308 GT4 vs 308 GTS - Is the Tide Turning?

Image Unavailable, Please Login
The even numbers and the fact it did actually race in Le Mans , all adds up .

 

The original 308GT4 that was entered at Le Mans was just sold in the UK by Max Girardo. And it was not a factory entry. It was entered by N.A.R.T. There’s a comprehensive history at girardo.com

 

One of the reasons why I bought a GT4 is that many people have said that it (and the Mondials) rides/drives much better than the 2 seat cars that followed due to the longer wheelbase. I can't respond since I only rode in a 308 GTS once and no other Ferraris. The GT4 certainly rides well tho mine is rather hard due to the many suspension mods, say, as compared to my daily driver, a 2016 Porsche Cayman. I will say the folks at the new Ferrari dealer in Nashville and all their customers have been absolutely blown away by my 328 GT4/LM. There have been a whole lot of OMG!!!! WHAT IS THAT'S ?!?!!?!? It certainly has been an attention grabber.

 

The NART entry was for the 1975 Le Mans. The following for the 1974 Le Mans is from http://ferrari.jimperry.net/nart4.html:

The one-off 308 LM was one of the last GT race cars to be prepared by the Ferrari factory. Built to be a LeMans Group 5 car, it is based on a standard 308 GT (we believe that the car was built from the first production prototype). The modifications involved all aspects of the car: motor, braking, suspension, aerodynamics, and lightening.

The motor was extensively modified to long distance racing standards. Competition Daytona pistons and rods were installed; the crankshaft and cylinders were machined to increase clearances slightly. The heads were ported and polished. Valves were standard, though polished, and the exhaust valves were xrayed for hidden faults. 42mm carburetor venturis, coupled with a modest race cam and an excellent set of exhaust headers completed the power boost modifications. To maintain oil pressure during hard cornering, the oil pan baffeling was completely reworked. The result was an engine that would produce 300 hp at about 8200 rpm and could last for 24 hours. (Personally, the wonderful reliability has been one of the great delights of the car.)

Image Unavailable, Please Login ​

To stop the car, Girling 4 cup calipers with DSII competition pads were mounted all around. The master cylinders, linkage box, and hoses were from the 512. Brake cooling ducts were installed and the results, even with stock disks, are amazing.

To help around corners, the suspension was reworked to the extent allowed by the rules. Elastic suspension bushings were replaced by rigid ones. The A-frames were extensively drilled for lightening. New anti-sway bars were installed front and rear, and the car was shod with Goodyear 8 x 15's in front and 10.5 x 15's in the rear.

Weight, the eternal enemy, was removed by the construction of new super light aluminum doors; the replacement of all glass except for the windshield with plastic; and, the fabrication of new motor and front deck lids out of light-gauge aluminum. The new result was a car that, when filled with 40 gallons of gas and all other liquid, weiged 2350 lbs.

Aerodynamics were cleaned up with a spoiler and an adjustable wing. The overall effect was esthetically very pleasing (and personally a nice improvement on the somwhat prissy appearance of the production car). During track tests, the car achieved a top speed of 283 - 286 km/hr or 176 mph.

Image Unavailable, Please Login ​

The car was completed in June of 1974, just a few days before the LeMans race. The car, unfortunately, retired with clutch problems in the fourth hour while standing 38th.

 

Sorry, but I couldn’t locate your car on BAT. Could you possibly provide a link? Thanks.

 

google "modified 1979 ferrari 308 gt4"

 

I'm pretty certain this is it:

https://bringatrailer.com/listing/1979-ferrari-308-gt4-8/

 

We got a 308 GTB in 1977 (still have it) and at the time I thought it was the best looking car ever.
Many years later, my GT4 really seems to look better and better. Just the other day I had it out in the driveway and was going over the the neighbors yard to see what it looks like from afar and just staring at it as it looks so cool...and I have had the car almost 15 years!

