Quirky things added by previous owners

I have a similar cell phone antenna on my engine lid.

 

The switch between the wiper speed control and rear defroster switch may be for the power antenna. Does your car have, or did it have, a radio? Remember that all the 308's, and I believe all 328's, came from the factory with a power antenna and radio speakers wired and installed. Radios were not fitted at the factory. What year/generation/market is your 308?

 

Do not believe that is the orginal position of the power antenna switch (to the left of the hand brake). In fact, I believe the power antenna switch should be in the position of your current rear defroster switch, and the switch to the left of the handbrake should be the rear defroster switch. Do you have the owner's manual for the car? That should show you the correct arrangement of the console switches.

 

My personal favorite are the extreme and obtuse stereo systems. I had a 308 in here 5-6 years ago and we removed what was literally 50lbs of amps, speakers, 30 feet of wiring, filters, cooling fans for the amp, external CD players. The stuff was mounted everywhere, doors, trunk, dash. We filled a large box. When the ignition key was turned it caused all the relays to often click or just randomly flutter. Hilarious exercise in 1990s stereo engineering

 

I stand corrected. Your layout does appear correct for a US QV. Just checked the diagram on the Maranello Classic Parts site and the antenna switch is indeed to the left of the handbrake in rocker switch form. I questioned it earlier because the earlier 308's had the antenna switch where your rear defroster switch is, and the rear defroster switch was a rocker switch in the position where your antenna switch is. I had incorrectly assumed that the layout remained constant through production.

 

If I'm just out for a drive or running a few errands, the stereo stays off. But any number of times I've done trips where I'm on the highway for a few hours at a stretch, and the stereo is nice to have. Rarely play music, but I'll throw on an audiobook or podcast.

 

All those "extras" makes those cars so special...called "patina".
Exotics like ours have a historie and each owners did put his mark on it. Just live with it.

 

I've got a stupid ethernet like plug that's behind the rear view mirror. Probably for some kind of 1980's radar detector.

I'm afraid to cut it.

It has a semi-hidden kill switch also added by on the inside console next to the gas pedal. Never use it.

 

My car has had a bunch of cheapo oddball stuff that I've figured out and removed over the last year. Still a bit more to do, but I'll get it 100% cleaned up. Here are some of the major offenses:

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Here is one of the fore sale adverts where you could see: 1. big stupid speakers behind the seat. I cut the wires and threw them in the garbage before even taking it on its first drive. 2. cheap bluetooth pioneer head unit in the dash. and 3. a cheap JC whitney plastic cup holder. It's hard to see but it had a small alarm light on it as well


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I removed all of that. I installed a period stereo receiver and removed the really complicated clifford alarm system. This one had its own cell phone sim card and an antenna on the passenger quarter window, a battery disconnect switch, and a starter disconnect switch. I pulled the wiring for it all the way back to the fuse box and got the car back to (as far as the diagrams go anyways) a 100% original wiring situation. Also ditched the cheap cupholders and patched up the holes.


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Here's a sillier one. I was doing some maintenance under the car and realized someone, at some point, must have lost or destroyed the rubber elbow that connects the ducting to the oil cooler, and replaced it with a 2L bottle of Barq's root beer that they had cut the ends off of. It is now gone as well!

 

The last picture looks like a clip to hold your sunglasses?

 

Possibly for a clip on wind deflector. They were all the rage in the '80s with targa tops and retracting sunroofs.

 

Or surface mount speakers was my first though, although that seems it would be pretty close to your head.

 

The plug might fit a V1 radar detector. They look like an hold home phone plug.

 

I had the chrome phone antenna in the middle of the hump on my rear deck lid, complete with the little curly Q antenna still sticking up. I cut the antenna off but never plugged the hole they cut in the lid.

Also had what was most likely a pretty expensive stereo system complete with a big chrome amp they bolted right to the rear firewall smack dab between the seats. Found a bunch of other stuff like probably old alarm stuff too.

Here's the amp when I started tearing the interior out...
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Seems quirky was added https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/d/south-bend-ferrari-dino-308-gt4-show/7719215449.html

 

I did a similar console switch for my NOS bottle. 308s only had 250hp and ran much better on 350hp. ...Fun back when I was a kid.

 

I'd have a tough time keeping that little dildo on the engine lid as a "charming part of the cars history"