GTB, GTS, Spider...Model names.

Let's not forget "spider/spyder" while we're having this discussion.

 

GTB/TB = Berlinetta = Hardtop
GTS/TS = Targa top
Spyder/Spider = Full convertible

 

And what about GTC?

Some GTC's are competition models, such as the 575 GTC Evoluzione.

And some GTC's are coupes, such as the 365 GTC/4, 365 GTC, and 330 GTC.

When does Ferrari decide to use GTC in the name of a coupe versus using names like "2+2"?

And is there a difference between "Challenge", and "GTC" for racing cars.

 

I haven't heard anyone refer to the F355 GTS's roof design as a 'Spider'. It's design, as you said, is called a 'Targa'.

Also, in the case of the 348, the 'G' was dropped. The berlinetta and targa-top versions were simply called 348 tb and 348 ts, respectively.

 

Which, of course, comes from Porsche, who are German, but who named the roof of their car after a race in Italy (Sicily) that they won a bunch of times.


As for the whole GTB/tb and GTS/ts thing, I think the confusion comes from the fact that the 308/328 GTS used the term spider (or spyder) to describe a "targa" top car, and then introduced an actual spider (full convertible) with the 348 series . . .

 

GTB: Gran Turismo Berlinetta

GTS: Gran Turismo Spyder

tb: Transversale* Berlinetta

ts: Targa Spyder or Transversale* Spyder

GTC for road cars: Grand Touring Coupe

GTC for racecars: Gran Turismo Competizione (competition version of the GT road car)


*transversale because of the transverse-mounted gearbox.

 

In the 1970s, there was some concern at Porsche, and presumably at Ferrari, that full convertibles would be outlawed by safety regs in the US.

I would bet that had something to do with the rush to removable hardtops being offered as the "spider" versions of the 246, 308, Porsche 911/914, Fiat X1/9, etc. Porsche went without a true convertible from 1965 up until 1983, and (excluding the extremely rare and limited market Daytona Spyders) Ferrari waited until the 348 Spider in 1994. At that point, the issue of the confusing name may have surfaced.

The "real" convertibles in production, like the Fiat 124, were older designs whose tooling and design were effectively sunk costs by 1970.

So, while a 308 GTS isn't really a full drop-top spider, I suspect Ferrari marketed it that way recognizing that the more conventional spider might not be feasible in that regulatory climate. Ferrari may have applied the 'S' initial to its targa models expecting that there would be no more full convertibles.

 

Comments added in [brackets]. My thoughts pretty much . . . just didn't want to write all that.

 

Wasn't there some crazy U.S. rollover standard introduced in the early 70s, slated to take effect a few years later, but never did? I keep hearing people mention it -- sometimes as a rollover standard, other times as a safety cell standard -- usually in the context of the Porsche 924, FIAT X1/9, and occasionally Lancia Montecarlo, naming these cars among the very few designed to meet said standard that was not put into effect.

Anyone care to clarify?