Hi fellers, I have seen and been made aware of a number of Euro QV's in Southern CA, but I never seen a Euro 328. Nor am I aware of anyone who has one in our fine, horridly bankrupt state. Are there any Euro 328 owners out there? If so...how did you get around the smog issues and such? Cordially, Scott
Some Euro Spec cars sold in Europe like Swiss cars have Cats thats how they pass some emission tests.
Any of them that are here legally will have been converted. On a 328 it was actually pretty easy. It was not an issue of getting around it. They were made to comply. The problem was most of the compliance services were butcher shops and what they did to the cars is why I never wanted one.
Interesting; thanks for the replies It's amazing HOW much better the Euro 328's look, forget the performance. Okay...let's not forget the performance... I'm jealous of the fellas outside of effing CA that can own one of the beauties. Sometimes the U.S., CA in particular, has its head so far up its ass that it could wipe its rear and blow its nose at the same time. Sorry to be crass but it's the truth. Ferrari had to re-design major elements of their cars just to comply with U.S. idiocy. In a MASS PRODUCED vehicle, I can see the U.S. regulations making sense; in a "botique vehicle"...STUPID! Anyway...thanks for your insights Cordially, Scott
You'd need to get it inspected by a Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) referee, it would have to have all the smog equipment required for a California legal car, and pass Cal. smog. They then put a BAR sticker on the car, and you can get it smogged and registered as usual. Sticker looks like this: Image Unavailable, Please Login
I actually specifically looked for a Euro 328 and landed this beauty in Florida. The tailpipes, rear view mirrors, clear markers, and skinnier bumper really embody the genius that is Pininfarina design. Mine was imported directly from Italy the year it was produced, 86'. Enjoy. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
A great looking Ferrari! Personally I think the differences between US spec'ed and Euro Spec'ed 328 are very small and I actually prefer the US rear bumper. Seemed like by the time Ferrari introduced the 328, US market requirements are well integrated into the styling/design already. My 2 cents.
Ok I too have a euro 328,can one of my US buddies post some pics of there US cars so I can see the differnces.Thanks
No- actually the differences are significant. Less weight, different cams for better breathing, different gearing. Also the Euro came with the rotary compressor AC which works better then the York compressor.
Euro Spec models imported to Canada do not have the side marker to be installed as they do in the States.
The cams are not different. The differences in real world performance are just not that great but what is different is that the gray market cars got to have a teenager making minimum wage do a lot of invasive work to convert the car. A great many of them were butchered. That is why gray market cars are usually less attractive in the market place. I have a lot of experience with both and never even considered buying a non US car.
What, exactly, do "they" typically do to make a Euro car conform to U.S. spec? Seems like it would be a ***** to deal with the non-cat issue, as there just isn't much space for one due to the larger "trunk" and such. Do they do anything about the side-impact beams or lack there-of?
My father imported a lot of "grey market" cars from europe, no Ferraris but MBZ's, BMW's, Porche's, the english lot and many Italian exotics like Iso's. I was a teenager when he did this but most of it was adding cats and door beams for EPA and DOT compliance. Back then with the dollar being so strong, it made a lot of sense as long as you had the time, energy and ability to see it through semi correctly. Of course, it was always somewhat crude but worth it if you knew what you were doing. For example, 1982 MBZ 380SL with 500 miles purchased for the equivalent of $15000 USD, sold for in the upper $30's IIRC back then. $4000 later with shipping and compliance you've got a $19000 car with better performance often times vs. $35K+. But, lots of hoops to jump through, it wasn't easy but witnessing my father in action, it was fun. Later cars have been much more difficult, not sure the exact year that changed. As previously indicated, these cars are not worth as much as US cars, especially a car like a Ferrari. Even though there could be advantages, chances are there are not and resale will be lower no matter what you get so you need to purchase lower. Knowing what I know about grey market cars and Ferrari's, you shouldn't pay what you'd pay for a US model and make sure you've got the appropriate documentation and sticker as previously stated. It would be one thing to buy a $10K euro MBZ and get screwed but think how bad you'd feel if it was a $50000 Ferrari. Jeff
But if you install the cat then it restricts the exhaust just like an US spec'ed Ferrari. The top end performance will be affected? The sound also be affected as well? Has anyone actually measured the performance of Euro spec'ed 328 after being converted to conform US requirements?
+1 In the early to mid 80's there was a grey market import shop near us. It was fun to see cars that were not available at US authorized dealers such as the M635CSI, 500SL, 930 and 400i. At the time significantly less powerful cars such as the 633CSI (182hp), 380SL (150hp), and 911 Carrera (200hp) were the US equivalents. Promises of significantly more horsepower at a slightly lower cost made "greys" very attractive to some buyers. Why buy a $45,000 182 hp BMW 633 when for around $38k you could get a car with what started out with around 270 HP? Even with smogging, adding side markers, door beams and bumper reinforcements (which added weigh) you were still going to get a car that was probably much quicker. The main down side was resale was always significantly less than on US Spec cars. Some carsmay have undergone high quality conversions but many were cheaply done butcher jobs. Things started to change around 1986. Mercedes brought it's more powerful 560 engines into the US, Porsche brought the 930/911 Turbo back into the US and created cars with the same power rating regardless of the market it was going to with its 951/944 Turbo. BMW brought it's M cars in 87, with a bit less power 256, but still it came from the factory with a full warranty, dealer support and no worries about hacks ruining cars to make them compliant with US laws. The grey dealer had US and eurospec Ferraris. Although, they mentioned the coverted 328s had 10hp more and weighed a bit less if smog equipment was removed, they mention the performance difference wasn't very significant in real road (non track) driving situations. They also always priced their US spec Ferraris quite a bit higher than the euro versions. My Dad did get to drive a Eur/converted 328 and a US spec car back to back and said he did not notice any real performance difference. In the end he wanted a US spec car with full waranty and without any potential butchered or botched conversion issue worries and chose to get a US Spec car. Still it was fun seeing and driving a few grey cars for comparison. Best regards, Dino
While the red 328 above is a good-looking car, you'll notice it has the U.S. side marker lights added (holes drilled in the fenders and rear quarters) and probably has a welded patch where the original small circular Euro marker light was.
In a Euro conversion to U.S., do they actually weld in the door side-impact beams and such, or is it typically more concentrated on the engine and smog issues? I have heard that a conversion can run around 6K just for the engine alone. I looked under a Euro 308 while I was at Cavallo Motorsports a few weeks ago and there is NO room for a cat, not without some cutting and welding it would seem. Anyway...interesting stories and insights
i didn't look inside the door on my euro 328, but on my euro 308, the door beams are there. neither car had cats. the performance difference isn't huge between the two specs, but you will notice the 328 proportions are significantly different with the smaller euro bumpers and because the compression is different, the engine sound is different. adding a tubi to a US car will not get you there.
