[jovry]

Hi fellow car lovers,

I’m new to this kind of forums, so I hope I do it well from the first time. Let’s introduce myself. But being a journalist, I’m used to writing about everything, except myself…

Living in quite densely populated Belgium my whole life, but fortunate enough to see quite a bit of the world thanks to my job. Love to travel, love to visit a new country, love to meet new people.

Some 30 years ago, in 1977, I obtained my drivers license at the age of 18 (the minimum age in Belgium to get it). So that period and the early eighties were quite decisive in creating my love for classic cars.

So I’m happy I finally can afford some of the most beautiful designed V8 powered ‘dream cars’ from those days: a Mercedes 350 SL (1972), a Porsche 928 (1979) and -since a few weeks- the most gorgeous of all, a Ferrari 308 GTS QV (1984).

Still waiting for the official European homologation documents from Maranello before I can actually drive it. But with 15 cm (6 inches) of snow outside right now, that wouldn’t be very wise to do, I guess.

I bought the car recently from a nice guy in Fallbrook, CA, who owned the car for less than two years and had it shipped to Antwerp. It is a Euro-spec car and looks very nice (except for the slick-like TRX tires). No unpleasant surprises so far.

Unfortunately the Fallbrook guy had little or no information at all about the history of this car. So I hope somebody on this forum recognizes this particular car and can bring me in contact with the previous owner(s).

This is what I know:

Ferrari 308 GTI QV (1984)
Vin: ZFFLA13S000048119
Color: ROSSO CORSA FER 300/6, tan interior
Odometer: 23.400 miles (but maybe the odometer was changed in the past)
Car came with pictures of timing belt change (± 500 miles ago)
Remarkable detail: two little spy mirrors glued to the both mirrors

Found some pictures of 'my' car on carpictures.com (from 2007?)
http://www.carpictures.com/vehicle/05HM0003516276.html
It was sold by Precious Metals
San Diego, California, U.S.A.
http://www.pmautos.com

So if anybody out there recognizes this car, I’d love to dig in deeper into it’s history.

Thanks

[IMG]file:///Users/jorisvanroy/Library/Caches/TemporaryItems/moz-screenshot.png[/IMG]

[Gcalo]

Nice car and welcome to the forum.

I know who Precious Metals is. The owner of the company is a surgeon! It's his hobby business in San Diego.

Why was the car sent from California sent to Antwerp?

What additional info do you need?

[jovry]

Originally Posted by Gcalo

Nice car and welcome to the forum.

I know who Precious Metals is. The owner of the company is a surgeon! It's his hobby business in San Diego.

Why was the car sent from California sent to Antwerp?

What additional info do you need?

Hi Gcalo,
Car was sent to Antwerp, because that's the harbor close to where I live.
What I like to find out is who owned this car before, reconstruct the history of this car. When was it first imported into the VS? Who can tell me what was changed to the car to meet regulations in California?

[Gcalo]

The best one to gve you the history I can think of would be Gerald Rousch at the Ferrari Market Letter in Atlanta, GA. He maintains an accurate database of all VIN's.

It does not appear to be a Euro model from first glance but the VIN would tell more.

You can decode the VIN here: http://www.red-headed.com/index2.html

If a US model there would be no mods to make it a US car.

Check these two and if you need help with info from Precious Metals I will see what I can do. I know the Dr. who owns the firm.

[IPF]

Hi and welcome,

Nice car! Judging by the VIN it is Euro and likely produced for the Swiss/Swedish market originally. Probably federalised to some extent later, hence the mile odometer, bumpers, etc.

Good suggestion to mail the guys at FML, esp. for the US side of things. For the European market, you might try sending an e-mail to Lars Theunissen (Theunissen-Muenchen@t-online.de), a Dutch guy based in Munich who is part of a world-wide Telaio network, who keep track of Ferrari's (VINs), owners, and plates. He'll be happy to put your car in his database (if it isn't already in there) and try and supply you with any info already gathered by his network in the car's earlier life (pre US).

