The protagonist in this story, a delightfully athletic Italian mezzo-soprano, sings a dramatic solo at center stage. This is a tale of destiny, one of chasing your goal with all of your being, of pushing yourself past the breaking point to get what you want. Nay, deserve. In the face of pressure from its adversaries, in the shadow of time itself, this wonderful Ferrari 308GTB Group 4 pushes through the pain, shouting its glorious frustration the entire way. I can feel it at the very core of my being. I empathize with this machine. Rage! Anguish! Desires!
That glorious exhaust note song is sung by a high-strung 3-liter dry-sump V8 hung out behind the driver compartment. With a full rack of carburetors, a custom-built exhaust, and an 8,000 RPM redline, this Ferrari can really hit the high notes. Allegedly it hustles along to the tune of 320 horsepower, up from 255 horsepower when delivered brand new in 1977.
Pair that 320 horsepower with an all-in weight of 2314 pounds—down 90 pounds from stock in race trim—and this 308 moves with quite a bit more verve than a standard example. While the car was not delivered new in Group 4 form, it has been updated and upgraded to conform to the exact letter of the law for the class in-period. This is not quite as quick as the later Group B homologated 308s, which used the Quattrovalvole engine, but I’d certainly love to try my hand at a duet with this machine. The manual transmission action alone is enough to compel such a desire, however.
This video is yanked from the archives of the Hillclimb Monsters studios. With Romanian racer Horatiu Ionescu Cristea hauling this 308 up that hill at the Trofeul Sinaia Hillclimb, it’s just a glorious thing to watch from start to finish.
This is a great way to finish out your Thursday evening. Crank it up and you’ll be dreaming about operatic Ferraris tonight. Sweet dreams, y’all.
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