A Twin-Turbo Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 Road Legal Race Car

They say the Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 is an acquired taste, it’s always been more affordable (and more practical) than many of its siblings from Maranello, but it also had the difficult job of replacing the Dino 246 GT – widely regarded as one of Ferrari’s masterpieces.

The 308 GT4 you see here has been significantly modified, it now has twin Garrett T25 turbochargers and charge cooling feeding into its 3.0 liter V8. To say the car is quick is an understatement, this car was the overall winner in the 1993 RAC MSA Hillclimb Leaders Championship and it set class records at many British hillclimbs over the years.

Fast Facts – A Twin-Turbo Hillclimb Legend

• With its 2+2 seating, room for cargo, a comfortable interior, modern styling, and a potent 255 hp 3.0 liter V8, the 308 GT4 is one of the most practical Ferraris of its generation.
• The 1970s-Gandini styling hasn’t always been popular when compared with its predecessor however its aging well and becoming more desirable with each passing year.
• This would be the first car from the Dino series to carry actual Ferrari badging, from 1975/1976 onwards, and it would be the first production Ferrari to feature a mid-engined V8 layout.
• This 308 GT4 has been significantly modified for racing, with twin turbochargers, charge cooling, lightweight bodywork, a full roll cage, racing starts and harnesses, and OMP fire extinguishers.

The Ferrari Dino 308 GT4

The 308 GT4 has perhaps the most confusing naming history of any production Ferrari model, it was released as the Dino 308 GT4 in 1973 however part way through 1975 Ferrari sent out a memo to dealers telling them to make some changes, one of which was to replace most of the Dino badging with Ferrari badging.

So depending on what year the car is, or even what month, it can be a Dino 308 GT4, a Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, or a Ferrari 308 GT4.

The 3.0 liter V8 is a later all-alloy unit with DOHC per bank and four-valves per cylinder, called the “Quattrovalvole.”

Regardless of what you might call it, the GT4 had its work cutout for it from the get go. It was to be the first production Ferrari to feature the mid-engined V8 layout and it had been tasked with replacing the 246 GT, one of the most beautiful Ferrari-built cars of all time.

The GT4 used a lengthened version of the tubular spaceframe chassis from the 246 GT and a transversely-mounted 3.0 liter V8 with double overhead cams per bank, two valves per cylinder, four Weber 40 DCNF carburetors, and 255 hp.

Public reception to the GT4 was somewhat mixed, it was the only car built by Ferrari being sold in the USA at the time due to emissions restrictions, but buyers were sometimes put off by the thought of paying so much for a Ferrari that didn’t actually carry Ferrari badging. Ferrari righted this in 1975, as mentioned above, and by the time the car left production they had sold 2,826 of them.

Ultimately the GT4 would be replaced by the Ferrari Mondial in 1980, a car that was clearly influenced by its predecessor but that has always struggled to find its place within the Ferrari community.

The interior of the car has all of the essentials, anything superfluous has been removed for weight savings and the car now has racing seats with harnesses, a fire suppression system, and a full roll cage.

The Twin-Turbo 308 GT4 Shown Here

The car you see here was modified for hillclimb racing by Tony Lambert in the 1990s. The car became a celebrity of sorts due to its prodigious capabilities, winning the 1993 RAC MSA Hillclimb Leaders Championship, taking a class win the following year, followed by a class win at the 1993 Pound Timber Midland Championship, and class records at Prescott (short and long courses), Loton Park, Wiscombe, Doune, and many others.

The car is fitted with lightweight bodywork, a full roll cage, racing starts and harnesses, OMP fire extinguishers, and a slew of other modifications, though despite all of this it remains road legal in the UK.

In February of this year the car was recommissioned at North Leach-based Ferrari specialist Bob Houghton, the final bill came to £12,000 and it included new seats, harnesses, and fire extinguishers. The engine was serviced, shock absorbers reconditioned, and new brake pads and tyres were fitted.

