SOLD-ANOTHER AVAILABLE SHORTLY
Description: Ordered on 4th June 1976 -F/102-with the factory confirmation dated 6th July 1976. It was originally earmarked for “the Far East”. The car was built in October 1976 finished in Rosso Chiaro 20.R.190 with nero VM 8500 hide and rosso carpet and optioned with air conditioning. Upon completion the factory invoiced Maranello Concessionaires Ltd on 27th October 1976 and to whom it was transported by truck - one of 154 fibreglass cars officially imported of which 79 remain taxed/SORN’d-and in turn to the London Ferrari agents HR Owen who were invoiced by Maranello Concessionaires on 9th November 1976. The 82nd-by chassis number -of the 154 UK allocated cars.

It took almost twelve months to find its first owner, Mr P T and registered to P Import Export of London NW10 when it was first registered on 7th October 1977 on the Central London registration number, PYT 555R.The then list price was £11,997.18 plus delivery number plates and road tax whilst air conditioning added £374.40-the most expensive Ford, a Granada Ghia coupe cost £4,919 at the time! The delivery note-still with the car- is signed on handover by the customer on 10th October 1977 at HR Owen’s Melton Court showroom.

The current owner a then 40-year businessman, Mr P M of West Sussex and London bought the car on 31st December 1977 from HR Owen with “a few hundred miles” (HR Owens name plate is still attached in the engine bay with the date 31-12-77 and stock number 655422 which was to alert the workshop when the car had been sold for warranty purposes). Mr M says that he had read in Motorsport that Ferrari were bringing a new fibreglass bodied car to the UK and having already owned a yellow 246 GT # ****, contacted HR Owen his nearest Ferrari dealer to his London office, to be told that they had were already sold. A few months later HR Owen contacted him to say that a used car had become available, and which he immediately bought.

The car has been used sparingly in his ownership and therefore he is able to warrant the mileage of 40,900 miles. Maranello Concessionaires- whose number plates the car still wears-Modena Engineering and former Modena Engineering mechanic, Steve Moody of SMDG have looked after the car. A new set of carpets have been replaced in the past with a black set, and a deep spoiler was fitted when the original shallow item was damaged on a kerb. Whilst Mr M has owned the car more less from new it was registered not only in his name but also his companies K and Co of, Surrey and P Ltd also of Surrey.

The car still has its factory original service book, handbook, leather wallet and tool roll with the jack. Even two sets of original keys one with its original HERON(they owned HR Owen at that time) key ring.

The car is now registered Historic therefore no longer needing to be MOT tested and has free road tax. It also ,therefore, ULEZ compliant.



1975
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 Ferrari's own website


The nature of the design of the 308, combining elements of the Berlinetta Boxer and the 246 Dino, was of a pure sporting nature. It was strictly a two seater, with no pretence to being anything more.

The biggest surprise concerning the bodywork was the use of fibreglass for the main body shell (the front deck lid was the only exception, being of aluminium). The reasons why this material was chosen have never been divulged by Ferrari, leading to a number of speculations. It was, of course, a weight-saver, and certainly and effective way to prevent the body corrosion which plagued the 365 GTB/4 and 246 Dino (both, like the 308 GTB, designed by Pininfarina but built by Scaglietti). It has also been suggested that the use of fibreglass allowed production of the car to begin much earlier, but was never intended as anything more than a stopgap measure until the dies for steel bodywork could be produced. Finally, it has even been suggested that the first batch of 308 GTB's were in fibreglass so the car could be homologated for competition in that form, with again, a weight advantage. Whatever the reason, there were no complaints about the quality and finish of the fibreglass bodywork which was superb.
Mechanically the 308 GTB was obviously a direct descendant of the 308 GT Dino. The engine was the same 90 V8 with bore and stroke dimensions of 81mm and 71mm, giving a displacement of just under three litres. All main engine castings were of traditional Ferrari light alloy, with cast iron wet cylinder liners. It had four overhead camshafts (two per bank) driven by the toothed belts pioneered on the 365 GT4/BB, two valves per cylinder, and four Weber twin choke carburettors.

The end result, the factory claimed, was 255 horsepower at 7700rpm. It was mounted transversely, just ahead of the rear wheels, and transmitted its power through a five speed transaxle which was, again, identical to the 308 GT4 Dino's unit except for the higher fifth gear ratio. The clutch was a dry, single plate, mechanically operated unit. One major change, at least as originally introduced, was the adoption of a dry sump lubrication system for the engine. Finally, a change in the exhaust system resulted in only a single tailpipe, on the left side.
The chassis was also straight from the 308 GT4 Dino, with 210mm missing from the wheelbase giving a total wheelbase dimension of 2340mm. Front and rear suspensions (and the track dimensions of 1460mm each) were also unchanged. Of course, the car had four-wheel independent suspension and disc brakes all round. New on the 308 GTB were the wheels, which copied the five-pointed star design of the Daytona but were mounted via five lug bolts.
One final innovation with the 308 GTB distinguished it from the 308 GT4 Dino. Whereas the first 308 had been seen as a continuation of the Dino as a separate marque, with the cars bearing a number of Dino badges and receiving chassis numbers in the even number five digit sequence of the 246, the new 308 carried only Ferrari badges and was numbered in the odd numbered sequence that so far had been reserved for only the 12 cylinder production Ferraris.



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