As we have seen, the government regulations placed on automakers hit Ferrari hard in the 1970s and the import of V-12 power cars to the USA ceased.
But Ferrari wanted to keep some skin in the game in what was the largest market for their road cars, and so imported a large number of mid-engine V-8 cars during the period. The Dino/Ferrari 308 GT4, which we have already covered, was the first of these and Ferrari built on that with a two-seat variant which became the bread and butter of the marque.
The Ferrari 308 GTB was introduced at the Paris auto show in 1975. By now the V-8s were Ferraris, not Dinos. The car was based mechanically on the 308 GT4 with the same 90-degree dual overhead cam 3-liter V-8. The styling was by Pininfarina and was quite handsome. The wheelbase was of course shortened as the new car did not have GT4's rear seats.
The car was an immediate hit. The initial lot of 308GTBs had partly fiberglass bodies but soon transitioned to all metal. The wheels were 14-inch with 205/70R-14 tires at first.
The power output was 255 hp in Europe and 240 hp in the USA. The American cars suffered extended 5 mph impact bumpers; over the years the owners converted them back to Euro bumpers.
In 1977 the 308 GTB was joined by a Targa-type 308 GTS with removable roof panel. The GTS proved a hit and spider sales soon outpaced sales of the berlinetta.
In Italy, as had been the case with the 308 GT4, there was a 2-liter V-08 version available for the tax-averse buyer.
Emissions regulations continued to tighten and in 1980, the 308 saw its Weber carburetors replaced by Bosche K-Jetronic fuel injection in an effort to meet the ever more strict regulations. The output of U.S. market cars dropped to 205 hp, a real low point for Ferrari.
Some relief arrived in 1982 with the adoption of 4-valve heads and output for U.S. cars rose to 230 hp. These are referred to as 308 GTB/GTS Quattrovalvole cars. The 308 GTB & 308 GTS QV cars continued to be sold until 1985 -- an unprecedented ten year run for Ferrari.
In 1985, the 308s got a displacement bump to 3.2 liters which brought the power output up to 260 hp at 7000 rpm. By now, too, the 14-inch wheels and tires had been replaced by staggered 16-inchers (205/55R-16 front and 225/50R-16 rear); note, however, that the 308/328 cars were subjected to the same unfortunate period of Michelin TRX metric sizes. Late 328s got anti-lock braking.
Put together, the production run for the 308/328 cars was 1975 to 1989, a record for Ferrari. In 1989, a new 348 berlinetta was finally introduced to update the V-8 line. All told, the 308s and 328s, along with their 208 Italian cousins, sold about 21,500 cars during that period.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_308_GTB/GTS
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari 328
A note on photos: Since all the cars -- early or late -- were quite similar in appearance, I've minimized the number of attached photos. The Wikipedia articles have more. You'll note that any search for Ferrari photos yields plenty of red ones!
