78 308 GTS a 78 or a 79

If it was built in Nov 78 it could very easily have been registered/sold in 79. There is no hard and fast model year concept.

 

The production date and the model year may not be the same. Assuming it is a US car the plate on the door sill should have the US model year (I think, it is there somewhere).

It really makes little difference '78 or '79 as they are pretty much the same car and likely only vary as all Ferraris do.

That number seems about right for that time period.

I am sure others have more accurate information. Someone has a registry of many 308s and will likely chime in with details if they have any.

 

OK, I was wrong on the model year being there. I guess I do not spend enough time reading the plate on the sill of my car. Someone else will educate us I am sure.

 

Curious, does the year matter? You could also look at the registration but it could be inaccurate as well.

 

My GTS was built on Dec 1978 and registered in CA from day-one as 1979.

 

Funny, my December '79 was always registered as a '79. This may likely be due to the distinct difference between a '79 and '80 whereas there was no difference between '78 and '79.

There was probably not a lot of control in those years. In addition, the "year" may have been influenced by the dealer or maybe the importer (in PA).

 

Funny, my December '79 was always registered as a '79. This may likely be due to the distinct difference between a '79 and '80 whereas there was no difference between '78 and '79.

There was probably not a lot of control in those years. In addition, the "year" may have been influenced by the dealer or maybe the importer (in PA).

 

Usually the year of a certain model doesn't start the production until September. So, a 79 model started their production in September of 78.

 

I wouldn't think the dealer or importer would have anything to say about that - if they did, the factory would have to put different dates on side/by side cars in the assembly process.

OTOH, there would have had to have been appropriate control... the cars had to meet State requirements for that year, whatever they may have been. IOW, a 1978 model car may have met legal requirements in Italy in 1979 but maybe not in the USA. So there had to be some oversight on dating a car to ensure a car STATED as being a 1979 met the requirements of wherever it was being sold as a '79. Did Ferrari have different assembly "lines" for different countries? Later, they must have had since the US/Euro 308s became so different due to safety/emissions requirement differences between the US/Euro.

 

That is why the US has "model" years that are inconsistent with the time of manufacture. Ferrari often manufactured cars of different model years at the same time.

I am not sure where the model year is noted. Now I am curious and will have to go poke around my car.

I do not believe there were any differences between the US '78 and '79 and thus the model year was not important.

 

I found this in another thread

Year ---- Model ---------------------- Serial # -------- Qty.
73-80 -- 308 GT4 -------------------- 07202-15604 -- 2826
74 ----- 308 GT4/LM ----------------- 08020 ------------ 1
75-80 -- 208 GT4 -------------------- 08830-15596 --- 840
76 ----- 308 Rainbow ----------------- 12788 ------------ 1
75-77 -- 308 GTB Fiberglass ----------- 18677-21289 --- 712
76-80 -- 308 GTB Steel --------------- 19999-34349 -- 2185
76 ----- 308 GTB Michelotto ---------- 18380 - 31559 ---11
77-80 -- 308 GTS -----------------------?-----?------ 3219
78 ----- 308 Facetti ------------------ 20457 - ? -------- 2
83 ----- 308 GT/M --------------------- 001 - 003 ------- 3
83 ----- 308 GTB Michelotto Group B -- 18847 - 22409 ---- 4

The list is not very helpful for your question. It is also odd it includes 77-80 as there were differences between 77 and 78 and 79 and 80. After 1979, cars were required to have a 17 digit VIN that identified the model year.

 

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Per US regs, bumper requirements were changed from 78-79. Now perhaps a 78 308 already met the 79 requirements...though I tend to doubt it.

"Phase I of the standard became effective on September 1, 1978 for passenger cars beginning with MY 1979. It incorporated the FMVSS 215 safety criteria, and added new performance criteria which prohibited damage to all exterior vehicle surfaces. For MY 1979, the standard required that there be no damage to safety-related parts and exterior surfaces not involving the bumper system(e.g., sheet metal; lamps; and fuel, exhaust and cooling systems) with damage to the facebar and its fasteners at impact test speed of 5 mph front and rear impacts with barrier and pendulum; 3 mph corner impact with pendulum."

 

+1 -- AFAIK, there is only the single 150/78 OM and the single 161/78 SPC for '78-'79 US version 308GTB/S.

As a data point, my ex-25375 was Sept 1978 made IIRC and listed as 1978 model year in its US documentation -- but any model car built in Nov 1978 and (then later) sold in the US being called a 1979 seems perfectly possible.

OP - Another thing to check/ponder is the engine family marking and engine SN on the block at cylinder #1. Is it reasonably complete engine-wise? It seems to be missing a fair bit of the fuel evaporation system in one of your photos.

 

I could be mistaken, but I believe the 78 has a single engine lid strut that slides along a track at the front of the engine bay (rear of the car) and is connected to the bonnet underside near the latch. The 79s I've seen all have two smaller struts attached toward the back of the engine bay toward the driver compartment.

 

Also, what is the speedo marking? 78s should have the higher top end speedo. 79s max out at 80mph

 

That's more a US vs euro difference (not 78 vs 79)

 

Good point on the speedo, funny I would have forgotten that given that I am reminded of that fact every time I drive my car.

 

Actually, that is a '78 to '79 difference. There's also one other thing that I just can't remember right now...

 

FWIW...my November 1978 built GTS is registered as a 1979. sn 26533. the car came from California. Single centre boot prop. Speedo to 180 mph with smaller inset kph display numbers in yellow

 

I have never seen any 79MY 308s with the 85mph speedo.

 

Would you have a picture of that or know of someone who could post one? I can't recall ever seeing a '78-'79 US F106AE engine in 308 coachwork with gas springs on the rear engine cover --but would like to see it (if it exists).

 

Yes, but they are like the 390mm wheels, and a working 85 MPH could find it's way onto any 308

 

I can assure my '79 US GTS has the 85mph speedo.