By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Today’s pic is from Faisal’s Ferrari 308 ride page. I’ll sure you’ll see a pic from his DeLorean ride page here soon, too.

By Ben Schaffer

The Real JDM

WIN.

After seeing this picture I instantly started looking up prices of used 308 GTBs ($30,000 for those wondering). This car is flawless and a perfect example of retro JDM tuning with a Exotic car twist. If I could own this car for anywhere near $30,000 in this condition I’d be lining up for one right now.

Nakamura Engineering is one of Japan’s most well regarded Ferrari tuning and maintenance shops. We’ve featured them on this blog before, but this latest picture of their 308 GTO is one of the cleanest and best cars I’ve seen lately. You totally forget that the car is 30 years old looking at this picture!

I’ll be posting some more on Nakamura Racing soon…

Continue reading "Nakamura Racing’s Ferrari 308 GTO" »

By Sam Barer

Sound Classics

If you work on cars, you’re bound to have one of those proverbial “oh crap” moments. You know the type: while trying to “fix” or “restore” a part of the car, it all goes terribly wrong.

I was in the process of rebuilding the four Weber carburetors on the Sound Classics project Ferrari 308 GT4 utilizing the tried-and-true Polish Blueprintmethod of reassembly: taking a part off the second carburetor, while putting the new, yet identical part back on the freshly cleaned first carb. Things seemed to be going great.

The second carb’s fuel bowl float retaining pin didn’t want to come loose. I placed the top of the carb housing in the bench vice and tapped a small punch pointed in the hole with a hammer, causing the pin to slide just enough to get pliers on the other end. Still tight, I tapped the pliers with the hammer and the pin started sliding. One last light hit…

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "What's Your Worst "Oh Crap" Car Restoration Moment?" »

By Sam Barer

Sound Classics

With detective work regarding the history of the Sound Classics project 1975/1976 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 finished, it was time to open that mid-mounted engine hatch and dive in with reckless abandon. All I learned during the buying process was that the car ran like a flatulent hippopotamus with a bad hip.

Actually, to avoid making an extremely costly mistake, it is very important to have a good method to the madness even before one buys a classic. From the time I first started the car at the seller’s house, I had a pretty good idea of the possible culprits, as well as sources and a ballpark cost estimate for the parts necessary to put it all right.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Pinpointing Problems, Parts, Prices, and Purveyors for Project Ferrari Dino 308 GT4" »

By Sam Barer

Sound Classics

I’ve made it a habit when buying collector cars to go through the vehicle nose-to-tail in search of any parts, records or interesting stuff. Although the Sound Classics’ project Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 didn’t give up much in the way of interesting stuff (unless you consider a Walnut Creek Ferrari dealer license frame and large and delightfully cheesy nylon pillow that looks like the Ferrari badge interesting), I did find the original owner’s manual billfold to go with a small folder of recent receipts.

It was when I opened the owner’s manual billfold that I got a big and totally unexpected surprise: a complete record of service invoices and documents from the day it was sold new, including the warranty booklet and original sales form. The car’s biography starts with some uncertainty: its serial number (12500) and build-date plate indicate a build date of June 1976, but the car shows on its title and sales paperwork as being a “1975” model car. Less out of the ordinary, the car was originally sold by Ferrari of Los Gatos, CA in 1977 as “new” with just north of 2000 miles on it. This original owner, Dr. Binder, kept the car until selling it to James Young (probably no relation to the coachbuilder of Rolls-Royces of the same name) of Palo Alto in 1982. Continue reading…

Continue reading "Detective Work Reveals Special (If Not Confusing) History on Project Ferrari 308 GT4" »

By Sam Barer

Sound Classics

Much of the collector car hobby hinges on the old adage “do as I say, not as I do.” For ages self-proclaimed experts like me have been educating car newbies on the importance of buying the best-condition classics they can afford, all while secretly hauling home projects that could scare the best restorers with the most up-to-date tetanus vaccinations.

I’ve really gone and done it this time, though, by buying one of the most talked-about cars on Craigslist and turning it into the latest Sound Classics project. To describe it, I need to use two words that should never appear in the same sentence: “Ferrari” and “TLC”.

Continue reading after the jump!

Continue reading "Introducing Sound Classics' Newest Project: The Infamous Craigslist Ferrari 308 GT4" »

I’ve been e-mailing back and forth a bit with Ferrari guru Mike Sheehan. In addition to being a renowned Ferrari historian, concours judge and columnist, Mike owns and races five Ferraris. One of Mike’s favorites is this ex-IMSA GT-2 now SCCA GT-2 car, which started life at a 1976 dry-sumped fiberglass Euro model 308 GTB. Mike has invested countless hours and dollars in this car–there is well over $100k in the engine alone. There has also been a bit of haggling with the SCCA to get and keep this thing on the track. I’ve posted more pics below, but be sure to check out Mike’s ride page for the full story on this incredible car.

Continue reading "Mike Sheehan's Ex-IMSA GT-2 Now SCCA GT-2 Car" »

Magnum PI’s Ferrari 308 was the first super cool car I can remember seeing on the tube, so I’d like to wish a happy birthday to actor Tom Selleck, who was born on this day back in 1945. His mustache was born approximately 13 years later. Here’s the news:

• Is GM still the largest automaker? That’s the question which has been rattling around automotive sites lately, and it might surprise you to see who answered no. Automotive News
• Delphi execs won’t be getting such large bonuses this year, because the company just took a big chunk out of their bonus fund. Don’t worry, there’s still 132 million in there. Detroit News
• Bob Lutz posted a picture of a ZR1 done up in Michigan State Police livery, and it looks pretty tough. If they made these standard issue, recruitment dollars could be used to beef up the donut budget. GM Fast Lane
• Fisker’s plug-in hybrid was easily the sexiest thing at NAIAS, and there are rumors it might even be built in Detroit. Wired

For me, it’s impossible to look at the 308 and not think about Magnum PI. And while star Tom Selleck famously hated the car—he didn’t really fit—the Ferrari’s prominent placement on the show made a generation of kids fall in love with it. The good news? As Ferraris go, these cars are pretty reasonably priced. You can pick up a solid example for around 30 grand—and it’s guaranteed to turn heads. The bad news? A replacement water pump probably costs more than a new Kia. But whatever. Ferrari made around 12,000 308s, and there a some pretty cool ones on CarDomain. I really liked Sandra’s purple ’84, but I think if I had my choice, I’d take black, like Ryan’s ’85. Of course, the red/tan combo on Rick’s ’82 is totally classic, and  Mathias’s red/black ’84 also looks pretty dope. What do you think? Would owning one of these Italian stallions be worth the potentially heartbreaking maintenance costs?