308GT4: Who designed the Series II grille opening? | Page 2 | FerrariChat
Buy

308GT4: Who designed the Series II grille opening?

Discussion in '308/328' started by Jack-the-lad, Jan 6, 2023.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Page 2 of 2
  1. Jack-the-lad

    Jack-the-lad Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 22, 2004
    79,217
    Danger Close at Moot Pointe, Gulf of America
    #26 Jack-the-lad, Jan 24, 2024
    Even with ROW bumpers the grille is pretty obscured. I guess if Gandini wanted us to see them he wouldn’t have made them black!;) Although the grille on the car in Volkmar’s picture is silver….
     
  2. 500tr

    500tr Formula 3

    Feb 28, 2004
    1,220
    Germany
    Full Name:
    Volkmar Spielmann
    #27 500tr, Jan 25, 2024
    It is a Series 2 car with a Series 2 grill which is simply cut on each side. According to German regulations, nothing is allowed to cover the headlights.
     
    Jack-the-lad likes this.
  3. 500tr

    500tr Formula 3

    Feb 28, 2004
    1,220
    Germany
    Full Name:
    Volkmar Spielmann
    #28 500tr, Jan 25, 2024
    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    365 GT4 BB, German delivery. Same shortened grill
     
    Jack-the-lad likes this.
  4. Jack-the-lad

    Jack-the-lad Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 22, 2004
    79,217
    Danger Close at Moot Pointe, Gulf of America
    #29 Jack-the-lad, Jan 25, 2024
    Thank you for the explanation.
     
  5. 500tr

    500tr Formula 3

    Feb 28, 2004
    1,220
    Germany
    Full Name:
    Volkmar Spielmann
    #30 500tr, Jan 25, 2024
    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    German and Italian Style Series 2 grill.
    By the way, Classiche indicated the German grill wrong during Certification process so we had to change the grill for some photos to avoid endless discussions. Now it is changed back again, but wrong in the Red Book.
     
    Jack-the-lad likes this.
  6. Jack-the-lad

    Jack-the-lad Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 22, 2004
    79,217
    Danger Close at Moot Pointe, Gulf of America
    #31 Jack-the-lad, Jan 25, 2024
    Classiche had no record or understanding of the German requirement when the car was built? I assume that the car left the factory with the German approved grill, or were they modified by the German importer/dealers?
     
  7. 500tr

    500tr Formula 3

    Feb 28, 2004
    1,220
    Germany
    Full Name:
    Volkmar Spielmann
    #32 500tr, Jan 25, 2024
    I‘m pretty sure the car left the factory with that modification. But I do not believe this was recorded by Ferrari in these days.
     
    Jack-the-lad likes this.
  8. miked

    miked Formula Junior

    Feb 7, 2001
    912
    Cincinnati, Ohio
    #33 miked, Feb 6, 2024
    I'll throw in my 2 cents worth with something to ponder.

    With the introduction of the GT4 it was designated as a Dino, not a Ferrari so it needed to be something different and the GT4 certainly was. Fast forward to 1976, the Dino was re-badged as a Ferrari, the 308 GTB had been introduced as a Ferrari and the 512bb (revamped 365bb) had just been introduced so updating the front design of the GT4 to emulate the rest of the Ferrari line would be in order. Identifiable similarities across the product line for marketing purposes.

    A case in point: I have 3 Oliver tractors, Oliver's are defined by "series" (Fleetline, Super, 3 digit etc.) in which all the tractors had a similar appearance theme for each series. If a particular model tractor continued otherwise unchanged into the next series the front grill is replaced with a new one characterized with the new series. Look at all the US car companies over the years, their product lines had styling characteristics that identified them as a Ford, Chevy, Pontiac etc.
     
    Jack-the-lad likes this.
  9. Jack-the-lad

    Jack-the-lad Seven Time F1 World Champ
    Owner Silver Subscribed

    Jun 22, 2004
    79,217
    Danger Close at Moot Pointe, Gulf of America
    #34 Jack-the-lad, Feb 6, 2024
    Yes, I mentioned somewhere above that this may have been an attempt to present a common corporate face across the model lineup….parroting what I consider to be an unfortunate trend. Ferrari had done this for some time, of course, with the egg crate grille, but at least the shapes were somewhat differentiated among the various design studios and seemed to become more similar as Pininfarina took hold as Ferrari’s preferred designer. I think it’s kind of a shame they didn’t leave Gandini’s original vision alone. Bertone went its own way again with the sharknose 250GT SWB.
     
Page 2 of 2

Share This Page