In 1983, when I was in college, a poster of a Blue/Creme 308 hung on my dorm room wall. I made a decision, one day I would own that car. My first Ferrari was a 1983 308 GTB QV. It was Blue Sera Metallic with Creme interior. And best of all, it was Euro version. The Euro version has the smaller round side mirrors, the exposed rear end under the bumper and it was lighter and more powerful than the US spec version. I originally bought it in 2007 and sold it 2011. It was the worst car decision I have ever made. I regretted it the day it shipped to the new owner. Since, I had reached out to the new owner often asking him to sell the car back to me. No luck for ten years. Finally, ten years later, he agreed to to sell it back to me and we did the deal. I could not be happier. I’m not even taking delivery. The car is currently on a truck being shipped to a Ferrari restoration company. I’m doing a full bare metal, every nut and bolt restoration to bring it back to its original luster on the day it left the factory new. Also, he only put 3000 miles on it in all this time. Which is great. I’ll keep this post updated as the restoration progresses. Below are some original pics of the car in 2008 when I was the owner.
The car was a one time Platinum concourse winner at Ferraris on St. Armands Circle, Sarasota, FL in 2008. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Congrats! It's still gorgeous - is there something to be fixed that lead to the decision for bare metal restoration, or just a desire to make it like new? Gordon
Nothing really stand out wrong. Even when I originally got it, the paint was a bit chipped up on the hood, front spoiler and the lower doors. Nothing horrible, just years of rock chips. There is a big scratch on the hood and there is a rust bubble on the rear quarter panel (tiny, and never got any worse). Refreshing the paint would bring it to a new level. Also, the suspension needs to be completely redone. Age has deteriorated much of the softer pieces and the shocks are original, 38 years old. And yes, I just want it like new.
Fantastic story and a beautiful car. I am personally a big fan of RED, but that blue has my interest, for sure... maybe I need a second 3x8 in blue for the wife?
Other then the fake side shields, bringing the gold wheels and the red rocker covers back to factory, the interior looks original and in pretty good condition.
How old are you? Fake shields? Obviously, the “fake shields” are are not a metal factory option, but they are the resin shields and OEM Ferrari factory parts and back in the day they were very common on the cars.
How old am I ?? What does that mean?? I say fake shields as no 308 GTB QV has shields fitted to them from the factory. They may be Ferrari OEM factory shields stuck onto your car but they are not designed for 308 fenders and yes, I know how common they were in the day being factory fitted to either racing cars or limited edition models (like the 288 GTO) but your 308 is neither of those. And to top it off, under current international judging rules, if the car was being judged with those "fake' owner added fender shields it's a loss of a least one or two points (I'd need to check) so you'd already have points deducted off the car before any other items where inspected to try to achieve a platinum award again.
Come on guys you are getting way off the spirit of this thread. Personally, I would kill to have that Quattrovalvole. Very big congrats!
I don't care if you have shields or not. That's a beautiful car! Keep us posted on the restoration. sjd
Yeah, there is always gonna be people with very strong opinions on these threads. I never take it personally.
I didn’t mean anything personal on that. I was just curious if you were around in the 80s and saw the popularity of the resin shields. I apologies if that was taken negatively. It was in no way meant to slight your post.
I was born in 1969 and actually remember reading about the first 308's in Road and Track in 1976... no offence taken. I guess my big thing is how they came out of the factory- that's just me personally. That and jokingly having OCD helps me when I assist with judging at Ferrari events. On the other hand it's the owners car and he has every right to do whatever he wants to it. I agree with Kim, it's a stunning car and you should be very proud of it. Moving on to my other part of the question, what are your plans with the alloys and rocker covers?