Ferrari 308 GTB

It’s funny how certain cars take a long time to get the recognition they probably always deserved. For years the Ferrari 308 was simply the affordable way into an old Ferrari.

Today, really good early cars have become properly collectible, and when you drive one it’s not particularly difficult to understand why. We’ve owned a couple of 308s over the years and, for us, the steel-bodied carburettor GTB is still the sweet spot. This is a 1979 car, making it one of the last of the carburettor-fed cars before Ferrari moved to fuel injection.

It’s also a UK-market RHD GTB – one of only 211 RHD steel-bodied carburettor GTBs produced – with the desirable dry-sump engine. Four Weber carburettors, a gated five-speed gearbox, no power steering and a relatively small, light Ferrari around you. They’re not ridiculously fast by modern standards, but that’s almost the point. You can actually use the car and enjoy what it does. And the noise is fantastic.

This particular car has covered just 35,612 miles and has a superb history going right back to its 500-mile service at Maranello Ferrari in 1980. More importantly, it has been properly maintained. The suspension was comprehensively rebuilt in 2021 with Koni dampers, springs, bushes, seals and bearings. At the same time the brakes were overhauled, cambelts replaced and an upgraded A/C compressor fitted.

The gearbox was serviced in May this year, followed by an engine service and another cambelt change in July. It shows when you drive it. We’ve just completed a 550-mile journey in the car and it drove beautifully. Tight suspension, lovely gearbox, great oil pressure and it just feels like a 308 that has actually been looked after rather than one that has spent its life sitting in a collection.

The previous owner went considerably further, driving it from the UK to the Ferrari factory in Maranello and back in June – 2,381 miles without issue. Finished in Rosso Corsa over Nero leather, it was repainted in its original colour in 2016 and remains a beautiful, very well-presented car.

It also retains its original handbooks and service wallet, tool roll, jack, manuals and an extensive history file. Values of the best 308s have moved considerably as collectors have started separating the different generations and specifications.

The early carburettor cars in particular are now recognised as something quite different to the later injected cars. After another 550 miles in this one, we can understand why. A really lovely example of one of Ferrari’s great analogue road cars – and a car we’d happily drive anywhere.