 

I see that point, having lived through the 308 introduction. But I'm an old-timer now. My kids, that all drive, don't know what "Magnum PI" is or even "Miami Vice" though we have GTB, GT4 and Testarossa in the family. They did watch Rush, and saw the red GT4, however!

 

Lauda character getting out of 308 GT4 from movie "Rush" 2013.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

That rarity card isn't helping an 82 Mondial 8 much is it.

 

Don't you love the slogan in the printed advertisement... Ferrari, there is no alternative, whereas Porsche ran with Porsche, there is no substitute for ages.

Wonder who copied who ??

 

Non è bello ciò che è bello ma è bello che ciò che piace.

 

@ramblero you pushing that 328gt4lm stuff here too? There is no thing as a 328GT4LM. You have a modified series 2 308gt4. By definition it is not LM spec at the first mention of 3.2 litres. Let alone your car's builder, IFS comments from BAT sale “LM spec was a GT4 built to race full on. The data is available to pic and choose from for a project. This car is not full race spec, it would not be street able.” Not a bad car but Ferrari (or dino) never made a 328GT4LM. You have a modded street car. And I'm not dissing your car - just the "one true" name.

Cracks me up. Sorry all for making a big deal but he randomly hit me up on BAT earlier this week out of nowhere. I guess it hits me funny because I grew up around the real car. Bill Schanbacher was a family friend - like holiday dinners together. I saw the LM at vintage races in Sears Point and Laguna Seca. We all called it Bill's taxi because he would give everybody rides on Ferrari Club track days. I made a tribute livery on my car, but I don't call it a real NART or LM. It is the one car I would sell my kidney for and probably wouldn't cover the buyers commission.

Sorry I normally don't throw shade....

 

And This is what 308gt4LM looked like when I was a kid. And this was the 206sp we bought from Bill with me working on it - my mom was managing me. (Targa florio class winning, 2nd overall)
Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

@ramblero I also like the comment about seeing the GT4 at the Palo Alto concourse - that was probably my car! (no joke)

 

Kind of what I was getting at with this…

And this…

I also have a connection, albeit slight, with the car. Harley Cluxton and I were classmates at university a looonnnggg time ago.

 

modified 1979 308 GT4

 

See. https://supercarnostalgia.com/blog/ferrari-dino-308-gt4-lm which describes in detail the Ferrari factory entry of the 308GT4/LM in the 1974 Le Mans. Others have remarked that it was the only Ferrari production (-based) car ever raced at LeMans.

 

Rarity. These numbers are very interesting indeed. When compared with modern production numbers and particularly Porsche the old F cars are so rare..

206/246: 3913
328: 6068
308: 13242
308GT4:2826
365bb/512bb,i.: 2323
Testa:7177

 

I believe that only 518 GT4’s were imported into the US? Something I remember reading quite some time ago. I definitely could have the number wrong.


Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app

 

Not sure as I'm in NZ, but I'm amazed at the low number of GT4's vs others f cars vs value. The smart money has to be on GT4's. Sadly I read this with a bit of a frustration as I sold mine some years back. How many really left intact also.... a rare wee beast.!!s

 

Your 328 figures are wrong: there were:
1344 328 GTB + 6068 328 GTS + One (= 1) factory made cabriolet; total production = 7413;
but that would be forgetting the "Turbos" (= turbo intercooler, their italian-market cousins: 828 "Turbo GTSs" and 308 "Turbo GTBs")
7413 + 1136 = 8549 cars with the 328 body.

Rgds

 

… and I think the 308 GTS/GTB sausage needs to be sliced a little more finely. The variants are quite distinct from each other.

308 Vetroresina: 808
308 Carbureted: 5,404
308 2v Injected: 2,237
308 4v Injected: 3,790

I didn’t include 208s, Michelottos, etc for simplicity. The full breakdown is here:
https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/3x8-production-numbers-by-year-of-manufacture.446306/#post-143103888

 

I like the blue. I'm doing Blue-Dino-Met - original on mine - but I like that dark blue too. It looks like Hans' car.