By Cam Tait / Monday, April 22, 2024 / Loading Comments
Fiberglass: The excellent curtain that has allowed car designers to put their craziest creations into production without countless compromises to cut costs. Glass-reinforced plastic is so affordable and so (relatively) easy to paint that it has become a staple of British sports cars. for more than part of a century. Without it, the Lotus Elise might not have been the lightweight, sporty car we all know and love, nor would we have the radical look of the TVR Sagaris and Tuscan. Or the Tamora. Or the T350.
That said, there is still some stigma around cars with plastic bodywork. Although they are lightweight and easy to mold into all sorts of shapes, their biggest advantage is that they are affordable to produce. It’s the best thing for home—made heroes based on an area chassis, but less so for high-end supercars: because nothing kills the vibe like load reduction. It’s true that fiberglass was a little more prevalent before carbon fiber, that’s why we have fantastic plastic models like the BMW M1 and Ford RS200. But never see it in anything exotic like, say, a Ferrari.
Unless a Ferrari is a 308 GTB “Vetroresina” like the one we have here. The concept of a plastic Ferrari is sacrilegious, especially that of this antique where just by looking at it we evoke photographs of its bodywork being molded by mustachioed mechanics in a dark and oil-stained workshop. But the Vetroresina (fiberglass in Italian) was never designed to be an economical Ferrari – at least not externally – the glass-reinforced plastic Scaglietti bodywork was achieved to keep the weight as low as possible. And since the 308 was an incredibly high turnout after the lackluster Dino GT4, the model’s fiberglass bodywork allowed Ferrari to get cars into the hands of customers faster.
All fixed-roof 308s were assembled with fiberglass bodywork when styling arrived in 1975. It weighed just 1,050kg and looked as dazzling as a Ferrari, but in the mid-70s fibreglass was still considered a reasonable curtain. The sports car temporarily went out of fashion. Ferrari responded with a more classic steel-bodied 308 in 1977, which revived demand for the entry-level V8 sports car, but this came with a hefty 150kg penalty. The switch from a dry sump to a rainy crankcase in 1981 meant that most steel-bodied cars were also not as strong as their plastic counterparts, with the Vetroresina generating an additional 10 hp to 255 hp.
As a result, Vetroresins were less difficult to drive and stronger than most of their metal counterparts, and because they were made of plastic, they were also less vulnerable to rust. It’s not entirely safe, of course, it’s still a ’70s Ferrari under its plastic skin, but at least you wouldn’t find yourself chasing a bubbly body. When you think about its rarity (only 808 Vetroresins versus thousands of metal-bodied GTS and GTBs), it’s no wonder that The Edition that buyers lamented because they found it reasonable is now one of the most sought-after 308s in collector’s circles.
What makes this example special is that it is one of only 154 right-hand drive cars built for the UK market. An expired car too, as the car was first registered in 1977, just before the arrival of the metal model, and replaced hands 4 times over the next 47 years. This included a dry garage era between 1997 and 2013, since then it has undergone some reclamation work, adding surprise springs and shocks, revamped suspension and brakes, and new hoses. The dealership needs £129,995, showing that the days of budget 308 are long gone. A metal frame with similar mileage will still cost you six figures, as will this amazing 1978 GTB in green, meaning you’ve got a pretty undeniable resolution to make: metal or the plastic?
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