Lot 257 - 1977 Ferrari 308 GTB Competition (3.0 Litre)

It is anyone's guess as to the reason Ferrari favoured Bertone as the design house for its new 2+2 GT, the 308GT4, the successor to the 246GT and the Dino 308GT4 that made its first appearance at the Paris Salon in 1973. The public had mixed views over the sharp angular lines from the pen of Bertone that substituted the beautiful flowing curves of the Pininfarina 246.In October 1975, Ferrari presented its new 308GTB at the Paris Salon. A return to Pininfarina for the body styling that pleased many Ferrari fans. In the first two years of 308 production, Ferrari used glass reinforced plastic (GRP) body panels. These Vetroresina examples are now extremely desirable. Ferrari updated the 308 model to 328 in 1985.

In the early eighties, the Porsche 935’s were dominating the racing scene, so in 1981 Martino Finotto and Carlo Facetti teamed up to build a Ferrari 308GTB capable of taking on the mighty 935’s. The team used a three litre 308 as a base, built a lightweight body and reworked the engine adding two turbos. This car first appeared at the Daytona 24 Hours in 1981. For qualifying, Facetti turned the boost up to gain an output of over 800bhp. Spectators were astonished to see the Ferrari place 6th on the grid. After setting the fastest lap of the race, the Ferrari had to return to the pits on lap five with a mechanical issue.

This 1977, 308 GTB dry sump, carburettor example has spent much of it life as a race car. Starting life Innocently enough as a road going 308 GTB demonstrator with Maranello in Egham, this 308 was then swiftly turned into a competition replica of the the 1981 Daytona car. For much of its race history, it was successfully campaigning in New-Zealand. Within a race journal, we can find that a Stuart McCondach had some success ,scoring a win in the MRNZ summer motor racing series at Manfeild Aotocourse. Many other results from countless races can be found alongside tyre setup and maintenance details between 1994-2002, with further details in a second journal until 2014.

Presented within the staggering history file, you will discover period photographs, engineer’s notes from every race and test session, Dyno-graphs from each modification or post engine refresh. You will also discover a scrutineer’s card with 60 race events and engineering drawings relating to the bespoke engine build. In addition there is a Historic Technical Passport which specified this car to race in T&C Group 3 races alongside correspondence from the Automobilie Club D'Italia and Federation Internationale du Sport Automobile.

Reading further into the cars extensive history file, it suggests that the owner of this car obtained sponsorship from a specialist fibreglass facility, A.C Fibreglass in New Zealand and over time the car has been updated with fibreglass body panels. These panels appear to be of a very high quality and allow for a considerable weight reduction, this modification permits a far greater scope for geometry settings, especially on the rear of the car. Currently the car is fitted with safety devices specific to the period and regulations of its last races in New-Zealand, including welded safety cage, extinguisher and electrical cut-offs. This package is proven itself competitive and has been developed over the years and fully documented with all documentation found within the journals.

Much of this car has been re-engineered to an extremely high standard and we advised that any interested party inspect this car in person to familiars themselves with the considerable history file and the overwhelming upgrades.

Offered with this spectacular example is a set of 13 slick tyres and four further spare Gotti wheels with intermediate tyres and various other spares.

* fibreglass mounds are available for this car separately by private treaty, please contact the sales office to enquire.