308 Assembly Sequence Numbers

Kare...I know the color it left the factory as was red. I know that from pictures dating back to 1984. My chip is black on top, but scratching it a little reveals red paint under. The link you've provided does show a trend.

On another note, one of my friends has a Euro 308QV (silver) and it's S/N 48343, the car directly in front of mine on the assembly line. I'll get with him to see what his stamped # is.

 

Greg that would be great to get your friend's number. It might actually shed some light on the issue.

 

Attached copy of the assy sheet of my 1976 GT4 *09760*. For confidentiality reasons the # of engine/gearbox/assy are hidden, actual figures look close but are not same ( i.e. 758/760/781). Altough current Ferrari plant is benchmark in terms of lay-out and manufacturing excellence, making handcrafted supercars in the 70thies was all but rocket science. Attached picture ( from Wallace A. Wyss 308 complete Guide ) shows piles of car frames after welding at incoming dock waiting to enter the assembling line. Guess a lot of hand made tracking was necessary to ensure sorting the appropriate versions.
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wow Morcal, great info, thanks!

 

Are you saying 09760 has engine #758, gearbox #760 and assemby# 781?

 

These numbers are not true but real figures look very close.

 

I contacted Ferrari in reference to this number and the following is what they infromed me. I used the following numbers when I contacted Ferrari:

# 55359
Production Date: 12/84
Mystery Number: 320

"Thank you for contacting us. We would like to inform you that 320 refers to the 320th chassis of the 308 GTS QV built of that particular version. When we are dealing with a vehicle built as a 'standard' model, the number progress irrespective of the production year, simply spanning from the beginning to the end of the vehicle production. If we are dealing with a USA version, the number progresses every Model Year. This implies that there will be a certain number of chasssis MY 84, and a certain number of MY 85 chassis, albeit with a different scale of numbering. We would also like to inform you that there may well exist a 308 GTB QV with the same chassis number..."

Mystery solved. Anyone know how many of the 3042 or so 308 GTS QVs are USA version???

Ken

 

Excellent information. My January 1977 production 308 GTB has the number 96A stamped on the chassis. The car is very original and during restoration detailing I have found 96A hand written on many parts including:

- back side of door skins
- Front inner fender arches
- underside of hood
- inside dash
- inder carpet
- in the trunk under the carpet.

These are all that I can remember but I'm sure there are more. Below is a pic of when I restored my suspension. The 96A was replicated in size, font, and position near perfectly as the original was still intact before the restoration.
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Just got my 308 back & had to check.

1983 308GTBqv American.....#10
October '83
48357

 

cool post!! i checked your profile and you were kind enough to list your vin as 20783, january build date. my 77GTB is *20433*, november, 1976. i found "250A" for the mystery number on my car. i wonder what the letter "A" means !

 

If you go back to the first posts in this thread, you'll see that on the early cars, the "A" meant USA market.

 

Mystery solved! Yesssssssssss!

 

>Thank you for contacting us. We would like to inform you that 320 refers
>to the 320th chassis of the 308 GTS QV built of that particular version.

Too bad they don't reveal anything that hasn't been already figured out. I would very much like to know at which point of production these numbers were issued, my guess being on production line during final assembly.

>Mystery solved. Anyone know how many of the 3042 or so 308 GTS QVs
>are USA version???

So far I have collected full VIN codes for following number of each:
GTB QV US/83 - 12
GTB QV US/84 - 14
GTB QV US/85 - 26
GTS QV US/83 - 437
GTS QV US/84 - 332
GTS QV US/85 - 580

By comparing to Assembly sequence numbers (see those reported so far at http://koti.welho.com/kpietil4/308.htm) I'd say my data includes about 90% os US-production, which would mean around 60 GTB and 1500 GTS built for US-market. And yes, 308 GTB QV (US/LHD) is an extremely rare car!!!

Best wishes, Kare

 

>So far I have collected full VIN codes for following number of each:
GTB QV US/83 - 12
GTB QV US/84 - 14
GTB QV US/85 - 26
GTS QV US/83 - 437
GTS QV US/84 - 332
GTS QV US/85 - 580

How did you manage to collect the VINs for all of these vehicles? That's impressive.

Okay, I have a new twist on this subject. Again I contacted Ferrari to ask them about the number of US Version 308 GTS and GTB QVs produced. Their response was 140 GTS models and only 11 GTB models. I actually asked them this question twice because the numbers were so surprising. The response was the same each time.

This apparently blows their original, and the "already figured out", meaning of the mystery number. If only 140 GTS US models were produced, there is no way my vehicle is the 320th 1985 US model produced. Maybe chassis used for the US versions was also used in other versions. This would allow for gaps in the chassis numbers.

Ideas??

 

Keep in mind that is 11 US Version GTB QVs...at least that is the position that Ferrari has taken when asked. I agree, that does sound way too low.

 

Morcal,

Where did you get that build sheet? I was told by Ferrari that they stopped making them or storing them maybe in 1973? i have a heritage certificate for my 1975 308 gt4 #10766 but thats it would sure love to have one of those!!!

Does anyone know if the earlier cars have these numbers I will look on mine this weekend?

Rob
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wow Tommy who would have thought this thread would have carried on thiis long, now I have to go back and read every page to catch up.

 

> How did you manage to collect the VINs for all of these vehicles?

Cross-checking all public records I can think of (in many countries register files are public records), adding cars appearing on recall lists, eBay, being advertised with dealers, reported by owners etc. Numbers are everywhere if only one is mad enough to collect them.

> Okay, I have a new twist on this subject. Again I contacted Ferrari to ask
> them about the number of US Version 308 GTS and GTB QVs produced.
> Their response was 140 GTS models and only 11 GTB models. I actually
> asked them this question twice because the numbers were so surprising.
> The response was the same each time.

They don't always seem to know what the quoted numbers stand for. Maybe 11/140 appeared on a certain recall list and somebody thought that the numbers stand for complete production.

And yes, I'm sure 11/140 is too low for even any single year of production.
It can't be correct figure for UK/RHD either. Unlike USA, GTB was quite popular in UK as in all of Europe.

> This apparently blows their original, and the "already figured out", meaning
> of the mystery number. If only 140 GTS US models were produced, there
> is no way my vehicle is the 320th 1985 US model produced. Maybe
> chassis used for the US versions was also used in other versions. This
> would allow for gaps in the chassis numbers.

USA was their biggest market with about half of GTS production going that way. There are about 25.000-30.000 Ferrari in USA and 308 GTS QV was a top seller from the beginning. By several indicators I'd say my guess of 1.500 sold units is quite close to the truth.

 

I looked in the engine bay of my 348 and could not find the assembly plate mentioned. Does anyone have a picture so I know where to look?
BT