Ordered on 22nd June 1978 for October 1978 production by the then Ferrari agents Maltin Car Concessionaires Ltd of Henley upon Thames for stock, 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 number F/275 five days later 27th June 1978.The car was completed and invoiced to Maranello Concessionaires Ltd on 19th October 1978, for delivery to the UK by truck. One of 211 officially imported with 121 remaining with just 7 in blue

The car was first registered XPM 804T, on the 20th November 1978 by Ferrari dealers Maranello Concessionaires Ltd for use of the chairman a 65 year old Colonel Ronnie Hoare,-this happening to be his favourite colour combination and the car not having been a sold order by Maltin Car Concessionaires presumably-. 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.

An early example of steel bodied dry sump 308 GTB.A Unusually complete and detailed ownership and service history from new, with factory original service book, handbook ,past invoices and MOT's supporting the mileage.
Just completing, in our own workshops, a suspension and brake overhaul, as well as a major service including valves clearances, new camshaft and auxiliary drive belts totalling £15,000.


The car is now registered Historic tax class,therefore exempt from ULEZ charges,MOT testing and taxing.



PLEASE CONTACT MIKE WHEELER FOR MORE DETAILS AND TO ARRANGE VIEWING

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

The 308 GT4, which had followed on from the 246 GT, was not strictly speaking its replacement. That role was to be undertaken by the 308 GTB introduced in Paris in 1975. Although it did not carry Dino badges and was chassis numbered in the Ferrari series, i.e. with odd numbers, the 308 GTB was directly descended from the 308 GT4.

For the body design, Ferrari went back to Pininfarina who skilfully blended together elements from the Dino 206/246 series and the 365GT4 BB. From the latter came the double body shell appearance resulting from the groove cut into the body at bumper level; the plunging nose; the rather square rear panel and sail panels extended back to meet a shallow spoiler. From the Dino came the concave rear windows and conical air intakes ahead of the rear wheel arches.

The most important innovation, though, was the use of fibreglass for the body shell. Whatever the reasons for its use, it was short-lived, because by approximately mid-1977 steel was once again back in favour as the main material along with the selective use of fibreglass.
The chassis numbers started at 18677. The last fibreglass-bodied car was 21289. The first steel-bodied car was 20805. The final cut-off point for the model is not known.

The 308 GTS, introduced at Frankfurt in the autumn of 1977, was an obvious addition to the 308 range. Besides the removable roof panel that marked it out from the GTB, the rear quarter lights were covered by black louvered panels that were stylistic rather than functional. In the USA, considered to be a 1978 model, it had to meet more stringent exhaust emission standards. These required the use of a catalytic converter exhaust which brought additional cooling vents in the rear deck and a shroud below the rear bumper. Apart from these "peculiar to destination" type modifications, the GTS was mechanically, with one exception, identical to the GTB. The exception was that, regardless of where the cars were to go, lubrication would be wet sump.


Whilst every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the above details we do not warrant them to be correct. You are therefore advised to verify the accuracy before purchase.

For further details or viewing please contact
Mike Wheeler

Copyright Mike Wheeler 2023