It’s now being auctioned live online by The Market by Bonhams, with a price guide of £35,000 – £55,000. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Bonhams

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The Nissan 240 RS – A Mighty Group B Rally Underdog

The Nissan 240 RS is one of the great unsung heroes of the certifiably insane Group B rally era, it’s a naturally aspirated vehicle that only made 270 bhp in race trim, yet it still managed a number of national level rally championship wins, World Rally Championship podium places, and a series of impressive results in African safari rallies.

The Nissan 240 RS was directly based on the earlier Datsun Violet GTS Group 4, power was provided by a naturally-aspirated Nissan FJ24 inline four-cylinder engine with double overhead cams and power was sent to the rear wheels via a 5-speed transmission.

Fast Facts – Nissan 240 RS Group B

• The Nissan 240 RS was the Japanese automaker’s top flight rally car between 1983 and 1985, they also built 200 road-going examples for homologation purposes.
• Despite the fact that the car was naturally aspirated with rear wheel drive, it still put on a strong showing, and became a popular Group B underdog.
• Perhaps the single most important attribute of the Nissan 240 RS was its toughness and reliability, many results came thanks to faster cars breaking down.
• Surviving examples of the Nissan 240 RS are now highly collectible, and typically far more affordable than their more famous Group B rivals.

The Arrival Of The Nissan 240 RS Group B

In 1979 four-wheel drive systems were legalized for racing by FISA, yet only German automaker Audi took advantage of it, with their first generation Audi Quattro. The car offered blisteringly quick stage times but was somewhat unreliable, other manufacturers felt that the added weight and complexity of an all-wheel drive system would cancel out any benefits.

Above Video: This is an original 1980s-era Nissan promotional film about the 240RS, understandably it focusses on the car’s reliability rather than its all-out speed.

Though no one knew it at the time, the Quattro heralded a new age in international rally, an age where forced induction and all-wheel drive were almost obligatory if you wanted any hope of winning.

If it wasn’t for the arrival of Group B in 1983, the story of the Nissan 240 RS may be quite different. By the standards of the late-1970s the car was exceedingly quick, possibly even capable of winning the World Rally Championship.

When the Nissan 240 RS arrived in 1982 it became quickly apparent that it wasn’t going to be regularly challenging for wins. The pace of its competitors was too strong, and the speed of their development was difficult to match.

Instead, Nissan focussed much of their attention on areas where they knew they had an advantage – endurance rallies and national-level rally championships. This became a winning strategy for them as the cars were strong, and they were far more affordable than the exotic offerings from the likes of Audi and Lancia.

The Nissan 240 RS In Competition

By the time the car left competition in the late-1980s it had racked up national championship wins in Kenya, Britain, Greece, and Cyprus. The best WRC result was a 2nd place finish in the 1983 New Zealand Rally, and the car would take podium places in the Rallye Côte-d’Ivoire and the Safari Rally.

The toughness of the 240 RS meant that it could be successful against more powerful competition, oftentimes just by outlasting them.

Today the surviving race cars are mostly tucked away in private collections or museums, and the road-legal homologation cars are a rare sight. Race cars with successful period competition history only seem to come up for sale rarely, but they’re always popular when they do.

The Nissan 240 RS Shown Here

The car you see here is the 1986 Nissan 240 RS that was driven by Alain Ambrosino and his co-driver Daniel Le Saux in the 1987 Zaire Safari Rally with an impressive 2nd place finish.

The car was road registered in the Ivory Coast then later imported into France where it was acquired by collectors and placed on exhibit. Thankfully the car was preserved exactly as it was when it finished the Zaire Safari Rally, making it an invaluable window into the golden age of rally.

If you’d like to read more about this car or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing on Artcurial. It’s due to roll across the auction block on the 24th of October with a price guide of $151,000 to $221,000 USD.

This car has been well preserved since its last race outing in Africa, it now just needs a recommissioning before taking to the classic rally circuit.

Images courtesy of Artcurial

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100% Road Legal: A 4×4 Chevolet Corvair Zombie Hunter Van

This is the latest in our “Curious Contraptions” series, where we find unusual, offbeat, or downright insane vehicles online and bring them to you on the off chance you may want to sell your Kia, quit your job, and start a new life driving a curious contraption.

