A practical Ferrari? Not really. But the 308 GT4 was an attempt to add rear seats to the classic 308 platform. Most observers are not terribly enamored with the looks, and many folks can get into the pricing on these cars. Just remember, they come with all the Ferrari maintenance costs, especially if you aren’t going to perform it yourself. This one is listed for sale here on eBay with a buy it now of $33,500 but lower offers are being considered (and probably should be). It’s located in Dallas, Texas.
The good thing about this car is that it only shows 17,222 miles. The bad things about this car is that it only shows 17,222 miles and has been off the road since 1990. Ferraris and other exotics don’t thrive on not being driven, and I’m sure there’s a lot of maintenance due before you try to put the car back on the road. The seller doesn’t say if it runs and I’m guessing not since there is so much to do.
The seller describes the paint as “thrashed by sunlight” and I’d have to agree — which means this car has been stored outside.
The interior certainly isn’t pristine and will require a lot of work. Anyone recognize the license plate behind the seat? It didn’t look like any of the Texas plates I found on the internet.
That’s a transverse V8 that is pretty complex from both a maintenance and repair point of view, at least compared to an American one. But it’s a Ferrari, man, and it’s attached to a genuine gated five-speed transmission, just like its more expensive brethren. Let us know if you are interested after looking over the auction listing!
Plate appears to be Hawaii.. Aloha state. Perhaps Magnum’s backup?
Magnum’s family car. Just needs a toddler seat in the back, a “Baby-on-board” sticker for the rear window, and a trunk full of diapers.
Hawaii plate. Aloha State
Hawaii license plate, also visible the rear window along with the Hawaii state safety check sticker on the rear bumper. Sitting that long in Hawaii – i can practically smell the mildewy interior…
That thing’s got a narrow beak only a mother could love! I don’t even want to think about how far in the air that pointy nose would launch a pedestrian in a collision.
The higher they go, the more points you get. I love the pointy front, popular on dozens of cars like the Corvette, Pantera, other Ferrari, Maserati, Triumph TR7 & TR8 and my favorite, Aston Martin Lagonda from the ’80’s.
A Hawaiian 🌺 plate for a Texas car?
I am confused and amused 😳✅
One is going to need deep pockets to make this run 😮
Why do flippers not get staging right like me removing plate and renting a barn 😳 or a fraternity basement 😎
Here’s a classic: “There’s nothing more expensive than a cheap Ferrari”
b.s. LS swap time
Wait….invoking the logic from a different German car thread…..Ferrari’s are just souped up Fiats, right?
I never cared for Ferraris and I think Maseratis have always been the better car, at least for road use and in my experience but Astons are my personal all time favorite.
Hand in your “car guy” card.
Come and take it.
Fair-ish price. Would make a wonderful vintage rally car (not rally racing) left as is with only mechanical and comfort work performed
Ugly? Not by the standards of many car designers and the people who bought cars of the ’70s and ’80s that were less attractive than this car. Think Lotus and many other brands.
One of the things that hurt the looks of these early 308s was the battering ram front bumper, which was mandated by the Congress of the United States. “Design by Congress” didn’t always turn out too well.
As for how these 308s drove, they were terrific….for their day. I came close to buying one back when they were more affordable, and they were definitely worth the $15-$20K asking price back then. I had a ride around Road Atlanta that was very impressive.
And when Paul Frere, the late, great racing driver, first tested one in Europe when they were new, he reported in Road & Track that the car would easily run right up to its maximum speed of 155 MPH. Not bad for the bottom rung of the Ferrari line, with only 3 liters of engine.
As for this car, it’s definitely not the worst one I’ve seen, altho by the looks of the spare it probably has more than 17K miles. Maybe 117K?
Anyway, the body and interior look OK, relatively speaking. They will need work, but if it runs OK you might just be able to change the timing belt (something you can do yourself—there are sites that take you through it on the web), go through the systems to see what they need, and maybe have a driver.
The Bertone body isn’t to everyone’s taste, but then again if you don’t like it there are probably a lot of other cars out there that you also don’t care too much for.
Dolphin, I will admit to being underwhelmed by 308 GT4s until I drove one. I became — and still am — enamored of the cars. The sounds that little V8 makes are magical, and it pulls like mad. It’s in a brilliantly engineered chassis, too. You don’t really see the body from behind the wheel, anyway….
I have been told the engines are pretty reliable if you keep up with timing belt and oil changes. But I’d think this car is going to need to have brake, cooling and fuel systems gone through before you’d really want to lean on it. Which is almost impossible to NOT do if you have the chance.
I hate to be TOO critical, but sometimes someone’s gotta point the (should be) obvious out – Jamie, there’s just NO EXCUSE for your sentence – “But the 308 GT4 was an attempt to add rear seats to the classic 308 platform.” The 308 GT4 was the very first production mid-engine V8 built by Ferrari and for the first couple of years wasn’t even sold as a Ferrari but as a DINO. What you refer to as the classic 308 Platform (think Magnum P.I.) came AFTER the 308GT4 and was sold only under the Ferrari nameplate, as were the last 308GT4’s. Along these lines I have to admit to what now seems an act of vandalism on my part – about 20 years ago I bought a very early Dino 308GT4 but like so many other guys, I installed a “FERRARI” script to the rear engine lid, a rampant stallion to the rear panel and a Ferrari emblem to the nose. Back then, it seemed like the thing to do.
