50 years of the Ferrari 308 GTB

As the Ferrari 308 GTB turns 50 in 2025, it’s an appropriate moment to reflect on its impact, and celebrate a legacy that endured far beyond its ten-year lifespan to shape Ferrari into the company it is today.

The new entry-level model certainly caused a stir when it debuted at the Paris Motor Show in 1975, not least because – positioned neatly above the V6 Dino 246 GT it was soon to replace and below the flat-12-engined 365 GT4 BB that arrived in production for 1973 – it was the first mid-engined V8 ever to wear the Ferrari badge, and arrived two years after the Dino 308 GT4 that blooded the layout.

The 308 GTB's debut coincided with Niki Lauda's 1975 F1 title – he's seen here driving the 312 T

On those Paris and London show stands, the 308 GTB was presented in fiberglass – a Ferrari first – and cleverly evolved the design language of the Dino while introducing cues from the 365 GT4 BB, itself inspired by the P6 Berlinetta Speciale concept car first shown at the Turin show in ’68. All were designs on which Pininfarina's Leonardo Fioravanti had worked.

The 308’s flowing fenders, scalloped side air intakes and vertical concaved rear screen that curved into two buttresses clearly owed a debt to the seductive volumes of the Dino; the Ferrari 365 GT4 BB influence could be seen in a more modern, wedgier nose (complete with eggcrate grille and pop-up headlights) and a strong swage line that bisected the 308’s profile at wheel height.

The design balanced both influences with such skill that the 308 GTB looked – and still looks –perfectly formed from every angle.

2897 examples of the 308 GTB were produced, or 12,149 with all 308 variants included

To drive, the GTB offers a similarly perfect balance. Under that seductive skin lies a tubular chassis, and independent suspension featuring double wishbones, coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers all-round. A 3.0-litre V8 engine is mounted transversely, as per the Ferrari Dino 308 GT4, with a power output of 255 cv for European models – more if the optional sports exhaust, high-compression pistons and high lift camshafts were ordered from the factory. Later GTBi and Quattrovalvole updates introduced fuel injection and four-valve heads respectively.

As per the show car, bodies were initially produced in fiberglass to Pininfarina’s design by Scaglietti, before gradually switching over to more familiar steel and aluminium from late 1976. Today, these early models are sought by collectors for their rarity, referred to as vetroresina even by English speakers –the telltale being a little indent between the windscreen A-pillar and roof panel.

308s shown at the Corso Pilota Classiche driving experience, Fiorano

The most famous 308 owner was, of course, fictional detective Thomas Magnum, who drove a Ferrari 308 GTS for eight seasons of Magnum P.I., but Ferrari designers past and present number among the real-life custodians. Fioravanti bought his own example finished in silver paintwork. When current Ferrari Chief Design Officer Flavio Manzoni began work on his first mid-engined V8 Ferrari – the 488 GTB of 2015 – he did so with his own personal 308 GTB as visual reference.

More than just a beautifully balanced and designed sports car, the 308 GTB represented a turning point for Ferrari. Not only was it the first Ferrari-badged car with a mid-engined V8, it began a bloodline that endured for over four decades (and whose spirit lives on today with the 296 GTB). It also literally laid the foundations for the first ever Ferrari supercar: the GTO, which was created from the 308 GTB for Group B regulations, and later evolved into the Ferrari F40.

Judged by mainstream car industry standards the 308’s production numbers were modest, yet it was the best-selling Ferrari in history when it left production in 1985, by which time 12,149 examples of both Berlinetta and open-top Spider models had left the line (including fuel injected and Quattrovalvole derivatives, if not the closely related 208s featuring downsized V8 engines).

Fifty years since its debut, the 308 GTB remains one of the era-defining Ferraris – and a key milestone in the history of the Prancing Horse.