Vintage Pictures I took of 308's 1981-1997

thanks for the photos sir,,,i remember back in 1983 .,i was a valet parker at a killer disco in CT where i grew up.,,,some young rich dude always came., in his 83 GTSI..it was red / tan,,,he would give me 20.00 to self park it .,right in the front,,,one day i said,,"Ken,,when are going to let me park this for you",...he handed me the keys and a 20 dollar bill,,,and said take it,,!!!! the parking lot was a good size..so i was able to get it into 3rd going around the back and to the front of the building,,,man i tell you,,i shifted that like a pro at 19 years old,,he even let me grab it for him,,and pull it in front ,,when he left at 2 am....little did i know that 16 years later ., i would have a 328 all to myself,,,what a blessing,,,outside of an F40 / 512 boxer / 288 GTO .the 3x8 s are the best cars Ferrari ever rolled out of Marranello,,,,ps,,,i met a dude in newport beach a while back,,,he owned a Ferrari/ exotic car dealership,,,he had an F40 a 288 GTO...and a 512 BBi,,,,all with less than a 1000 miles,,,!!!...he never drove them,,and i could never figure out why..before and after i got mine,,i would always go by to see those cars,,,i mean how many times do you see those three., all together in the same place ., at the same time,,,!!!...boy was i envious !!!...that dealer ship has changed hands ..many years ago,,,and i dont know what happenned to that guy or his 3 machines,,but i do miss seeing them.....

 

Those pictures are very telling...Looking at the all the other cars in the background I have to ask, after all the stunning cars of the 1960's, what were the big three thinking through the 1970's-1980's? How did Ford look at the 1977 LTD and think, 'yeah, this is a step forward'??? The 308s are great looking cars today. Back they must have seemed like spaceships from an alien world!

 

Thanks for posting! The first car I remember falling in love with was a white BMW 528i stick sedan my friend's parents had just purchased- after a ride in that car (I was about 10 or so) I remember begging my parents to get one...they said it was too much money (we had a '72 opel wagon and '76 Buick LeSabre w/ the then new optional gas saver 2 barrel V6!! Only 110hp in that big buick and it felt it!). Not long after I discovered porsche and had a ride in a 911 carrera when I was about 14- we hit 100 (I even remember which gear- 4th of 5 speeds), a speed I had never been close to up to that point. From that point until I got my license I worked my a** off to save to buy a used '78...

I do have some memories of my first thoughts of ferrari however- I remeber someone telling me a ferrari was an exotic car that I'd never see on the road or even get to touch...that studios would rent them by the hour to do movies or photo shoots with models- I think one of our baby sitters told me that. When I was around 7 or 8 years old I remember seeing a low slung amazing sports car idling outside our gym when our basketball game ended and someone saying that was a "ferrari dino"- it was silver and was owned by one of the kid's parents who was a doctor. But my dad who was with me at the time I saw it isn't into cars, and at that age I was hardly into cars...BUT I remember the day all these years later. To me Ferrari in the 80's was Magnum PI and a few years later Miami Vice- I dreamed of getting a Testarossa (red, not white )- in my teenage years, a testarossa would be the ultimate car to own. Heck, I'd still love to have one (but wouldn't sell my 360 to get one )

 

I wonder what it is about this age? I was that same age when the sports car bug took ahold of me and did the very same thing - my Dad would go to conventions throughout the U.S. and would take my Mom and me along for a family trip. While he was at the meetings, I bugged my Mom to take me to the Ferrari dealerships and I took PLENTY of photos too

 

Tommy, these are really great photos! I love seeing how much you loved cars and still in love with the 308. What a great photographic story. I've got to dig out my old photos, I have a photo diary just like you did, all of exotic old school cars.

 

Thanks dude.

Great thread.

 

For what it's worth, my interest in Ferraris is related to 3 events from when I was about 16 years old ( 1972), when I first started driving (actually it was mostly on my Honda trail bike, my first "personal" vehicle, the cars back then belonged to my mom and dad.

I used to read Road & Track, and Cycle World in the library at the high school, and I read articles about the Ferrari Boxer 512, the Ferrari 308, and the Norton 850 Commando. All three of these were fascinating to me. I never got to drive any of these when I was a kid, my primary car was a Toyota land cruiser (mom's car) and a Honda 125 cc trail bike, both very tame....

The first time I saw one was a red Ferrari 308 GTB, on the coast road here in PV, I pulled up right behind him on my bike, we were going about 30 mph, close enough to read the badges on the back, I saw the Cavellino, and knew what it was. From far away I was not sure if it was a corvette, lotus, or what....then I realized it was a Ferrari, I was so proud of myself because I already knew that 308 was 3.0 liters, 8 cylinders. I recalled that from the Road & Track article I read.

 

In regards to the gray market 308, 1984 & 1985 were when the word really started getting out about saving mucho $$$ by importing gray market cars. Currency moves, little(but significant) Federal regs on bringing them in meant there were some real bucks to be saved.

I remember sitting at work(computer job), running a program I'd written to calculate various loan configurations that would allow me to get one of these. Fortunately, none of that came to pass, and I bought U.S. car(s) later, via conventional loans.

Neat stuff, tho...you always remember your FIRST, don't you(!)

 

It's a nice looking QV, but can't tell exactly what color it is with those sodium lamps. Do you know?

 

amazing thread.

 

Great pics Tommy.

 

Dr Tommy, these are fantastic period pics. Am currently dusting off my gtsi so they're a great resource.