A couple of familiar looking Ferraris with unusual engines.
Think Ferrari road cars with turbocharged engines, and you will almost certainly think of the Ferrari 288GTO and F40. These two iconic super cars often feature on many car enthusiasts fantasy garage wish lists. Trouble is in today's market one of these will set you back at least £300,000, but you may be surprised to know that there are a couple of turbocharged V8 Ferraris that are rather more affordable.
In the seventies and eighties Italy taxed cars based on their engine capacity and any car over 2.0 litres was heavily penalised. This led to Ferrari offering special models with smaller engines in the home market only. The first of these was the 308GT4 based 208GT4. As the name implies the car featured a reduced bore version of Ferrari's V8. Producing a claimed 170bhp the 208 didn't set the world on fire in performance terms (top speed was around 130mph). it was however the smallest production V8 engine offered anywhere in the world.
When Ferrari dropped the GT4 in 1980, they dropped the the 2.0 litre lump into the GTB and GTS bodies but something needed to be done to address the lack of performance in the much sportier body styles, especially as emissions requirements meant the engine now produced a mere 155bhp. In 1982 the solution was unveiled in the 208GTB Turbo. Visually distinguished from the regular 308 by the addition of NACA ducts in front of the rear wheels and black painted vents behind the light pods, the 208 GTB (and later GTS) Turbo featured a KKK turbocharger and produced a rather more healthy 220bhp to give performance comparable with the larger normally aspirated 3.0 litre cars. Production ran alongside the 308 until 1986 when the 308 gave way to the 328.
Shortly after the 328 was launched, a new 2.0 litre V8 turbo, now badged simply as GTB (or GTS) Turbo, was announced. The engine was revised from the 208 and now featured an IHI turbocharger and Behr intercooler. The engine was now rated at 254 bhp slightly less than the 270 bhp of the 328, and performance was again comparable with the smaller engined car actually being a touch quicker in the 0 - 60 mph sprint.
Again the NACA ducts are the obvious visual distinction from the 328, but the Turbo also features a revised engine cover to allow for fitment of the intercooler and additional cooling vents in the rear bumper. The rear aerofoil which was an option on the 328 was actually standard on the Turbo.
Production ran alongside the 328 through to 1989, and by the time production had finished 308 (coincidentally) GTB Turbos and 828 GTS Turbos had been produced. Although all of the Turbos were sold new in Italy. In the intervening years some have migrated around the rest of continental Europe, but thanks to them all being left hand drive, very few have wound up in the UK. This makes the GTB Turbo (pictured above and top) offered as a private sale on Anamera.com all the more interesting. The price is not stated on the advert but there are a number of the earlier 208 GTB Turbos for sale in Italy with the one below being offered for €31,000.
The 208 and GTB Turbo are probably not going to be one of the more collectable Ferraris, but with its unique powerplant, they are an interesting choice for someone looking for something different from the norm, As the car industry moves towards downsizing of engine displacement, it also gives a small insight into what the future might hold, as it is not unreasonable to assume that in the near future Ferrari might once again revert to smaller capacity turbo engines.