No excuse? A bit harsh, perhaps? (said with a smile…I’m well aware you are a very knowledgeable commenter) You’re right, of course, the GT4 did come first AND was sold as a Dino at the beginning. Thanks for keeping us honest and for providing the entertaining stories you do! :-)
Don’t take it personal . . . but you were running a “Help Wanted” ad earlier this week – I should have applied, but alas inertia won out, but if you still need a writer, let me know!
Oh, I didn’t (hopefully I conveyed that :-)) That’s Jesse & Josh’s area (approving writers). If you are interested I’d suggest responding to the post about wanting writers; they’ll be looking for responses there.
Jamie
17k miles? The interior looks like they were very hard miles.
Looks like it might of had a repaint, the tape lines on the CATALYST I.D. Plate look funny and the spare tire condition is a dead give away that the 17K mileage claim is total BULL$HIT.
They say there is a lid to every garbage can, what do you think?
That being said, a gullible consumer is the best customer.
Pull the Ferrari V8. Clean it up. Put it in your living room as a piece of art work. Install an LS in the car and start putting on the miles. Leave everything else alone.
At least it’s not red
Had a buddy with one of these. Yeah, some parts, not all, are on the pricey side. He was able to do all the regular maintenance. Handled great, sounded great and in a pinch could get four adults in it.
The looks, I happen to like them. It is like a Stratos that won’t try to kill you.
The words Hawaii, car, and rust go together. True many of these were bought cheap and not taken care of. There are some that are out there for less than double this asking in much better shape. Not sure if they are a bargain, but it is a lot of car for the money.
My first Ferrari was a 308GT4 and I bought it almost by accident! I got up one morning (this was 20 years ago when people still put advertisements in the local paper), quickly perused the ads, as I did every morning and saw an ad for a Ferrari, reported to run good and also priced cheap. Later that day I got together for lunch with my girlfriend Connie and another friend Jay. I casually mentioned that there had been an ad that morning for a “cheap Ferrari” in the paper. My girlfriend asked what I learned when I had called on it. “Called??” I replied “There ain’t no such thing as a good cheap Ferrari. It can be one or the other but not both.” But Jay wanted to egg me on so he got up from the table, poked around the restaurant until he found a copy of the morning’s paper and brought the classifieds over.
“Well, ok, I’ll call.” The car was at a used car lot just south of downtown so we bee-lined there. I was surprised the car looked good. A twist of the key and the four-cam four carb motor barked to life, slipped into the first of five gears and the clutch bit smartly! As I turned down the freeway I couldn’t find anything wrong with it – good oil pressure, no smoke, crisp shifting and powerful brakes.
We pulled back on the lot, I turned to the salesman and said “I’ll give you 12 grand, figuring he’d be nuts to take it but I’d be nuts not to buy if they didn’t accept my offer. After a three-minute consultation with his boss, the deal was written up!
Now I had not intended to buy a car, much less a Ferrari that morning when I left the house so I didn’t have my checkbook with me. Connie, my girlfriend had her checkbook so she wrote the check and to celebrate, the three of us, Connie, Jay and myself drove over to Connie’s house on the riverbank and broke open a bottle of wine to celebrate on the deck overlooking the water under a rare bright Portland sun.
After about his second glass of wine, Jay’s cell phone rang. It was his wife. Now I think he was a little bit jealous of me, having had the opportunity and means to simply buy a Ferrari on the spur of the moment like that and so when he answered the phone he said “Honey, I’ve just bought a Ferrari!” Normally his wife could always tell when she was being handed a whopper but for some reason she actually believed him that day and hung up on him in anger!
After a few minutes she called back but he handed the phone to me. I explained that it was me who bought the Ferrari, not Jay but she thought I was just lying to cover for him so she asked to speak to Connie. With Connie on the phone the conversation went like this: Did Jay buy a Ferrari this morning. No Jay did not buy a Ferrari. So, did George buy a Ferrari? again Connie said No, George did not buy a Ferrari (because in her mind, she wrote the check, therefore she bought the Ferrari). Then, Connie said she bought the Ferrari (which made no sense because Connie wasn’t a ‘car person.’) At which point Jay’s wife was exasperated and figured we were all lying to protect Jay but simply hadn’t gotten our stories straight so certainly Jay had in fact bought the Ferrari and she was majorly pissed about it and hung up again!
Five minutes later the phone rings. It’s Jays daughter explaining to him either he better come home (or maybe it was he better never come home, the passage of time dulls my memory) because Mom was more pissed off than she had ever seen her before and the only way he’d ever make peace with her again would be if he bought her the new big-screen TV she really wanted but he earlier refused to buy!
