Since the days of Tom Selleck tooling around the Hawaiian countryside in Robin Master’s bright red Ferrari 308, the model has been the mainstream example of the beauty of the models coming out of Maranello. So when Scott Chivers of Ratarossa heard about a rare, fiberglass 308 having been found and in need for a restoration, he jumped at the chance to give it a look and share it with us.

The Rare 308 Vetroresina

Introduced in 1975 at the London and Paris motor shows, the Ferrari 308 replaced the V6 246 Dino and sat alongside the Bertone designed 308 GT4, retaining the GT4’s 3-liter V8 engine. From 1975-1977, the 308 was built in fiberglass, known as the Vetroresina models. Ferrari produced around 700 of them, with only 154 being right-hand drive models. The last Vetroresina model was produced in May of 1977 when Ferrari changed the 308 production to steel body cars. In addition to the fiberglass, there is quite a bit of steel surrounding the 308 frame.

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Incredibly Good Condition for a Barn Find

The short production run of the Vetroresina model, coupled with the right-hand drive scarcity, makes this 308 extremely rare, and makes this find very exciting. Fortunately, for the 34 years that this car spent locked away, it was stored inside. As a result, unlike many a barn find, this unit survived remarkably well.

A full, documented owner's log was found with the car, and showed it clocked nearly 70,000 miles before being locked away. Even with the time in storage, the 308 survived the time surprisingly well. The compression was all good, and the engine even fired up.

The 308’s V8 was removed and taken in for a full service. The inside is a typical 308, but has different dials compared to the later models. This particular model came with factory-installed air-conditioning, which is quite rare to have in an early 308.

Everything on the inside worked, with nothing broken or rusted out. The interior needs some work, but nothing that can’t be re-covered. It appears that the exterior had been repainted before, with some pitting in the fiberglass frame and the 14-inch wheels had some flaky spots that will need to be refinished.

Stay Tuned for the Finished Product

Scott and the crew at Ratarossa will be following along with the restoration of this rare find, so stay tuned for the next step. And eventually we will witness the restored Vetroresina’s completion when the V8 makes its way back under the hood, and 308 takes to the road, with new life.

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