When a typical Bring a Trailer purchase goes wrong it leads to a full concours restoration by the team of craftsman at Auto Fanatic in NY. Car looks decent in photos but this car was abused and neglected for well over 30 years and was unsafe to even drive. The seller of course never disclosed the true condition of this mess but as we started the restoration what we found is typical of all 308 and 328 cars that are abused. Most of these cars are crashed from going off road , it seems owners of these cars drink and drive or have no clue how to handle the rain as we see crash damaged 75% of the time on these models. They also suffer from rust in the frame rails from the snow belt and neglect of being kept outside right now there is a poor Ferrari Mondial sitting outside under a tarp for months a few blocks from home because the owner has no money to save it. This is how these cars go to the waste side. We must look back and remember the Ferrari 308 and 328 models were so cheap at one time that they got into the hands of owners who clearly could not afford to maintain them. We have original documents with this Ferrari 308 QV that shows it sold for $10,000, $14,000 etc so this just proves how these cars were unloved and BOOM now they are one of the most desirable vintage Ferrari to own. Same scenarios as the Ferrari DINO back in the 80s and 90s nobody wanted them and now they are becoming harder to find nice ones and DINOS values are up to $800,000 now when you could not give them away 25 years ago for $30,000. The client of this 1984 Ferrari 308 QV GTS EURO is truly going to love this car when we are finished and put it in his collection of 40+ cars in the mid-west to enjoy. What is neat about this particular 1984 Ferrari 308 QV GTS is not only the rare Bianco exterior but it is the most desired EURO model which is way better and nicer looking than the USA model. The EURO model has different lights, front grills, front bumper and rear bumper along with different door mirrors, interior design, more aggressive engine cam shafts and more horsepower and torque and best of all no emissions nonsense and a a much cleaner engine compartment. If your in the market for a fuel injected Ferrari 308 the EURO model is the one to have. Funny thing is that this particular car spent most of it’s hard life in the NYC Metro area where our shop is located. Deferred service and abuse truly made this a full blown expensive restoration project but when we finish this car it will be one of the very best in the world and be enjoyed for generations to come.

everything was broken, rusted or shot on this car. suspension bushings cracked, frame rusted out and it was even missing part of the front wheel bearings on the passenger side where they used washers to install on the tapered shaft to bolt the wheel back on making it unsafe to drive that the right front wheel could have fallen off. The photos we share with the customer are nothing but mind blowing but he is a great client and committed to having one of the best Ferrari 308 QV EURO in the world and we are on the right track in delivering that. The front right lower wishbone was bent and had to be cut out and extracted. The lower wishbone forks were all bent badly and not able to be salvaged. The rear sway bar mount was twisted and had to but cut off and fabricated and welded. Overall this car was a mess throughout.

This was the filthiest car we ever worked on in the shop or in my 35 plus years working on cars. Here is a preliminary photo showing the suspension restoration and chassis in the early stages. We had this car dry ice cleaned for 75 hours and spent another 100 hours scraping, de-greasing and cleaning it was that bad. This client opted for upgraded brake components and custom made coilovers. This Ferrari 308 QV is one of the best driving ones we ever had the pleasure to work on.

complete engine tear down reveals a seller who lied about belt service and more. This was a huge undertaking to not only fix everything but refinish everything to perfection including all the cast aluminum parts, hoses, clamps, hardware and more including the yellow cadmium plating. We dialed in the cam timing correctly, adjusted valve lash and got this engine running so well without the carbon fouling of the spark plugs and fumes it originally came in to our shop with. It is still not finished but we have made substantial progress towards addressing all the sins on this car. I dislike some of these bigger projects due to stress and the filth but I am proud to be part in saving these timeless classic Ferrari models for the future.

A work or art after the Auto Fanatic touch is a Ferrari 308 QV engine bay to be proud of for years to come.

It took us a long 10 months to get this chassis to where it is today as you can see it is one of the cleanest and nicest Ferrari 308 QV around. Next phase is a full concours level repaint and re-trim of the interior before final shake downs and adjustments. Stay tuned as we update this project gallery