Baby boomer
IT WASN’T SO long ago that a 308 was the Ferrari bought by people who really wanted a new model but couldn’t afford it. They were relatively cheap and fairly ubiquitous, with about 10,000 of all variants produced. The cheesy ’80s association with the moustachioed Tom Selleck in Magnum PI probably didn’t help values, either.
Times change, however, and the 308 now appears ‘classic’ rather than merely ‘old’. Prices have risen – along with those of everything else in the classic car scene – and a decent 308 is a £60,000-80,000 car rather than the £25k it used to be. One of the rare and early glassfibrebodied examples, the vetroresina, can easily fetch £150,000.
And that’s as it should be, because the 308 is one of the best Ferraris ever made. It was built from 1976 to 1985 but the styling is timeless: Leonardo Fioravanti’s voluptuous curves look gorgeous from any angle, and they wrap around a mid/ rear-mounted 2.9-litre V8 that gives stirring performance. Being a ’70s design, it’s quite compact and its huge glass area combines with the swell of the front wings to make it an easy car to place on the road.
This 308 GTB is a 1977 steelbodied car loaned to Octane by DK Engineering (www.dkeng.co.uk) – you can tell it’s an early one by the single rear exhaust pipe and the rather understated front spoiler. Inside, it ticks all the boxes: a neat three-spoke alloy wheel, stylish yet comfortable leather seats, and – most important of all – a tall, slender gearlever projecting from a chromed, exposed gate.
Four twin-choke Webers provide instant starting and add real character to the V8’s soundtrack, their induction noise adding to the crisp note of the exhaust. On the move, the gearchange needs a slow and deliberate action until it’s properly warm, but once the 308 is properly in the groove it’s a delight to drive. Any low-speed steering heaviness disappears at speed, and the ride on the originalspec 14in alloys is pleasantly supple. You’ll never tire of winding that snarling V8 out to its 7500rpm red line, either. Which is, let’s face it, what it’s all about.
Sadly, you won’t be doing it in this car, which is now sold. But don’t worry, there are plenty more out there.