1979 Ferrari

Ordered new on the 22nd June 1978 for October 1978 production by the then Ferrari agents Maltin Car Concessionaires Ltd of Henley upon Thames, one metallic Dino blue (106 A72) with beige(sand) hide VM3234 with corda (rope) carpets. The car was fully optioned with air conditioning ,7.5" wide wheels, deep front spoiler and fog-lights. The factory confirmed order numberF/275 five days later on the 27th June 1978.The car was completed by the Ferrari factory and invoiced to Maranello Concessionaires Ltd on the 19th October 1978 ,for delivery to the UK by truck.

The car was first registered XPM 804T, on the 20th November 1978 by Maranello Concessionaires Ltd for use of the chairman and founder Colonel Ronnie Hoare ,this happening to be his favourite colour combination. The then list price (01.05.78) was £15,500.16 plus air conditioning, £600.21, 7.5” wide wheels £280.80 and metallic paint £280.80,deep spoiler £117.00 and fog lights £56.16 plus delivery, number plates and road tax............




.......The last registered owner from Hampshire ,a friend of the last owners ,bought the car on the 8th September 2014 with 81,000 miles "to help his friend out". I may register the car myself in order to obtain early ownership history from the DVLA

Servicing has been carried out as follows;

300/500 mile service 07-12-78 Maranello Conc.
1,250/1,550 mile service 15-03-79 Maranello Conc.
6,000 mile service 02-10-80 Maranello Conc.
31,000 mile service 22-09-93 Maranello Sales Ltd 30,589 miles
34,500 mile service 17-08-95 Lancaster 31,919 miles
37,500 mile service 01-10-99 MK Collier 34,171 miles*
40,500 mile service 13-04-00 MK Collier 36,250 miles
43,500 mile service 26-01-01 MK Collier 41,606 miles
47,000 mile service 03-07-01 MK Collier 45,870 miles*
50,000 mile service 13-12-02 MK Collier 50,038 miles
53,000 mile service 19-05-03 MK Collier 53,346 miles
56,000 mile service 30-03-04 MK Collier 57,552 miles*
59,500 mile service 16-02-05 MK Collier 62,003 miles
63,500 mile service 28-09-05 MK Collier 67,427 miles**
6,000 mile service 10-07-06 MK Collier 72,864 miles
3,000 mile service 31-01-07 MK Collier 76,329 miles
6,000 mile service 19-09-08 MK Collier 80,483 miles
Annual service 20-09-11 Wrights 81,186 miles*

Currently undergoing a full "re-instatement" service including new cam belts.
*inc cam belts
**inc clutch

MOT's
16-05-85 24,371 miles
15-05-87 25,811 miles
08-07-88 26,156 miles
03-03-92 26,665 miles
03-09-93 30,575 miles
12-09-94 31,475 miles
29-08-95 31,920 miles
10-08-96 32,285 miles
15-08-97 32,778 miles
15-08-98 33,326 miles
29-07-99 33,913 miles
29-09-00 40,941 miles
12-03-02 47,756 miles
04-06-03 53,557 miles
24-05-04 58,125 miles
25-08-03 66,190 miles
25-08-06 73,021 miles
10-09-07 75,510 miles
09-09-08 80,465 miles
23-08-10 80,892 miles
16-09-11 81,186 miles
27-09-12 81,272 miles
27-09-09 81,316 miles
23-08-10 80,892 miles
16-09-11 81,186 miles
16-09-12 81,272 miles
27-09-13 81,316 miles



The car is complete with its factory original service book, replacement handbook, past invoices ,MOT certificates and copies of the original order and correspondence. The car still retains its original single outlet exhaust system.

History:
The 308 GTB made its debut at the Paris and London shows in 1975. Built to a Pininfarina design by Scaglietti, it retained the 308 GT4′s V8, albeit with dry sump lubrication. The latter made for lower engine mounting and better cooling thanks to the fact that more oil was present. The first models boasted fibreglass coachwork.

The long awaited replacement for the Dino 246 GT model made its inaugural appearance at the 1975 Paris Salon. The Pininfarina designed body had a pronounced wedge profile, with a rectangular egg-crate aluminium radiator grille below a slim full width satin black front bumper. However, there were numerous key design elements of the Dino 246 GT carried through into the body details. These included the scalloped door intakes, twin circular rear light assemblies, and the vertical concave rear screen bounded by buttressed sail panels. In essence the shape was a modernisation of that of the Dino, with enough traces of its predecessor to provide a thread of continuity, earning praise from the press and clients alike.
The Body
One feature that was not immediately apparent, was that the 308 GTB was fitted with a totally fibreglass body, apart from the aluminium front lid. This was the first Ferrari production car to feature fibreglass as a body material, and in fact the idea has not been repeated by the company in large volume production. However, individual fibreglass panels have been used on a large number of cars from then until now, particularly for the front and rear valances and nose sections. Although the standard of finish was very high, a return to the more traditional pressed steel and aluminium happened in late 1976 for USA cars, and around mid 1977 for European models.
The simplest way to identify a fibreglass bodied car, is to see if there is an indent line between the front screen pillar and roof panel. If there is one, then the body is fibreglass.
USA market cars can be identified by heavier bumper assemblies, and rectangular side marker lights on the wings.
An optional deep front spoiler became available during 1977, which like the standard shallow spoiler was a fibreglass moulding. Like the Dino series, a luggage compartment was provided in the tail of the car behind the engine bay. On the 308 GTB it was accessed by lifting the entire engine cover, which revealed a zip top compartment, whereas the Dino models had a separate lid for the luggage area.
The main European market 308 GTB models had a tubular chassis with factory type reference F 106 AB 100.
Disc brakes, with independent suspension via wishbones, coil springs, and hydraulic shock absorbers, were provided all round, with front and rear anti roll bars.
All models were numbered in the Ferrari odd number road car chassis sequence, with both right and left hand drive available.
Production ran from 1975 through to 1980, during which time 2897 examples were produced in the chassis number range 18677 to 34349.


The Engine
The transversely mid-mounted aluminium V8 engine was essentially of the same design as that used in the 308 GT4 model.
It was of a 90 degree configuration, with belt driven twin overhead camshafts per bank, having a total capacity of 2926cc, with a bore and stroke of 81mm x 71mm, bearing factory type reference F 106 AB 000 for European market cars.
The engine was coupled in unit with the all synchromesh five speed transmission assembly, which was below, and to the rear of the engine’s sump. It was fitted with a bank of four twin choke Weber 40 DCNF carburettors, mounted in the centre of the vee, the exact specification of which depended upon the market.
European cars were fitted with dry sump lubrication, whereas Australian, Japanese and USA examples retained the wet sump lubrication system used on the 308 GT4. The claimed power output was 255bhp for European market models, and 240bhp for US market examples which were fitted with power sapping emission control equipment.
A sports exhaust system, and high compression pistons plus high lift camshaft became available as an option.
The 308 GTB was developed into a successful rally car by Michelotto in Padova. Apart from many successes in privateer’s hands in national rallies in Italy, there was also success on the international stage courtesy of the Pozzi Ferrari France team and their most successful driver Jean-Claude Andruet. They had back to back wins in the Tour de France Auto in 1981 and 1982, along with a number of other victories including the 1981 Targa Florio.
Taken from Ferraris website


Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the above details, we do not warrant that such details are accurate.

Copyright Mike Wheeler 2016

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