Ferrari Mailing List: Re: First drive in my 328 GTS

[Hans E. Hansen (FList]

Rui:

I have an ancient 308GT4.  But I drive it whenever possible.

The reason:

It has a unique blend of crude and exotic.  No power steering,
hard clutch, sniffing and snorting Weber carburetors.  The
heater almost doesn't work.  The shift linkage is connected to
the engine room in the Titanic.  But the engine is almost unmatched
by even today's standards.  It tracks down the road like a laser.
And few/none ricers or other "sports car" types (OK, excluding
modern F- and P- cars) can keep up with me on the twisty
back roads.  Forget having a stereo - even if you have enough
Watts to overcome the background noise, the tone quality will
always be compromised by the gear howl (yes, early GT4s have
crudely cut gears that you can hear for a mile away....) and
the engine just behind you.

Oddly enough, it has been dead reliable.  OK, "routine" maintainance
is expensive, but it simply doesn't break.  A friend with an E-type
complained that everytime he took it out he had to have it brought
back on the hook.  He ask how I kept it running.  I responded that
I simply put the key in the ignition and turned it on.  Sure, there are
a few irritations - it has an oil leak from one of the distributors that,
according to the original owner, has been there since new.  The fresh
air for the ventilation system has intakes under the car near the road
resulting in a constant flow of sand and gravel on my face.  (I
installed some furnace filter....)  And 9 quarts of oil for an oil change?
What's up with that?

I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Hans.

On 12/4/06, Rui Gigante <rui.gigante [at] gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi listers,
>
>
> last friday (local holiday) I had the first drive in my 328 GTS.
> Besides the obvious excitement, I had a LOT of fun. Here are a couple of
> first impressions:
>
> - forget about "low profile"! I felt like half of the world was looking at
> me (ok, maybe more )
>
> - did about 200Km in it. At night I was tired .. that thing is physical !!
>
> - At the highway I was doing about 110 Km/h and a Porsche Boxter approched
> quickly. When he spotted the Ferrari, braked hard my my side, waved, got one
> down and left. I guess he wanted to play :-)
>
> - I've adapted to the car very quickly, I think. Did a few gear changes at
> about 5-6K rpm. I loved it !
>
> - when hot, the car is a bit difficult to start, unless I step on the gas.
> No problem when cold (see my other mail requesting K-Jetronic info)
>
> - the windows are ssllllooooowwww.... a rebuild is scheduled, with Rick
> Lindsay's help
>
> - getting into second is not that difficult when cold, or at least I didn't
> need to go 1st-3rd ...
>
> - did I say I've loved every minute of it ?
>
>
> I just hope that next weekend the weather is good .... :-)
>
>
> Rui
> 328 GTS
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