"Challenge" 348GTS

Ed,

How about some photos? Sounds cool.

Robb

 

Is the the red car from Atlanta?

 

Is it a true GTS car (Euro spec)? Year?

 

Hi Ed and welcome to the brotherhood! The quickest way to tell is usually by looking at the aft end of the handbrake console to see if there are mounting brackets welded in for the roll cage. Not all cars raced in the Challenge series were cars that came from the factory as "Challenge" cars. The factory sold a kit that could be installed in any except spiders. Somewhere on this forum are the serial numbers of all the factory challenge cars, so you might search for those. Also, if you have the car number it raced under, you can get some help.

 

This is really cool Ed. What made you pull the trigger on a 348 GTS Challenge?

 

Yes, some TS cars were raced in the Challenge series, although most were TBs.

 

You can also see mounting brackets under the front floor mats. The black panel up by the rear window will also have a couple of cover plates that it you pull off, you'll also see roll cage mounting brackets. My car also has mounting plates welded in for racing harness eyebolts and the panel immediately in back of the seats were pre-grommeted by the factory so that the eyehooks could pass through to the bracket. Other tell tale signs are the steering wheel (OEM Challenge was suede) and the pedals (brake and clutch were drilled aluminum, accelerator is solid aluminum plate with a roughened, etched texture). Of course, these parts could've been replaced/removed over the years.

 

Challenge cars are all GTB type, or just TB's as we call them in the USA. Elsewhere they are called GTB's. Chances are you have a TS that was converted to run in the Challenge series by the installation of the appropriate kit. That would include the Challenge kit plus more stuff because this is a "spider" (not a Spider - lol) model. In this case, GTS (TS) means that you have the removable fiberglass targa top. While there were 32 Challenge cars, all 348's were open to run in the series. About 19 of the Challenge cars reportedly ran in the 1994 and 1995 series.

Now what year is it? The Challenges are model year 1994. Earlier converted cars were allowed. The Serie Speciale I is a 1992/1993 model. Serie Speciale II's were 1994's.

We assume you are not talking about a Euro version of the car, which is a different matter altogether. These were the hottest version of the 348 and a non-USA model and it would have had to been Federalized to be here legally. My guess is that either you have one of the few TS's coverted to run in the Challenge series, or someone sold you a line.

So far I have seen 2 Challenge race cars that were converted from TS's, one was a Serie Speciale (what a tragedy).

 

There were reportedly 13 "factory" Challenge TS cars made, in addition to the 32 TB cars.