West Coast Classics are proud to present an absolutely stunning example of this increasingly collectible 1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 2+2 V8 5spd Coupe in the beautiful and highly desirable color combination of original factory 'Rosso Corsa' (Racing Red) exterior paint with its all original Black leather seats with red piping interior and factory 14" Silver finished Campagnolo 5 spoke wheelswith only some 60K original miles and 1 of only 2,826 DINO 308GT 2+2 models built between 1974-79!
This 1975 Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 is powered by its matching #'s 2.9-liter V8 producing 252hp, mated to the legendary 5-speed gated manual transmission. Finished in the classic 'Rosso Corsa' over Black with Red piping leather, this example is equipped with factory power windows, air conditioning, power brakes, power steering and a factory cassette player.
After 20 years of exclusive collaboration with Pininfarina, at the Paris Motor Show in 1973, Ferrari unveiled the Dino 308 GT4, a V8-engined 2+2 model designed by Pininfarina's local rivals, Bertone and to be marketed and sold as a 'Dino'. The Turin-based designer created an attractive model which was to be the marques first car with a mid-engine V-8 layout in a 2+2 body only some 4.3 metres long, an outstanding achievement.
This was to be the first Ferrari with a Bertone-designed body with 255 horsepower 3.0-litre V-8 engine, with gears shifted via the legendary gate shifted Ferrari five-speed manual transmission. The sharp lines and wedge-like shape contrasted with the curves of the earlier Dino-badged 246 GT, providing Ferrari with an angular 2+2 coupe to face off against the Lamborghini Urracoone, Ferrari's main competitor of its day and incidentally, another mid-engine V-8 sports car designed by Bertone.
This first production Dino 308 GT4 was displayed by Ferrari at the 1973 Paris Motor Show and delivered to its first French owner later that year in the dazzling colour combination of Marrone Metallizzato over a Beige leather and cloth interior. The car sold at Pebble Beach in 2023 for $450,500.
This was the first Ferrari to be designed by Bertone, it was also the first production Ferrari to use a V8 engine, a 2.9-litre 90-degree V8 being transversely mounted behind the cabin producing some 250bhp (at 7,700rpm) and 210lb ft (at 5,000rpm), or with the 2.0-litre V8 version, the imported 208 GT4 from 1975, in a response to stringent Italian tax laws, producing a little less at just over 170bhp.
Ferrari's engineers squeezed an extra pair of seats into a wheelbase only some 21cm longer than the Dino 246, quite the achievement when that Ferrari V8 is mounted between the wheels, along with very impressive headroom for such a body style with the roof stretching over the rear seats easily before sloping back down. The Bertone designers excelled even themselves here.
Weighing little more than a tonne, 0-62mph is reportedly only a touch under 7 seconds and the car boasts a 158mph top speed. The driving position impressively and effectively points you at the centre of its goldfish-bowl windscreen, with the GT4 proving to have excellent visibility and handling as a result a simply fascinating and bewitching car to drive, a real drivers car that needs to be driven to be fully appreciated.
The 308 GT4 is one of the few classic Ferrari models that can claim credit for still being somewhat affordable and certainly should prove to be a very smart investment. Not least because these models both look and feel as the closest one can get to driving a Seventies supercar and one that boasts the 2+2 back seats with comfortable headroom too.
The Dino 308 GT4 was introduced in 1973 and supplemented by the 208 GT4 in 1975. The cars were sold with DINO badging (continuing the Dino brand to differentiate non-V12 Ferrari) until May 1976, when they received Ferrari badging. The GT4 was replaced by the Mondial 8 in 1980 after a production run of 2,826 308s and 840 208s.