WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A 308/328 - BUYERS GUIDE

Thank you so much, you have been a great help.

 

welcome

 

Thought I'd add these two helpful videos.

308 buyers guide:



328 buyers guide:

 

Merlin Group really knows his Ferrari's. I totally believe what he preaches pedigree and documentation history. it's a maze to find the right one, but there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Ferrari, as Merlin says.

 

Here's another review...

 

I’m in the market and interested thoughts on the value of classiche certification for a 328 or 308 ?

 

Put "classiche certification" in the topic search engine, there are plenty of articles on the subject and nearly as many opinions.

 

Unfortunately only the 3rd and 5th link still work. Anyone have updated links or pdf's of the others. Can't wait to find my 308 GT4!

 

Another two buyers guide videos.

308 series buyers guide.



328 German specification review.

 

Interesting car, as it has a very rare color combination; I do love "Prugna" indeed, but I prefer these "Prugna" cars with a Crema leather interior.
My GTS (= #80515) was sold new in Germany also; it has a "rare" color combination of Nero metallic / Gray leather / Black carpets, and my "other half" always says that it is so nice and subdued ("Tone over tone", as we say in French: "Ton sur Ton") that the car must have been ordered by a woman...

Something has to be done for that "Prugna" car however: it's an "euro" but she sounds strangely "squeezed", like an old sewing machine??
(BTW: German 328s had a more muted muffler than other "euros", due to more stringent noise specs in their country; the muffler had a special number unique to Germany, more sound-deafening wool inside the muffler...)

Rgds

 

Discussion on buying a 328 versus a 308.

Highlighting the merits of both.

 

Another 328 buyers guide.

 

Information on the 328 GTB's.

 

More information on 308's.

 

Information on 308 QV models.

 

Steel body 308 GTB review.

 

And finally here is some information on the fibreglass body 308 GTB.

 

Another 308 review.

 

I truly believe this stream should contain comments from owners and what they experienced rather than rely on a lot of reports of which many are misleading. In short, had I read some comments I would believe that the 308 GTBi/GTSi cars are dogs...In fact, I bought my 308GTBi in June of 1985 and have owned it since. I bought it with 8306 miles on the odometer and have added a bunch of miles. The odometer now reads over 81,000 mile. What I found is my car was

• under priced by $6K because it was not red and not a spider (No Magnum lovers buyers)
• an early Eco-friendly car with performance robbing converters (all '80 cars were slowed trying to meet new standards)
• losing a qt of oil every 300-600 miles due to engine assembly (some car lost less oil but were slow while other cars lost more oil but were faster)
• the newer 308 GTBi were truly 1981 models while the early 308 GTBis (Jan-July were different...using the old 1979 car with a Bosch K Jetronic injector system not Webers
• most dealers were careless and used specs for the true 1981 model year cars that started arriving stateside
• dealers would look at tire alignment for 1981 cars (Speedline 390mm rims and Michelin TRX 220/55 VR-390tires when they aligned my car (WRONG). It cost me two full sets of tires due to wrong tow-in and alignment which scrubbed off tread. One set went in 20k miles.
• The low price of purchase resulted in people not suited to handle Ferrari upkeep cost bought the car and ended up foregoing timely maintenance
• people discovered how easy it was to disconnect the odometer, so cars were sold with bogus actual miles on the odometer
• people were led to believe the early 308 injected car was a flawed car from the beginning and that belief virtually killed it
• those too unfamiliar with the car bought the negative hype and the GTBi/SGTs suffered in sales...
• and by 1983 bought the faster QV models or the Weber carbed models

Over my time of ownership (June 14, 1985-present), I learned the above 'spin' was unwarranted at the start ,but became true as more 308GTBi/GTSi were put up for sale. While some of us who realized the car was blast to drive and faster than expect (case in point - after leaving an event the 308 GTS QV ahead of me floored his car to keep up with his dads 512 Boxer. I followed suit and almost hit the QV, Apparently my old 2v GTBi was as fast or faster than the QV in front)...My car handled as good and rode smoother with the high profiled 205/70/14 tires mounted on Campagnolos, and looked cooler to many people. Each year got better as the car, when maintained properly, could stay with the best out there at the time. To further prove my point, one day the local state trooper stopped by my house and asked "How fast can she go?" When I told him I didn't know, but the manual said 149mph. He replied, "Well, we're going to have to find out." and left...A couple of weeks later he came by again and said we were set up to get radar timed by the state patrol and the local sheriff's station that coming Wednesday. Sure enough he came by to get me in his stick ' 58 Vette. The result was we drove through the trap at 15i mph (not 149) and did 0-60 in 6.7sec. The trooper (who drove my car) said he felt that if we had another 1/4-1/2 mile we could have gone 3 or 4 mph faster. His way of thanking me was to go to the MVD and order a new set of plates as mine were coming due). He instructed me to go to the desk and ask for the plates being held in my name. To my surprise, the plate was RPD 151. I still have the plates hanging in my garage. I took the plate to mean Rapid 151.

Conclusion: In 2019 while on a nice long drive in the country my radiator hose blew and dumped all my fluid...the day was HOT, my car was HOT, and soon I heard the hose blow and watch a steam cloud billowing behind. Too late...the head gasket blew, the head warped and I was towed to the nearest foreign car specialist. The bad news came with a week...the car needed an engine-out long block rebuild (legit). No replacement 308 engine was available and the total rebuilt was going take time and money. I had to make a decision...1) do nothing and write off the car and part-out what could be saved 2) do the long-block for about $50-70k 3) decide to fix all that was wrong with my 40 year old car...I had a long talk with my wife about what was needed...about an hour late, she came back and said 'Oh H-ll, just fix whatever needs to be fixed...we'l cover the cost somehow...(we are celebrating our 60 anniversary this
coming April '25). I was willing to spend over $165K to keep the car, and the invoices (47) came in at $168K. Was it worth it to me? A resounding YES. A 'new' 1980 GTBi totally refurbished and everything working better than when new. photo of my car

I hope all with 308s consider my thoughts and actions and help save an endangered species of Ferrari CCCVIII
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Details of original colors etc by chassis no link - thanks to Toby Gaff

https://www.ferraribeverlyhills.com/the-registry

 

Such a nice story John! I am happy to hear that You went for the full restoration! great car and color combination! I love my 77 GTB dry sump that I bought 3 years ago!