I have been told that the 1989 version had a number of upgrades over the '88 model. Could someone please advise on what these upgrades were? Many Thanks, Bob.
I do not have my reference matterials in front of me, but there are some changes that occured over the years as the car was originally introduced in 1986. There are actually 2 1988 versions, early 1988 and the 1988.5. It is my understanding that the main difference between the 88.5's and the 1989s were that ABS was optional in the 88.5s and ABS was standard on the 1989s. Although, I have to admit I've never met anyone that had an 88.5 that actually had ABS. There are more differences between the early 88's and the 89's most noticeably the alloy wheels. 1986- early 88s have concave alloys, while the 88.5 and 89's had convex alloy wheels to account for the changes in wheel offest I believe necesitated by the addition of ABS. There are also small changes such as the rubber gasket/trim around the outer door handle on 88.5s and 89's and also the placement of the inner door release was moved to the armrest. Also the mirrors on the 88.5 and later cars got the Ferrari insignias on their front. Other changes from early 328s when compared to the 88.5 and 89s were changes in the suspension, which I'm I believe were made to the 88.5 and later cars. There were also some recalls on earlier cars, but which were not applicable to the 1989s. I do not know if any of the recall issues were applicable to the 88 or 88.5. I hope this helps you. Perhaps someone with handy reference matterials or a better memory can help out if I've missed some stuff. Best regards, Dino
This is correct. 88.5 cars started with s/n 76626. The marketplace recognizes the differences as well as '88.5 and '89 cars both have similar values in the market, somewhat higher than '86 to '88 cars.
88.5 and newer had updated suspension geometry in the front and swaybars in the rear. ABS standard in 89 and optionional in 88.5. The 89 also had some subtle differences in the rear spoiler with a vinal affect in the mold.
As a minor note of historical interest, my 1988 with a build date of Feb. 1988 has the concave wheels, no suspension upgrade, and no ABS. However, it does have the gas strut on the hood on the passenger's side (vs the push button prop on the driver's side), it has the black plastic surround on the outside door handles, it has the inside door handles on the arm rest, and it has the logo on the back side of the outside mirrors. It also has a pad on the underside of the rear deck lid over the zipper truck section (which someone said was not on the earlier cars but I've not verified that). I think that makes mine (#76289) a 1988-1/4 model. This demonstrates that these cars were occasionally assembled with whatever was handy at the time.
BTW, inside door handles on armrest (+ armwrest black regardless of interior color) were upgrades done in mid-1987, so no surprises there.
I was told, in an earlier post, that the convex alloy wheels are due to the suspension change, not the ABS.
It is true that the only the convex (bulging out) wheels can accomodate ABS brakes. It is also true that the wheels are not interchangable; concave wheels (flat ones) go only with the original suspension, convex wheels (bulging out ones) go only with the updated suspension. Finally, it is true that some cars with updated suspension that also of course have the convex wheels do NOT have ABS. There was a short period of production where we encounter this scenario, where ABS was "optional" but the suspension changes (and new style wheels) had already occured in production.
One other question I have is............... Mine is an Australian delivered car which appears not to have a Ferrari manufacturing date stamped anywhere. It has an Australian Import Compliance Plate affixed which reads 3/89. (My VIN is 079844) So...... I reckon mine was built late is 88 but by the time it got shipped and complianced in Australia it was March 1989. Does that sound right? If so should I be refering to mine as a 88.5 model or 89? Bob.
Where are you with an Aussie Import..............I ask only as sad that one more 328GTS not in Autrstralia but happy for you that you have one.................My understanding is there are next no 1989 328GTs Ferrari in Australia that have ABS mine is Mid 1989 and has no ABS. Its a 80844ish I think and no ABS.Tony. What weels you got????
A number of the parts in the '88 parts catalog were marked "until exhaustion" -- meaning that they used up the old parts, then started installing the replacements.
Be happy mate ...... I am in Australia. Sydney, North West Suburbs to be exact. The wheels are the 89 style, to accommodate ABS but like yours, not fitted. You are right, NO ABS cars were officially imported into Australia via Ferrari according to some of the Gurus here. Any idea how many 328 GTS's were imported into Australia? Cheers, Bob.
Mine is #79393 & does have ABS. It was delivered/first registered in the UK in January 1989. Estimated build date was therefore Nov 1988. Its got the later convex wheels on it. I.
Cool, I bought mine from Sydney about 18 months ago from Rudolf Masi at Piccola Scuderia. Brought it all the way to Perth. No idea on numbers would like to know myself. Beautifull cars hey!!! Tony
Mike, That's incorrect. The convex wheels have greater negative offset as part of the suspension change. There is no need for extra space for ABS parts. The only additional part at the wheel is a sensor and it is placed behind the rotor. In the US, there are no 88MY cars with ABS confirmed but all 89's have it. Supposedly ABS was optional in Europe in 88 but since they use calender years as model years, there is overlap. For instance, my 89 was built in Dec '88 and would be an 88 in Europe. Can't comment on Aussie market, each market had it's own eccentricities. Dave
Interesting. So, which part is incorrect. Is is true that the two different wheel styles, due to the offset, are NOT interchangable between the two different suspension types? AND... If there is no extra room required for the ABS equipment, can you speculate as to the motivation behind the wheel style change (concave to convex)? Was it done just stylistically (these wheels do not appear on any other production car that I have seen)? Or is the convex (bulging out) style required from some other design/engineering standpoint?
The wheel styles are not interchangeable due to different offsets. The suspension changes from 76626 on necessitated the wheel offset change. The offset change necessitated the switch from concave to convex styling. Simple.
Intersting information, as I was pretty certain I read that the reason for convex alloys was the option of ABS on Euro cars with the 88.5s, and it becoming standard here in the US in the 89s. But thanks for the new info. Best regards, Dino
An independent told me that ~240 of the last '89's had power assisted steering. This was because 348 production was late requiring more 328's to be built (348's used many '89 328 suspension components). Can anyone confirm this?
He was wrong! wrong! wrong! at least on the power steering and I seriously doubt any suspension pieces interchange with 348's which were very different cars using an entirely new method of construction. Dave
