Ferrari 208

208 2.0 turbo GTB 220cv

1985 - Ferrari 208 GTB Turbo
Highlights

• Recent photo-documented restoration of the mechanics undertaken in Cuneo, Italy
• Finished in its first Rosso corsa paint over Black leather interior and Burgundy floor mats
• A matching-numbers example with documented official service history
• Delivered new in 1985 to Italy, where it's remained ever since
• Two owners from new

The Ferrari 308 GTB
If you had to pick an era suspended between the past and the present, you would no doubt choose the 1980s. An age of optimism where people walk in their futuristic Nike shoes with exposed air cushions in the heel, and listen songs made with drum machines and synthesizers. With the 1984 Macintosh, computers start appearing in the houses of regular people. Everything looks bright and right at hand.
The car world kept up with the times, and no expense was spared seeking new ways to enhance performance; and if the Seventies had been the decade of aerodynamics, the device that truly marked the Eighties was the turbocharger. Despite having been in use for several years on racing cars, pushing humble 1.5 litre V6 engines in the realm of six-hundred bhp, it found a wide application in road cars only in the Eighties, and it came particularly handy at Maranello.
Ferrari, at the time, was still manufacturing the 2.0 litre V8 engine originally designed for the Dino 204 GT4 and now fitted in the 208 GTB, an engine conceived and designed to avoid the heavy taxation imposed by Italian laws on big engines, and thus boost sale numbers. The only problem was that, with an output shyly above 150 bhp, it didn’t prance that much. But what happened when Enzo’s engineers added a KKK K26 turbocharger to that very engine to spice it up? Well, things got intriguing: the engine was now delivering 220 bhp and a declared top speed of 150 mph. When it was introduced at the Turin Motor Show in 1982, the 208 GTB Turbo definitely was a quick car - and it still is, even by today’s standards.
Interestingly enough, the 208 GTB Turbo was the first road Ferrari to incorporate a turbocharger, basically paving the way for two of the most extreme, aggressive and sought after models ever created by the Maranello factory: namely, the 288 GTO (1984) and the legendary F40 (1987). From the technical aspects down to the line - extremely similar between the 208 and 288, and still Pininfarina signed on the F40 - the three cars have a fair share of common DNA, and the 208 GTB Turbo can rightfully be seen as the starting point of a very serious, thematic Ferrari collection.
Otherwise, it is equally as good and entertaining as the single classic car in a garage: attractive, quick and still contemporary are all qualities one should look for when hunting down a collector’s sportscar.
Chassis number 55689
The exquisite 208 GTB Turbo presented here has left the Maranello factory in February 1985. One of only 437 ever made.
The production of the 208 GTB Turbo ran from 1982 through to 1985, with a chassis number range 41357 to 59277 and all the vehicles have been numbered in a sequence of odd numbers typical of the stradale chassis.
Finished in Rosso Corsa over a Black leather interior and Burgundy wool matts, chassis 55689 was specified with an original Ferrari A/C system, which is pretty rare if you consider that it was a modification usually made after the hand-over when 208's owners discovered they couldn't renounce to drive them to buy ice-cream during hot Italian Summers.
Delivered new to Walter Bordese Dealership, the historic Ferrari dealer in Turin, this chassis remained with Walter himself until it was sold to Mr. Goffredo Goffredi (name invented for privacy reasons) some years after. Goffredi looked after chassis 55689 until 2014, running the car up to 29.000 km with exceptional care and attention, as witnessed by the one-of-a-kind conditions of the vehicle as well as by the impeccable services carried out by the official Ferrari Authorized Network throughout 2 decades of ownership.
The story of this Ferrari continues in 2014, when it was acquired by Mr. Aliberto Aliberti (even in this case the name has been invented for privacy reasons) who jealously cherished it in the suggestive town of Cuneo, for some special weekend drives on the beautiful Ligurian coastal roads. In fact, at the time of us writing, the kilometers on the clock are only 31.000.
Within his years of ownership, Mr. Aliberti knew how important it is to preserve in mint conditions and hand down to future generations automotive gems of this caliber. That's why he's always kept the car running on its original "TRX" tyres and aluminum wheels. If you look closely, in fact, on the right front wheel there's still the blue circle sticker historically applied by Ferrari in Maranello when the new-born prancing horses rolled out from the factory. Could it get more special than this?
The owner also commissioned to a work-shop in Cervasca a zero compromise and fully documented restoration of the mechanics: the whole gearbox has been replaced as well as the engine belts. Moreover, the injection system and turbocharger have been both improved for making this 208 to run as smooth as it never did, not even when new. Mechanically speaking, we’re confident to say this Ferrari now runs even better than the day it left the factory in 1985.
Today, what's sure is that this 208 GTB Turbo stands out for the originality of all the components, as you could get from reading such a low writing on the odometer. More than 2/3 of the bodywork comes with its first original Rosso Corsa paint and there's no accident history around the chassis, in addition to the fact it is a fully matching-numbers example.
How does it drive?
While the design of the 208 need no kind of nudge (would you ever go against the pencil of Leonardo Fioravanti?), the turbocharger helped to restore Ferrari's reputation among the clients who were seeking for a better driving engagement.
Notwithstanding it is one of the least demanding Ferraris ever, the 208 GTB is anything but boring. Great to understand how the Magnum P.I.'s mid-engined "Berlinetta" was like to drive, and just a perfect Sunday car for those who are approaching the prancing horse for their first (lucky) time.
Despite we wouldn't choose it for a track-day over a more modern 360CS, the 208 GTB Turbo's mechanical details and the 220 HP Turbo engine make it surprisingly exciting on the road. While on dirt tracks the Group B's Rally cars showed off with mind-blowing power outputs, this Ferrari's V8 was a tiny and crisp engineering machine, capable of making you to forget even of the not-so-light weight of 1.250kg.
It is not as fast as it is beautiful - we all agree on that - and if it's your first time driving a turbo Ferrari, maybe your back won't crush deep into the black leather seat. However, the mechanical refinement and its smooth torque delivery will let you to capture yourself inside the setting of an extraordinary driving, while breathing an unmistakable Maranello scent inside the cockpit.
Then, it must be said, when the power under the throttle is so little, if we compare it to nowadays' standards, the whole focus drops on other aspects: not being able to set your driving style on a superfast "Ferrari-like" power, means that there's all the time to enjoy the qualities defining Ferraris of past decades: the reclined position of the seat is hard to find even in modern benchmarks, the aroma of the interior is pure gasoline and you'll never get tired of seeing the pop-up lights.
As a matter of fact, there's a whole Downworld of details underneath the chromed 208 Turbo badge, that are quite hard to get even in more powerful and praised Ferraris. The instruments around the interior show only the essential and there's no interference between you and the road. The steering wheel is far away from your shoulders, it's true, but it's fine and direct: it's "satyisfing as hell", someone said.
The joining link between all the key elements defining the 208 though, is that open-gate shifter. Thinking that today there's no Ferrari enriched with such a magical metal stick (who knows if it will ever be reintroduced), no need to say, is sad and painful: the clicking-sound the aluminum lever makes when shifting in between gears is just as fine as a '69 Jimi Hendrix solo.
The humility of this understated Ferrari highlights the physical laws that limited engineering development of those years as well as the burning desire for that technological research it seems we have achieved 40 years after to the disadvantage of style and driving pleasure.
Everything about the 208 GTB is sensual. The animal instinct defining this kind of machines bring them back to life. You feel every inch of the mechanics, bodywork, and of the rudimental - yet so exciting - technology.
Briefly, it's a car where purity and sensory pleasure tower over the lack of power and where there's no more than what's strictly necessary for driving.