I agree with the "another 5-10 years" sentiment. There is no way the price of such a beautiful icon of more than a decade will stay low forever.
People are also starting to do complete restorations on 308s, and otherwise not be afraid to sink money into them; the more that people do this, the higher the values of 308s as a whole will go.
But let me play devil's advocate today, and stand up and wave the 2-valve injected flag.
I won't argue that they will be among the last to go up in value, but they deserve more credibility than they have been given thus far. Consider the following points:
- All 308s are slow by modern sports car standards, and people are no longer buying them because they want a
fast car; they are buying them because they want a classic, thoroughbred Ferrari. Whether some magazine that no one has a copy of any more said it reaches 60mph/100 kmh in 6.3 seconds or 7.3 seconds, or whether it does 146 or 156 mph, becomes less and less relevant with each passing day.
- The emerging generation of classic car enthusiasts don't "have it in" for fuel injection like the established generation does. Many younger people don't see carburetion vs. injection as a dividing line between classic and modern, and fewer will as injected cars of all makes get older and older. Not to mention, this is CIS we're talking about! (pretty simple) :rofl: And at least speaking for the United States, there are more specialists who can set up a Bosch CIS system to perfection than who can balance a set of four Webers (much less tune them). Carburetors are seen by many people as a hassle, and injection as low maintenance. Even in a city like Miami, specialists who can honestly and properly tune and balance four webers are few, expensive, and often have a long waiting list . . . while you can take your injected car to pretty much any Mercedes specialist (of which there are plenty).
- If maintenance costs are a put off (and that itself is debatable once cars reach a certain age and price), the 2-valve injected car is a logical choice -- no carburetors, and only half the valves to adjust!
- Before long (5-10 years?) many people looking to buy a 308 will be people who didn't pay acute attention them when they were new or newer, and the differences between various models will blur. Sure, many people will want a specific 308, and it will no doubt be the true connoisseurs, but others will be happy just to get one.
- The proliferation of attractive and affordable replica QV wheels is quickly putting an end to the metric/TRX issue. (And don't forget that some QVs had metric wheels, and some 2Vis had 14" wheels!)
- In the States, the late carbureted cars are just as "slow" as the 2Vi cars, and the injected cars were lauded for their drivability from day one. Last I checked, horsepower of catalyst carbureted 308s in the U.S. is rated as 205, just like the injected cars that followed. The general sentiment of the 2Vi at the time was, ~"well, horsepower has not improved, but drivability has, and that may prove to be more useful in real life." People like the fleabag dealers on eBay will always quote the 240hp number of the earlier non-catalyst cars when trying to sell their 1978-79 catalyst 308, and that confuses people regarding the horsepower ratings of federal 308s. But simple, quick research will tell anyone that the catalysts aren't the only thing cutting power; the late carbed cars also had milder camshaft profiles. The point is, the power advantage of carburetor over injected is 50% truth (1976-77) and 50% myth (1978-79) in one of the 308's MAJOR markets.
- Just as carbureted cars can be made faster, so can injected cars. There are books on tuning Bosch systems, and the CIS system is arguably as simple to modify as a carburetor (larger air flow meter, larger injectors . . .). As fuel injected cars of all makes fall more and more into the realm of tinkerers, classic car nuts and tuners, more "common knowledge" will emerge on getting more horsepower out of "old school" injection systems. The "vee-dub" culture has certainly worked wonders with CIS; how long before they get more money and start doing that to 308s? . . . The point is, once again, that the horsepower difference will become less and less relevant the older that 308s get.
When I went shopping for a 308, I could have bought pretty much any type of 308 that I wanted here in the States. For me, it had to be a "B". I like the looks better, and having driven both Bs and Ss, the Bs are definitely stronger in structure. And for me it also had to be an "i". I have spent enough hours of my life balancing carburetors, eliminating flat spots, dealing with fuel starvation in corners, checking for leaks and overhauling them; and I really like the nice, even idle of an injected car, and the fact that you can go somewhere in one wearing nice clothes and not arrive smelling like fuel (burned or unburned)!
Sure, I would have loved a QV, but a QV B is hard to find (especially in America, where the S to B ratio is even more lopsided). So I was happy to find a GTBi. If I wanted to buy an S, sure a QV would be preferable, but I would have taken a 2Vi over a 2V carbureted car, and if the right 2Vi came along in the right color and condition, I'd take that over a QV, and just say to myself, "when I want more power, I'll just do a few modifications." It doesn't take a whole lot for someone who knows what he is doing to make a 2Vi as fast (or close enough by seat of the pants) as a stock QV.
So, that's my rant for today. In a nutshell, the 2-valve injected cars deserve a little more respect. They are great drivers, easy to live with, cost less to maintain, and the power differences are both correctable and less relevant today and going forward than they were before. And your clothes won't stink!
Are the carbed cars faster? Absolutely! Are the QVs better? Absoluely! (GALVANIZED!!!!). Are the 2Vis undesirable? Absolutely NOT! And the difference between any two variants of 308s is not really significant enough (in my opinion) in the big picture to warrant strong favoritism of any one version over another, much less warnings to "stay away from" any particular model -- that leads to false perceptions like "I heard they were unreliable". The sooner that Ferrari enthusiasts stop poo-pooing the 2Vi cars, the better the market will be for ALL 308s.
I hereby declare June 10th an official international holiday:
GTBi Day!
(By the way, today is my birthday, too. So I think I'll go and celebrate my birthday and GTBi Day by treating myself to a drive in my GTBi!)
