1977 Ferrari 308 GTB

There was a moment, during the 1975 London and Paris Motorshows, when Ferrari purists collectively exhaled. The outgoing angular Dino 308 GT4 had left many longing for Maranello’s famous curves, curves that only Pininfarina could conjure. 

Enter, the 308 GTB. Like a heat seeking missile, it was targeted at an entirely new audience. Low, sleek, impossibly pretty with a shorter wheel base and room just for two, it was the first road-going Ferrari to wear the transverse V8 layout beneath a flowing, mid-engined silhouette. And, it set hearts racing. 

A shape most would think of today when asked to imagine “Ferrari”, the 308’s subsequent success on screen, paper, road and track birthed a lineage of exotic Ferrari’s that gave us the 328, F355, F360, F430 and 296 for the modern era.

By 1977, Ferrari transitioned early 308 GTB production away from fiberglass and into steel construction. The essential DNA remained and in European specification, that meant the more potent dry sump lubrication system was retained, along with aggressive cams and four Weber 40 DCNF carburettors that gave the 255hp 3.0-litre V8 a feral edge but still rode with the quality a GT car.

Paired with the now iconic dog-leg five speed chrome gated manual transmission, just 1,000kgs of kerb weight and a seating position that whispered of Fiorano test laps, the 308 GTB has that rare ability to make you feel like a race car driver surprisingly few cars can.

To the initiated, early dry sump cars represent the purist’s choice. Built to better tolerate hard cornering and sustained revs, they’re a tip of the hat to Maranello’s motorsport intent. Fitting, given how much of the 308’s DNA was forged on the track. 

It was also Ferrari’s first V8 road car to wear the Prancing Horse badge rather than Dino script, and it was developed at a pivotal moment for the marque. One of the last under the watchful eye of Il Commendatore, Enzo Ferrari just as Group 4 rallying and sports car racing were reasserting the V8’s legitimacy against the old twelve-cylinder aristocracy.

Believed to be one of only around 154 built in right hand drive, chassis 21521 available here was delivered new through Maranello Concessionaires, UK to Mr. Christopher Tennant on the 3rd of November 1977. 

Superbly original, this numbers matching car was specified in Rosso Chiaro over Nero Hide and Black upholstery, optioned with air-conditioning and the desirable wider 7.5 Inch Cromadora alloy wheels. 

Within its first year, chassis 21521 was serviced three times by the factory UK agents, followed by a fourth service at Romans in Woking in 1978. By 1979, with just under 10,000 miles, it passed to its second keeper, Mr. Robert Beatty of Brighton. The servicing continued religiously, this time at Modena Garage, before being sold to Mr. Larry White of Fortune 500 listed Raychem Ltd. in 1984.

Mr. White emigrated to California in 1985 and took 21521 with him, registering it as 1NQV173. He would retain the car for over three decades. A tell-tale sign we love to unearth typical of a cherished car, and then in 2016, returned to the UK under the care of its current owner, who entrusted Nick Cartwright Specialist Cars to carry out a full inspection, mechanical overhaul, and a careful paint restoration in its original Rosso Chiaro. 

Their technicians were quick to note the car’s outstanding originality, right down to the nuts, bolts, tools, factory Salchi paint and period Modena Garages decals, space saver spare and complete set of factory handbooks.

Once the works were complete, 21521 was personally imported to Australia with the same owner where it has remained part of one of the most spectacular collections down under and is offered for sale freshly serviced by marque specialists in outstanding order throughout. One of the best driving Ferrari’s we’ve had the pleasure to handle.

Today, 21521 shows a documented 33,403 miles from new and presents a rare opportunity to secure one of the earliest, most desirable iterations of Ferrari’s groundbreaking V8 Berlinetta, a model that not only reshaped the brand’s road car identity, but also formed the blueprint for every exotic mid-engined V8 Ferrari that followed.

Ready to be driven, shown or tucked into a refined collection, chassis 21521 remains an evocative and eminently usable piece of Ferrari history, offered with its full complement of tools, books and original documentation including build sheets and archive records.

If you grew up with a poster of a 308 on the wall, or better yet, caught sight of one prowling your high street, you’ll know just how special this original car really is.