That mounts onto a metal rail. The Californian mounts into the same holes as the rail via a gasket (just 2mm or so inwards iirc, so there is no problem mounting in the same holes as the baby turbo's rail).
What do I have here? I thought they were Baby Turbos, what a pre-owner fitted onto my car. Gasket, metal rail with slotted holes, mirror to the rail with a small clamping screw. (Vitaloni 36753) Image Unavailable, Please Login Best from Germany Martin
The hole positions on the body are the important thing because the Californians don't use the rail - they mount onto the gasket
Of course. But I have a carb Euro car, which came new with the Californians. Pre-owner fitted the mirrors shown above. Because of the rail with the slotted holes, it was no problem to make these fit on the Californian holes. Because of this it was also no problem for me to go back to the Californians. Still curious, what I have here. Best from Germany Martin
Ah I see. I'll try and dig out my old mirrors & mounts tonight & will let you know. I suspect they're the same.
I put two of the real deal factory euro style ones on my 84 and you can see one of the holes in front of the mirror on each door. The flag bases on the US cars were smaller and the holes didn't line up so I had to drill another one but it doesn't matter because the extra hole will always be covered by either mirror. It was a little work because of the metal base under the door skin. Had to pull the door card off to get it done.
Well I have 65mm centres in the doors, so the California's will sit in just right. Thanks for the dimension Martin. My original (electric) flags mount onto the metal rail and my replica baby tornados are fixed position hole in the front of the mirror with a slotted hole for the rear, the same as the ones in Post #23 I don't feel so stupid for asking my original question now, didn't realise it was just a complicated subject! Anyone want a set of baby tornados?
You can avoid this with two long threaded rods and nuts. To avoid the metal base falling into the door. Remove one screw. Screw in the threaded rod and clamp the mirror with a nut. Remove second screw. Insert threaded rod. Remove nut on first rod. Remove mirror. If rods are long enough the metal base will not fall into the door. Fit new mirror. Clamp one rod with a nut. Remove second rod and replace original screw. And so on Best from Germany Martin
Mine's a US '78 and I didn't have to drill anything to get the Californians on. There is a little polishing to do in order to remove the evidence of the baby turbo's gasket (it's bigger than the Californian). But since my car's black, it is hardly visible.
Same with me. Black car so you never see the little hole peeking from the front edge of the base. In fact, I had forgotten about it until this thread and in the 15 years since I put them on, no one has pointed it out to me.
Another weird thing putting those mirrors on. Apparently the wiring circuits are different on the US cars and the euro styles. When I plugged the mirrors in, the just came on and stayed on like you were holding the adjustment switch. I don't remember which direction they kept trying to go but I just left them unplugged. I'm the only one that drives the car so I just set them where I needed them and left them alone since.
When I bought a pair of the powered euro side mirrors to replace my US flag style, I first tested the euro mirror by removing the US mirror and plug in the euro and sure enough it is not the same, there are two wires on the Euro mirror that I had to switch places to match the US mirror wiring and now the euro mirrors works like the original US mirrors.
Cool. I have to crawl behind the door this winter to check a speaker problem. I fiddle with those wires then. Thanks
Martin: If you have Vitaloni 36753 and 36754 (left and right) of those turbos with the mounts and gaskets, I am interested. Send me a pm please. JMD
Yeah, the Flags are great for seeing what's behind, but IMO they don't follow the design language of Pininfarina. Euro mirrors, same issue. There are other options, but they depart from OE, and that's may not be a good thing.
Image Unavailable, Please Login Here’s the new universal side mirror from Vitaloni, come in two versions, power and none power.
John, I'm not sure, whether I'll stick with the Californians. I installed them during an originality fetishism attack, but visibility is poor. Perhaps I go back to the Turbos. Best from German and thanks for your interest Martin
This may be of interest, or maybe not. Worked on some mounting options for the 328 using MRacing Moto mirrors. Several CF shell options, most of them more appropriate for track use, too small for street use. Could be improved with Burco custom glass - flat on drivers side, aspheric on passenger side. https://www.coroflot.com/THoke/Ferrari-Parts
My car had one flag mirror but driving it I knew I needed another so I searched for a passenger side flag mirror, but wow they're expensive and somewhat rare, so I looked into Vitalonis, well they're period correct but not cheap, so I put my original flag mirror into safe keeping and bought a set at some automotive supply for $30 a pair! They're small, they're black and work just fine! Driving with two mirrors is better than one. Vitalonis aren't original and really no better than the cheap ones I have. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Afaik all 308 OEM mirrors are Vitaloni. They vary by name; what you call the flag is the Baby Tornado by Vitaloni. The more elegant one is the Californian.
It's such a slight difference in the overall appearance of the car and one that won't be noticed that much, I would stick with originality and the safety that the flag mirrors provide.
