Which 308 do you get???

328

But seriously, to each his or her own. Some like the sound feel etc of the carbs, some like the feel of the quat. The quat had just about everything sorted out on it. The i's are the best bet if cost is an issue.

Fastest is a toss between a carb fiberglass and a later quat. Best overall, and most desirable is an early fiberglass, also carb cars sound the best. Later cars are generally more reliable, albeit the difference between, say a 80 and 82 is not much in terms of reliablity.

Depends, tell us what you like and what you want really.

 

If you like carbs, then I would go with a fiberglass 308.

If you like injection then the quat is the way to go.

I suggest staying away from i's for you.

I like 308s but the crash bumpers ruin the car IMO. That is why I think 328s are perfect. Faster, more reliable, and IMHO, look better.

 

Get the Forza buyers guide...
go to 308Faqs on the net.
if you opt for a QV, get an 84/85 ... a few upgrades from the 83
there are many threads on this very topic

 

Good luck from a fellow Mopar man.

http://home.att.net/~ferrari/308faq1.htm

http://www.ferrari308.com/

If you decide your choice is a QV or a carb glass car - drive each and see which you prefer. Finding a good glass car will be much more difficult due to one year production and being older.

 

I wanted a glass 76 Euro but these were very hard to find when I was looking a few years ago. So I ended up with a 77 GTB. I like the solid feel of the coupe body (less rattles) and wanted the carbs without the cats. This still had the hotter cams and the sound that I was looking for. So the choice is yours but I stayed away from the FI cars because of the power drop and the injection problems. Carbs are straight forward. Just cold start PIA but once warm goes like a bat out of hell.

 

The first year carbed fglass 308 is said to be the lightest thus 1 of the fastest. Also easiest to hot rod. The 308QV with steel body & $ valves per cylinder is next fastest w fuel injection. 308GTSi is the slowest of the bunch.

With supercharging you can get a 308 to 400hp + fairly easily, maybe as much as 600 hp

 

I had a 1979, 1980 and 1983 308 GTS Ferrari. The 1979 I put over 100,000 miles on it and it was pretty much problem free. I wouldn't touch a 1980 again, I got mine for a steal and couldn't pass it up. The 1983 was my favorite of all. I would go with 83 to 85.
Just my opinion.

 

Love carbs and 'glass body, yet for ease in this changing weather environment AND ALSO RUST PROTECTION a 1985 Euro is best IMHO. Am putting the '85 Euro here on a basic diet right now and hope to get her down to 2,700 lbs or lower

 

i have a 78 308 carb car that is very well sorted out. it runs and drives like a champ. not as fast as a glass body but not as slow as an inj. plus consider this the top comes off (which is very nice) and no problem insuring or with inspectons,
and they can be had at a reasonable price. one other thing is you can spend some $$ and it will go as fast as your wallet will take you.

 

etip...Welcome to the forum. I hunted for two years to find a VERY low VIN number '77 Euro 308 and found it. You will be happy with any 308. It gets down to what you want, i.e.: Carb'd or QV, US or Euro. For me, it was the first GTS year, Euro. My hopes are that the lower VIN may make the car a bit more valuable. I'm finishing up a few mods that will hotrod this puppy a bit and should be posting some pics in a few weeks.

 

I hate to say it, but a stock 308 is not going to accelerate like a big block anything and will only hang with small blocks that are stock and build in the 78-84 "we don't know how to deal with polution" days...all the others will be faster. Even stock a 308 will trounce most mopars in handling.

All the v8 ferraris are about 3000-3200 lbs with the hp something like 76-76=240(308 fglass), 78-79=220(308)?, 80-82=205(308i), 83-85=235(308QV), 86-89=260(328), 89-95=300(348), 95-99=375(355), 99-present=400(360), with the dyno info I've seen saying the 375 and 400 are a bit optimistic.

So I think that if you are going to go 308, your are going to end up modifying the car. I can tell you that your worth nightmare with mopar parts hasn't prepared you for what it will take to build a hot ferrari engine....well I've seen crate 426 engines for $10k-$15k which is about what you'd pay for a stock rebuilt 308 engine without exchange. If you shop around, the parts for a stock rebuild can be had for about $4k-$5k. A naturally aspirated street 308 engine can be brought up to about 300hp for another $2k or so over the rebuild parts price. The only good new I have is that even a stock engine will accept about 15 psi of boost and put you at 350-500 hp depending on which model you started with and whether or not you intercool. The QVs always make the most power once you start modifing. Parts for a turbo or supercharger system will run $6k-$12k and plan on that much again to have a system fabricated and installed.

For handling, 308s respond extremely well to updated shocks and springs. Prices range from about $800-$5k depending hpw much your after.

 

Oh man oh man, i am soooo much looking forward to getting the 308 back as she is right now going through suspension work STOP TEASING ME! ;-)

 

As Auraraptor said: 328

IF it has to be 308, then the QV (last two years of production) and add a tubi to get the carb sound back.

Just talked to my mechanic who made an interesting statement about the fibreglass ones (the first series): Collectors might like this car, but as a driver it has too much flex because of the fibre glass. Interesting, isn't it.

From all I've heard and read about Ferraris it seems to me, that whatever model you pick, if you can afford it, go for the end of the run. Avoids a lot of problems in general.

 

You'd be amazed what a blower and 20+ psi will do for the torque...in 1st gear the tires start spinning when the boost gauge gets to about 15, in second they come lose at about 20

 

Andreas
With due respect to your mechanic, the flex on a glass 308 is no more than any other GTB and certainly a lot less than a GTS.
This is due to the torsional rigidity being a function of the chassis, not the body.
This is evidenced by my car, which is tracked regularly and shows no signs of stess, cracks etc in the body which would indicate flex - unlike the Lotii I have owned in a past life
Regards
John

 

If you don't mind the looks, the 308 GT4's are great cars. Same carbed engine, but the car handles better than the GTB/GTS cars. Also supposed to be a little bit lighter.

Some people can't stand the looks of the GT4, but I love it. One of the most underappreciated Ferrari's out there.

Dom

 

Interesting comment on flex. He must mean the body panels, because both glass and steel cars have tube frame. F106AB IIRC.

As all glass cars are GTBs, I wouldn't see an issue myself!

 

I know the 308i's take a lot of hits - too slow, unreliable, etc, but my 82 never, and I mean never, fails to start. I've rebuild the suspension and had the 30,000 mile maintenance done. The only engine work has been to clean, and lube, the air valve. The car runs great and I'm very happy with it. Don't discount the "i" cars too much.

 

"Those Who Know" tell me that the 308 GT4 is the SLEEPER in the handling dept. If the 'Magnum' 308 is the must, I'd pick whatever example you can find that has up-to-date service records - be afraid of no car! Even the slowest, least desireable models can be 'hot-rodded' to your liking, if you have the cash and the wrench skills. GTBs will provide better handling over GTS cars, but are hard to find...

 

Eric,
With most Ferraris, later in the production run is invariably better with few exceptions (the early injected 2 valve 308s for example). The 84-85 would be the 308 to have IMO. First 308's to have rust proofing.