When life hands you lemons, make lemonades – that’s how the old expression goes. A lesser known one is, “When life sets your Ferrari on fire, make it into a rally car.” At least that’s what the seller of this burned-out 1978 Ferrari 308 GTS here on craigslist recommends. What would you do with it?
Barn Finds reader M. Patterson forwarded us this find, which is located in Nashville for $6,500. A failed fuel line caused the GTS to catch on fire, and in the process, effectively destroyed the car. Nevertheless, this seller isn’t fazed by the monumental task ahead of the next owner; in fact, he sees it as the perfect opportunity to create a Ferrari rally car.
Here you can truly see the extent of the damage. The cockpit is gone – no dashboard to see here, as the bulk of the destruction took place from the windshield-back. But hold on a second! That $6,500 doesn’t get you much of what you see here, including the remains of the engine, the wheels, the headlights and the front bumper. If you want any of the salvageable bits, the price goes up to $13,000.
While a rally-spec Ferrari 308 would be entertaining as all get-out (and they have been campaigned regularly in the past, waking up sleepy rally forests with the signature Ferrari howl), I just can’t get behind the seller’s enthusiast. It feels like there is too much damage and not enough value for the buyer if even the most useful bits left are removed prior to sale. What would you do with this burnt 308?
That was the nicest Car-B-Que,too bad it only cook’s everything “Well Done”. Can’t tell if it was gas or charcoal…………
stick a fork in it, it’s done
I’m gonna guess steel body and carbs?
the clown must have bought it from the insurance company; they’re getting the last laugh here. I would suspect that everything from the dash to the back bumper is completely ruined, fire has that effect. I think the seller needs to include the entire mess for one price, but if there’s anything that the p-car market has taught us is that there’s a rearend for every seat, even if all that’s left is springs
I own a 308 and am very careful as engine fires are not unusual with exotics. Regular service on mine includes line replacement. When I first saw the Craigslist 308 shown here, I thought it might have been the 78 308 that caught fire in California in October. No, different car, and who would drag a burned out hulk cross country.
Check out this link of the one in California on fire.
http://kron4.com/2015/10/26/ferrari-catches-fire-at-east-bay-gas-station/
Yeah, I read about this one on another site, a few weeks ago. Blessedly it rolled away from the pumps or there would have been one heck of a s’mores party going on!!!
Nice artificial reef
No.
I’ve seen furniture made out of parts of cars, maybe a nice desk could be made out of the front end. You could whack it apart at the firewall ( fire damage solved ) and desks don’t need a drivetrain so the missing engine is not an issue. Any Magnum P. I. fans? I can’t see much else being done with this marshmallow
Your talking about starting out priced $6500 desk?!!?!?!? THEN you have to transport, cut, and modify!?!? I think you can purchase something just as cool for a whole lot less. But there are a LOT of people with more $ than ¢!!!!!!
I’m not to impressed with the seller, he takes off all the useable parts and is asking extra money for them. All that should be for sale are the parts the rest should go to the crusher. That cooked sheet metal will no longer be structural and should not get put back on the road.
Everything is likely to be warped, possibly even the engine. This scrap metal by weight alone. I pity someone who has a go at the engine, that is potentially total trouble.
The seller’s price might be reasonable if the car was left as pictured. Not sure what could be done with the burned out hulk- that was a big fire. How about making it into playground art?
I think the fumes from the fire effected this guys thinking!
Nowhere near rare enough to make someone interested in putting it back together.
This deal is a non-starter. There might be a few parts away from the burned areas that could be salvaged, but it was an intense, accelerant-driven fire that damaged lots of the metal on the car. So the weakening and warping of the metal by the fire literally made most of this car into toast.
I think Cassidy is right, he bought it from the insurance co—it has a salvage title—and is trying to make $$. The car never should have gotten a salvage title if it means that it could ever see the road again. The idea that it’s ideal for making into a race car or 288 GTO replica is a joke. The engine is mostly aluminium and has only scrap value now.
The car appears to be 2 seconds from becoming ashes!! LOL
Why is this dope putting a 6500 price in the ad but then says 13000 for the entire car? That is the first lie, a missleading ad. The second lie is him telling himself this mess is worth 13000. If you look hard enough, you can still find driver type 308s in need of repairs but still a million times better than this car for mid 20s to low 30s so how can this be a deal at 13000?
She’s toast.
Magnum P.I. – Pyro Incendiary Special.
I went to a place that parted out Ferraris once. I was quite surprised how many burnt 308s they had there. Bring a fire extinguisher!
Yes, 308 fires are quite common. Simple neglect of the fuel lines that I service as regularly as belts. Neglect a $200 line replacement = 308 toast. ,
This is why I have always had a fire extinguisher in any of my classic cars. A small 5 lb one will put out a big fire if used properly.
Speaking for myself, I would have to strip it down to bare metal before I could even think of transforming it into a rally car, and even then, there’s no guarantee that I could pull off such a project.
Incidentally, I tried to visit that Craigslist ad, only to discover that it’s not there anymore. Someone apparently bought this car for some kind of project.
I bought the car. Type in you tube Ferrari 308 Michelotto epynt rally…. it’s currently leading the historic rally championship and was made from a fire damaged car. For those that can’t repair them, it’s obviously beyond repair!!!
Great, Kevin, be sure and fill us in as you progress with the car!