So to make peace with his wife and restore order to his family Jay had to buy a new big screen TV (and you know they were expensive twenty years ago). I wrote Connie a check reimbursing her so there was no question the Ferrari was mine and so began the great fun and adventure that was had with that Ferrari!
Eventually we got married (but that was only temporary) but there really were so many great times and adventures, on the race track during track days, and even political upheaval in the small rural town where Connie was the High School Principal when she would drive the Ferrari to work. All great memories now, but it didn’t always seem so at the time! Sorry this is so lengthy. I hope someone enjoys it. Lots of good memories with the Ferrari, it was actually a reliable and faithful car. Connie the wife was less so and didn’t stick around as long as the Ferrari but that’s another story and another lesson . . .
Awesome lesson, keep the Ferrari dump the wife….
C-T, Congrats on one of the best stories ever on BF. BTW, Jay’s wife could have been my wife!
Thank you for the nice words but 20 years on Jay and his wife are still married, I eventually had to apply for a restraining order against mine after the divorce!
Ok C-T, I even read it slowly, just in case you are like me and cannot type quickly any more. You have whetted my appetite and piqued my curiosity for the ‘Connie the wife’ story.
Okay, I’ve got time to waste this morning, what would you like to hear? How about a funny story! We took the car out to the annual Portland Historic Races that first summer with the Ferrari Club and during the lunch hour the various car clubs take to the track and do, ahem, “parade laps” which mean we all drive as wild and fast as we can possibly get away with, and we were lined up right behind a very prominent Portland surgeon who was behind the wheel of his brand new 360 Modena and Connie was behind the wheel of the old 308GT4. The flag dropped and everyone took off like AA/Fuel dragsters as fast as they could! Connie is shorter than me (and probably fatter and uglier by now, but I digress) so she had slid the drivers seat forward to reach the pedals. But, the adjustment mechanism wasn’t working properly so when she revved the motor and dumped the clutch, her seat slammed backwards as fast as the car shot forwards and right in front of her in the brand new silver 360 Modena the very prominent Portland surgeon was hitting his brakes hard and she couldn’t even touch the brake pedal!! I instantly reached over and shoved the seat forward, she braked and just missed the Ferrari, then jumped on the accelerator again, and again, the car lept forward as the seat shot back and the Ferrari in front braked sharply as I shoved the seat forward again, and so it continued for two laps around the nine turns of Portland International Raceway in front of all the crowds gathered to see the exotic, historic and ancient race cars compete that day! To this day I’ve never shared this story before and certainly the very prominent Portland surgeon had no idea of the peril he and his brand new 360 Modena were in!
How can I meet Connie? Any woman who would write a check for $12k for a car that wasn’t hers, is my kind of woman. Connie was worth more than that old FERRARI.
Oh foolish man, how little you know!! She blew through about a hundred and fifty grand of mine the year and a half we were allegedly married! I dunno, she’s probably still collecting victims on match.com or somethin’
JUST KIDDING,Chinga, about Connie. I’m still married to my 1st wife..cheaper to keeper than give her 1/2 my net worth.
The spare tyre says a lot about the owners priorities !
When you rotate the tires, the spare is included, no?
I believe the original Ferrari spare was a space saver and after it was lost or used up someone replaced it with a piece of garbage.
Ferrari experts please correct my statement if I am wrong or out of line.
Hahahahaahah…. 17K miles…. oh please….good luck with that..
Looking at that – the seller has moved the decimal point one space too far to the left in the asking price. Rather than $33,000 – more like $3,300 with all the work it is going to need.
I quite like Ferraris. The ones that I’ve driven were not far off as talkative as the 2CV racer. Entertainingly quick (slightly unlike the 2CV, which isn’t that quick but is definitely entertaining).
memoir time CT !!
(they’re fun: writtin or readin)
Thank you Jamie for the post and Dolphin for your remarks. I think I would try for less of an acquisition cost, do the mechanicals and comforts as mentioned, and then make a decision on cosmetics. As someone said, it’s a Ferrari, man.
Mr. Chinga, sir, you are my new hero. Too bad about the babe, but at least you have the perspective to use the experience to weave a most entertaining tale.
I count my blessings that the love of my life actually encouraged me to buy not just one, but two Corvettes and willingly rides with the top down (on the car, not the wife).
There was that time on the sailboat, but that’s another story altogether.
Hi Jeff , the spare in the GT4’s was full size , Ferrari didn’t start using space savers until later cars where the real wheels were wider than the fronts , making a one size spare useless .
I’ve got one of these. It is a blast to drive and hasn’t been too bad maintenance-wise yet. Given what you can get a much better one for, this one should be cheaper unless maintenance has been performed. The thing I like about this one is, if I bought it, I’d fix mechanicals, but leave paint and interior as is, just to see all those fancy Ferrari people at the shows look on in horror. . .
Ok, the tag is Hawaii. Tap on picture, enlarge. See the h up top? See where it starts to say the Aloha State at the bottom. Also if you really want to go see a nice one go check out Elvis’ at his museum in Memphis. I like it. Same color.