1985 – 1988 Ferrari 328
As a crude measure of just how attention-grabbing the Pininfarina-designed Ferrari 328 GTS is, Hagerty park it next to the SLS AMG Black Series in the pit lane garages at Anglesey Circuit, ahead of the arrival of all those joining us for two days of photography and driving. Without fail, each and every guest gravitates to the blood-red Ferrari.
It looks sensational, as much a throwback to the ’80s as MTV, Margaret Thatcher, Motorola brick phones and the Sony Walkman. The bodywork is impossibly low, barely over hip height, with a ground-scraping nose, retractable headlights and cooling slats for the nose-mounted radiator. There’s a removable roof section, too, and it’s a doddle to operate; release a pair of clips, step out and lift the Targa panel clear, before storing it behind the seats.
You’ll need to remove that roof because the 328 GTS’ height serves as a reminder of how little thought Ferrari gave to accommodating people in comfort. Even if you’re an average-size driver, under 6 feet tall, your head is above the roofline. Tilt forward and you can connect your head with the windscreen surround. Ouch.
The driving position is chronically offset, with the pedals and steering wheel bearing little relationship to the seat. But like waiting all evening for your meal to arrive at your favourite Italian restaurant, you can forgive this because the surroundings are so delicious – a masterclass in Italian design aesthetics, where form triumphs over function.
An evolution of the 308, the 328 features a tubular steel chassis, independent suspension using unequal-length A-arms, coil springs, hydraulic shocks, and anti-roll bars. The gearbox was a five-speed manual, take it or leave it; the age of the robotised F1 transmission was but a glint in a Ferrari engineer’s eye. Lift the engine cover and you’ll find the gearbox’s life partner, an uprated, 3.2-litre version of the V8.
Given the car’s 267bhp at 7000rpm, you may scoff at the thought of a Ferrari with no more power than a modern hot hatch – especially when the 328’s heir, the F8 Tributo, delivers more than 700bhp to its rear wheels. But remember, the 328 is a sports car born of the analogue age, before computer modelling, aluminium or carbon structures, carbon-ceramic brakes, ABS (other than the last of the production run), ESP, Manettino switches and an army of sensors talking to one another millions of times a second. You’re on your own.
That much is apparent as you go to pull away. The clutch is heavy, the steering as tough as any gym workout. On the move, the 328 GTS commands respect. It is pure, undiluted and absolutely devoid of a safety harness, so you drive it with respect – the slow in, fast out kind of respect that racing drivers of years gone by talk about.
The noise is surprisingly muted until the rev counter’s needle rushes for the redline. The speed builds plenty fast enough and the gearbox is a delight – albeit once the oil gets up to temperature. Take liberties, as we did in the interests of research, and it will punish you, at which point the tyres will howl and let go with enough warning that you can concentrate on muscling that steering and getting things back on the straight and narrow.
This masterpiece in aesthetics is surprisingly rare in the UK, as 130 right-hand-drive models were sold. Choosing one today is about your budget, the car’s condition and history. The ideal would be to find one as original and low-mileage as this one, a 5000-miler kindly loaned by Vanrooyen Warrington. Not long after the Hagerty team drove it, the car was sold, and we can see why. For all its, ahem, quirks, the last of the analogue Ferraris provides an experience that is somehow magical, a fairy tale from a fading era.
1988 Ferrari 328 GTS
- Engine: V8, 3185cc
- Transmission: 5-speed manual, RWD
- Power: 267bhp @ 7000rpm
- Weight: 1325kg
THE HAGERTY VALUATION TEAM SAYS
- Hagerty value condition #2: £80,650
- 2019 Hagerty value condition #2: £82,300
- Hagerty 12-month value change: -£1650 (2%)
Ferrari 328 values shot up in the first half of the 2010s: the top value for the car was around £30,000 in 2012, but by 2016, our ‘excellent’ condition value peaked at just over £100,000. Since then, it has dropped annually as the feeding frenzy for more modern classic Ferraris has subsided.
So why buy now? Well, from 2016 to 2019, values fell at roughly 11% per annum, but last year, this reduced to just 2%. It has all the markers of a successful classic: a legendary manufacturer, rarity and that 1980s look that is so attractive to Generation X buyers.
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