By Sam Barer
Apexstrategy.com
Never say never, folks. Since it snowed in Houston a couple weeks ago, those things you said would never happen until you-know-what froze-over are starting to happen. In that vein today I drove the Infamous Craigslist 1976 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 for the very first time on a public street.
So let’s do a little summary from previous episodes of the calamity: I acquired the barely-running car about ten months ago for a song and figured it would take a few weeks to get it back on the road. (After all, it had less than something like 200 miles over 20 years in which two engine rebuilds were completed!) As the gaggles of small issues snowballed, my Sound Classics technical team found itself struggling to find the time to dedicate to the car. Every step along the way yielded hassles — like broken components and incorrect fixes by past mechanics…not to mention our (mostly “my”) own failed attempts to address problems.
In November the car was running, but really poorly (which is where it was when I bought it.) On the advice of a trusted friend, I called in area Ferrari expert mechanic Bill Borum to tie up the loose ends.
Bill’s first order of business was to fix the exhaust leak. Turns out when I had refit the rear manifold after taking it off to weld the cracks, one of the gaskets had secured itself in a cockeyed position. Then it was on to identifying the source of the misfire, which turned out to be a bad new plug and new coil wires that were too big to seat into the coils correctly. Finally, he went to work using his amazing knowledge to dial in the four finicky Weber carburetors, which in his words were “all over the place”.
The 308 GT4 now fires up immediately — without the choke. With a little feathering of the throttle (necessitated by an absent cold-start adjustment on the carbs) the engine warms quickly and settles into a rather high idle. There is a noticeable difference in sound between the carbed 308 and a later fuel injected unit, with the former producing various additional noises.
The clutch is as heavy as a late night college discussion on the origins of the universe, with low speed steering not much lighter. The car needs just a little throttle and the car pulls away. Unlike other early sports cars, the 308 is damn near impossible to stall.
It’s amazing how quickly the steering gets light and direct. By 30 mph it almost feels darty through the thin-rimmed wheel.
Shifting requires some muscle, but it’s not at all belligerent going into any gear, including the notorious second. It is a quicker, more precise linkage than any other Ferrari I’ve driven.
I double clutch to downshift and make a left onto my favorite winding road. The car gets up to speed quickly, but one can tell it doesn’t quite have a the power-to-weight ratio of a modern sports car. Still, its capabilities are obviously very high for a 2+2 coupe and quick enough to make me overly cautious on the wet roads.
The brake pedal is porn-star boobies firm with almost no travel. The feel doesn’t inspire confidence, but putting some shoe into it reduces speed without haste.
As I loop back to the garage, I see and smell the burning oil cloud behind me. Even though I have great oil pressure and the car runs strong, years (if not decades) of oil pooling in all the wrong places is being eradicated as the engine continues to warm up and move. It might take a while (and some STP additive) to mellow out the smoke, but eventually it will.
With that I pull back into the driveway. Turning the key, the car lets off a bang from the exhaust. Evidently the burp from the injected cars is more of a single gun salute in the carb car.
So there’s some smoke and extra noises, but who cares? The 308 GT4 is alive again and providing enjoyment. Most importantly, the complete tab is still under five figures! There’s still plenty to do to clean it up, but being able to enjoy it along the way provides all the incentive needed to attack those chores.
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