Enjoy the Ferrari and the life that goes with it!

Irvin

[Gcalo]

I just went through the original listing and it does state it is a Euro model! So it is hard to know if anything was done to it as far as smog etc. It apparently was never titled in CA and if so there would be no need for smog. It reads Arizona title.

"Red with Tan interior, 22,900 miles, beautiful small European bumpers with factory integrated fog lights, US legal on AZ. Title, excellent overall condition but could stand new tires and major service, owners manual tools and jack. S/N 48119 (Euro Prod)".

So I would assume nothing has been done as far as smog. It's now a Euro, Euro model!!!

[360 Modena]

I have no knowledge of the car, but agree that FML here in US might. You might also check with www.carfax.com for US service and records history. Beautiful car!

Welcome to FL and congratulations on realizing your dream.

[jtremlett]

Just to confirm that indeed the VIN indicates it was originally Swiss spec (eighth character of the VIN is an S rather than a B which would be a Euro car). Obviously Switzerland is in Europe but there were some differences in their regulations at the time. Nowadays they follow Euorpean Union legislation and so get standard Euro-spec cars.

As to the history of this particular car, I can only add that it was offered for sale by John N Miller of California in Ferrari Market Letter 29 November 2003.

Jonathan

[Jimmy Chen Shiba DDS]

Welcome to FL, Jovry. Beautiful car, excellent taste. I understand there's many petrolheads in Belgium. Looking forward to your inputs and pics. w/ smiles Jimmy

[Night Life]

Always glad to see new faces, and gorgeous car by the way.

[jovry]

Thank you all for the warm welcome!

I’m going to contact the guys in Atlanta and Lars Theunissen in Germany to see if they have more on this car.

As for the modifications on the car to ‘Americanize’ it, I noticed that the side markers have been wired to work with the headlights. In Europe they have to work in conjunction with the blinkers, so I’ll have to find out where to change that. Any suggestions?

[Granucci]

welcome and couldn't find anything direclty: yet

http://www.r-design.net/308/index_e.html

[Boxer]

Dick Merrit at the DOT in Washington DC would be able to tell you when and where it was imported into the us to/from.

http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testin...corgchart.html

[jovry]

Originally Posted by Boxer

Dick Merrit at the DOT in Washington DC would be able to tell you when and where it was imported into the us to/from.

Thanks, Boxer. You wouldn't have Merrit's mail address by any chance?

[Boxer]

Originally Posted by jovry

Thanks, Boxer. You wouldn't have Merrit's mail address by any chance?

I only have what is listed in the link. If you call, leave a message, he will return your call.

[Barry]

Originally Posted by Night Life

Always glad to see new faces, and gorgeous car by the way.

+1! Welcome to F-Life

[jovry]

Found some more details about the car's history: a sticker in the door post mentioning it was imported by

JT8 International
7673 Blaten Unie T
Huntington Beach CA92547

Unfortunately no year or other details mentioned.

Did some googling, but found no trace of it. Anybody out there ever heard of it?

[Boxer]

Originally Posted by jovry

Found some more details about the car's history: a sticker in the door post mentioning it was imported by

JT8 International
7673 Blaten Unie T
Huntington Beach CA92547

Unfortunately no year or other details mentioned.

Did some googling, but found no trace of it. Anybody out there ever heard of it?

Try contacting Mike Sheehan at www.ferraris-online.com. He might have details.

[Gcalo]

Originally Posted by jovry

JT8 International
7673 Blaten Unie T
Huntington Beach CA92547

Can you verify the spelling of every thing here.

I cannot even locate the address.

So something is mispelled

[jovry]

Originally Posted by Gcalo

Can you verify the spelling of every thing here.

I cannot even locate the address.

So something is mispelled

I couldn't neither. It's hard to read on the sticker.

"JT8" might be "JTS"

the address could be "7673 Blaton Unit T"
(in stead of Blaten)