 

Someone else suggested that too - I’ve never seen this trim before - have never seen a 308 with it installed. Do you have any pictures by any chance of a 308 with this on?

And I guess you then have the choice of adding the vents to the bottom of this or leaving the vents off completely.


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I'm not sure I understand the logic in fighting like hell to delete the radio with the reason and intention of "staying original"

I have been following 308's with a magnifying glass for just under 39 years and I can count on one hand the number I have seen with a radio delete. If the factory didn't expect a radio to be part of the features, it would have not specifically created a space for it and wired the doors for speakers. Early on they actually left the factory with them installed.

I fully support the "it's my car, I'll do what I want" philosophy but if it's originality someone is striving for, deleting the radio isn't going to make the car "more correct". Personally, they look a little odd without one down in there to me - but it has to be period correct. If you have a carbed car, any non digital Blaupunkt cassette will look spot on. Any injected car matches perfectly with a digital Blaupunkt cassette (just none of that CD ****)

If you don't like listening to the radio just don't turn it on. Hell don't even hook it up, just buy a "parts only" from eBay and simply stick it in there.

I have a damn nice system in my 84 but if you look in it you will see it EXACTLY as it was in April 1984 - all the way down to the correct Blaupunkt head unit (an Aspen and I know this because I have the invoice from FAF when they installed it before the car was delivered to the original owner). The rest of the set up that makes it sing is hidden from view. I get the originality crowd.

So mine appears dead-on original but sounds like 2019 if you want to hear it work.

 

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Here is a picture of the trim piece installed. You can also see the vents installed below. It’s the same factory piece from new that hasn’t had the vinyl covering cut to accept the radio. I assume that this is how the 308 would have arrived from the factory to the dealer before the radio was installed. A much cleaner look to a radio delete in my opinion.

 

Here is the eBay address for this part.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ferrari-308-Radio-Dash-Trim/303258572632?hash=item469b9e9758:g:KJAAAOSwKeldW0-E

 

Every now and then, the user will produce a batch and put them up for sale.
So just be patient and tenacious and keep looking.
FWIW, I regularly search "Ferrari 308" parts on E-Bay, and sometimes things I need come up suddenly.

 

Here is mine from my 85QV, pretty sure its original. It looks like the glue has started to fail on the back. looks like rust on the back but I don't think it is because its more like a glue stain or something. I Have the original radio that the dealer installed so this was kept and passed on to me by the two previous owners.
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It's Ferrari vintage glue stains. You'll find the same thing on the back headliner panels.

 

If you reach out to the seller on eBay, he'll make one for you, and, create a special eBay listing for you to purchase one. That's what he did for me.

 

I'm in the "install a period-correct radio" crowd. To me, the blanking plate looks silly; a radio there looks a lot better. It's hard for me to understand why anyone would have bought one of these cars and NOT had the dealer install a radio. It's a Grand Touring car, not a race car.

 

I tried reaching out to the eBay seller “roboheros” but haven’t heard back. Was he the same seller you used?

 

No one above has mentioned the 2 reasons for FNA to not send cars to the dealers with no radio head units. Car buyers had their own idea of the "best radio" In the late eighties buyers generally wanted either a Sony, Alpine, Blaupunkt or a Becker. So the dealer would let the buyer pic. The most important reason was this was a selling opportunity for the dealer. They could over charge the buyer and make a lot of money on the deal.

 

Well...if the issue about the frequency selection of European vs US radios is correct, that would make logical sense for Ferrari NOT installing a radio for cars bound for the USA. It's not as if Ferrari was a large enough factory to have an assortment of radios in stock for various markets. Clearly, since they installed speakers and an antenna in the cars at the factory, they planned to install a radio from the beginning or expected the dealer to do it).

So install a radio in as Enzo intended!

 

Mike,

Our "Euro" cars didn't get a radio from the factory either. The "head unit" was "dealer installed", sometimes offered. The french Ferrari historic importer, "Charles Pozzi", had a sponsorship with "Pioneer" in rally racing, so our cars got a "Pioneer" head unit, usually offered by Pozzi if the car was sold by the head office of Pozzi in Levallois (= suburbs of Paris), which is the case of my '89 GTB, which has a Pioneer head unit with a small cavallino badge, offered by Pozzi.

Rgds

 

It's all a matter of taste, but with the radio delete cover, the dashboard is screaming "there's something missing here" on me.
I would prefer a period correct radio. Even if I would never use it.
But wait; I love listening to good music while being caught in heavy traffic or around town or similar driving situations.
And honestly; After 23 years of ownership that "awesome" carb induction and exhaust noise can get bothersome on longer trips.

Best from Germany
Martin