This highly-unusual 1964 Chevrolet Corvair van first popped up for sale a little earlier this year and caused quite a stir. The seller explains that it’s 100% street legal and that it was built for events like Burning Man and Wasteland Weekend.

Although it’s listed as a Corvair van it actually just uses a Corvair van body. From the sills down it’s actually a 1965 Ford F100 four-wheel drive chassis that’s been fitted with a 350 cubic inch small block Chevy V8 which is mated to a GM Turbo-Hydramatic automatic transmission.

Fast Facts – The Zombie Hunter

• Believe it or not, this unique Corvair is 100% road-legal in Nevada, despite the considerable amount of “reengineering” it’s had and the fact that there’s a machine gun mounted on the roof.
• The vehicle has a 1964 Corvair van body mounted to a four-wheel drive Ford F100 chassis, and it’s powered by a small block V8.
• The seller notes that the van/truck is capable of highway speeds and that it tracks straight, the front axle doesn’t have a driveshaft so for the time being it’s rear-wheel drive.
• There’s seating for four inside, though seatbelt availability is limited to the driver only. The seller does note that with the rear bench seat removed it could be used as a camper.

Zombie Hunter Or Vanlife Overlander?

Although it currently looks like it just rolled off the set of The Walking Dead this F100 based Corvair could make someone an interesting vanlife project vehicle. It obviously needs plenty of work but the task of getting the body onto the chassis is done, leaving the required mechanical and cosmetic body work.

The van looks like something from the movie “Zombieland,” though the seller assures potential buyers that it’s road-legal and highway capable.

Alternatively, if the whole vanlife concept isn’t your thing, this truck/van is already set up as a rat rod show car suitable for a slew of themed events. It would also make a very popular attraction at any cars and coffee event in the country.

It’s clear that some work is needed either way, there’s some concerning areas of the body, the front driveshaft needs to be fitted, proper front seats and a full assortment of seatbelts would be a great idea, and you may want to remove the (possibly?) deactivated machine gun from the roof turret – lest you attract the attention of Highway Patrol.

The fact that the vehicle uses an F100 platform combined with a small black Chevy V8 and a Turbo-Hydramatic automatic transmission is excellent news, as these three items are all easy to source parts for, and they’re each known for their toughness and longevity.

If you’d like to read more about this van or place a bid you can click here to visit the listing on eBay. At the time of writing there are 5 days left to bid, and the starting bid of $7,500 has not yet been made.

Images courtesy of eBay, header image background courtesy of “The Walking Dead” – AMC

 

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The Controversial-Looking BMW 2000 CS: A Neue Klasse GT

The BMW 2000 CS was a member of the all-important Neue Klasse (New Class) series of vehicles introduced by the German automaker in the 1960s to turn their fortunes around and save the ailing company.

BMW had been losing money hand over fist since the 1950s but the Neue Klasse cars were designed to change that, with the modern unibody construction, overhead cam engines, and independent front and rear suspension tuned for spirited driving.

Fast Facts – The BMW 2000 CS

• The BMW 2000 CS is a sporting coupe that was introduced in 1965 with modern styling and advanced engineering for the time. Both a 2000 C and the 2000 CS were offered, with the 2000 CS offering more power thanks to twin carburetors.
• Under the hood of the 2000 CS you’ll find a 2.0 liter version of the BMW M10 engine, an inline-four with a single overhead cam and two valves per cylinder producing 120 hp at 5,500 rpm.
• The 2000 CS (and the 2000 C) were styled by Wilhelm Hofmeister, they set the trend for BMW going forwards and they had a strong influence on the BMW E9 coupe released in 1968.
• Compared to the more popular cars from the Neue Klasse series, like the BMW 2002, the 2000 CS has been largely overlooked by many collectors.

A Neue Klasse For A New Era

BMW struggled in the post-WWII years as their compatriots at Mercedes-Benz, VW, and Porsche, all seemingly went from strength to strength. It was clear that the company needed a new direction, and it needed to happen quickly as the vultures were circling by the end of the 1950s.

This car has been significantly modified to compete in vintage rally events like the Carrera Panamericana.

In 1960 German industrialists Herbert and Harald Quandt took a controlling interest in BMW and launched the Neue Klasse program. This program was designed to entirely modernize the automobiles made by BMW, it was led by Fritz Fiedler with Eberhard Wolff in charge of chassis design, Wilhelm Hofmeister in charge of styling, and Alex von Falkenhausen designing the engines.

The first car in the Neue Klasse family was the BMW 1500 introduced in 1961. It was a four-door, three-box sedan with a 1.5 liter engine, unibody construction, and independent suspension on all four corners. Performance was good by the standards of the time, and BMW finally had a production car for sale in the lucrative 1.5 to 2.0 liter market.

The 1500 was followed by the 1800, the 1600, and the 2000, all of which were four-door sedans with the model designation also being the engine’s approximate swept capacity in cubic centimeters.

The coupes first appeared in 1965 with the release of the 2000 C and the 2000 CS, both were powered by the 2.0 liter version of the Falkenhausen-designed, four-cylinder M10 engine with the 2000 C producing 100 hp at 5,500 rpm and the 2000 CS offering 120 hp at 5,500 rpm thanks to its twin carburetors.

The design of the front end of the 2000 C and CS has long been controversial, some love it and some loathe it. BMW seem to have heard these concerns and the front was considerably revised with the release of the E9 coupe in 1968, though the design of the E9 from the hood emblem back was very similar to the earlier 2000 C and CS.

Engine modifications are aplenty, thew BMW M10 inline-four has been fitted with twin Weber carburetors and a number of other performance upgrades.

The BMW New Class vehicle family would remain in production from the early 1960s to the late 1970s, it’s no exaggeration to say that the New Class saved BMW, setting them on the trajectory they still follow today.

The BMW 2000 CS

When it was released in 1965 the BMW 2000 CS was the most desirable vehicle in the German automaker’s line-up. Powered by a high-performance version of the venerable M10 engine the 2000 CS offered sporting driving wrapped in German luxury, with surprisingly good fuel economy to boot.

The 2000 C and the 2000 CS were introduced together in 1965, the model names tell you the size of the engine, with the “C” standing for “Coupe” and the addition of the “S” on the more powerful model standing for “Sport.”

Independent suspension on all four wheels was still relatively uncommon in the mid-1960s, the 2000 CS was fitted with MacPherson strut front suspension and coil springs with semi-trailing wishbones and a cross beam that also supports the differential.

The car’s handling was firmer than many reviewers expected, particularly when compared to the company’s earlier sporting coupes like the BMW 503. Overall the 2000 C series cars received good marks for handling, and the later BMW E9 would go on to have significant successes on the race tracks of Europe.

The side profile of the car is immediately recognizable as a BMW, and design cues from this car would be used on many future models.

The 1969 BMW 2000 CS Race Car Shown Here

The 2000 CS you see here clearly been modified significantly from its original condition, it’s been given a slew of performance upgrades and turned into a vintage race car to compete in the Carrera Panamericana.

The Carrera Panamericana is a modern version of the legendary 2,000+ mile road race from the 1950s, a race that was so dangerous it was cancelled after just four years in 1954 after 25 deaths in total.

The modern Carrera Panamericana is run as a stage race, similar to the original, but with a combination of “speed” stages and “transit” stages. Speed stages are timed, closed-road races that require entrants to get from point A to point B in the shortest amount of time. This requires driving flat out along winding mountain roads that pass through small villages, along cliffs, and through wooded sections of forest.

This BMW raced in the Carrera Panamericana twice with Danny Stewart as driver and C.H. DeHaan as co-driver. It’s now fitted with a full roll cage and a mostly stripped out interior, with Sparco Pro 2000 racing seats, a Terratrip rally computer, alloy wheels, Toyo tires, a bumper delete, and a significantly modified engine that now breathes through twin side draught Weber carburetors.

The car is due to cross the auction block with Mecum in mid-October, if you’d like to see more or register to bid you can click here to visit the listing.

Images courtesy of Mecum

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