Ferrari 308 GTB QV 1984

A slightly modified dream car

- by Peter Edenberg 2019-06-17

“It doesn’t get any more fun than what you do, that’s my motto.” Torbjörn says with a thoughtful smile. Then he gear down and the V8 wines and whistles in Stockholm’s northern tunnel system.

Every bump and white line feels when we slide through all the underground tracks of the underground with the track prepared Ferrari 308 from 1984. Both our windows are down and I cannot stop smiling every time the engine leaves the 2500 line, on the rev meter, behind. The tunnels are filled with Italian music.

Ferrari 308 GTB QV 1984 alone in the forest

The 308 roles smoothly up to the highway exit

Sunday morning slowly starts to wake up, and the sun stays hidden behind the gray clouds in the sky. In the distance, I hear the beautiful sound of a Ferrari engine coming closer as it crosses the bridge between the suburbs of Bromma and Solna in Stockholm.

The low and slender 308 comes rolling out from behind the green bushes. The flat nose with its lit fog lights makes me sigh with joy. Much of my childhood washes over me. The right indicator shows that it’s about to turn into the abandoned highway exit where we are going to photograph. I have to tell myself to stop smiling like a fool.

The red paint shines, and quite quickly my eyes register that the car looks slightly wider than an original Ferrari 308.

Torbjörn gets out of the car, and I can’t stop smiling. The car has so much class, dignity, history, and iconic presence around it.

With this particular car, the Italians really succeeded. The shape suggests speed, glamour, and emotion.

The Ferrari have got a really aggressive wheel seeting

Directly, Torbjörn and I start chit-chatting, and he mentions the observation that the car looks wider.

“The rims at the front are 8-inch magnesium wheels that were originally fitted at the rear. At the back, there are now replica aluminum wheels that Skullman in Åkers Styckebruk has widened both inward and outward, so they now measure 9 inches in width with the original offset. Kumho V70R tires, 245/45R16 and 265/45R16.”

The front fenders are rolled on the inside so that the wheels won’t rub. After running a Lancia Delta Integrale Evoluzione on the track for a few years before this Ferrari, Torbjörn had learned how he prefers the wheel setup. It should be aggressive, with minus 3 degrees of camber, to really make it grip through the corners.

“On track, it’s more fun to turn than to accelerate in a straight line, because the engine isn’t that powerful, but the car is incredibly balanced in the corners.”

You have to work in a Ferrari 308

“In a Ferrari 308, you have to work and think more about how you drive. It is more fun to drive this car at 70 km/h than a modern car at 200 km/h. Even though I like fast cars and good handling, the driving experience is so much more than just speed, which this car delivers.”

Gradually, we go through what he has changed on the car since he bought it from Maranello Service in Italy in 2010.

The biggest modifications were made during the first two winters; after that, only minor adjustments and servicing have been carried out.

Ferrari 308 GTB QV 1984 on the move road

The engine is totally original

“The engine is a completely original 3.0-liter V8 with dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. It should produce 240 horsepower.”

As we stand and look down into the engine, it strikes me how small and stripped it feels. I had expected it to be much bigger and look “stronger,” and that the 90-degree V8 would appear more advanced. Instead, it looks like an original, classic, compact engine.

Torbjörn continues:

“I have switched to a sports air filter and had Nouvolari in England manufacture a sports exhaust system based on my description, with two slightly cone-shaped exhausts instead of the original dual exhaust. With two, it gives more of a racing car look.”

Torbjörn laughs and points at the exhaust system:

“Those at Nouvolari didn’t really think about it when they put their emblem on, because it is upside down when the exhaust system is installed.”

When I lean down to look—yes, they have put the emblem upside down.

the engine in the Ferrari 308 GTB QV 1984

the up side down exhaust of a Ferrari 308 GTB QV 1984

He continues the review of the car and tells me that he has installed baffle plates in the oil pan—a ready-made kit for Ferrari cars with a wet sump—to ensure stable oil pressure in long corners. At the same time, he replaced the seals in the gear shift shaft that runs through the engine block to the gearbox. This is because a common issue with the 308s is that engine and transmission oil can mix due to a leaking seal between them.

“All bushings in the chassis have been replaced with harder ones or spherical bearings, specially adapted Öhlins coilovers with tuned springs, and a short steering rack that has been moved upward to reduce bump steer as the car is lowered by about 20 mm. Aggressive wheel alignment with more negative camber both front and rear, as mentioned.”

“A model-specific brake kit from Girodisc with larger discs and Wilwood brake calipers with Carbotech pads, neatly painted black with a Ferrari logo, fits perfectly inside the original 16″ rims.”

the gearstick inside the Ferrari 308 GTB QV 1984

the well dressed fire extinguisher in Ferrari 308 GTB QV 1984

Porsches are good cars, but can easily get borring

“Sometimes I get help from a handy friend, but for the most part I do all the work on the car myself—service, adjustments, and so on. It’s not that difficult.”

The confidence to work on cars began when he was 18 years old and worked at an auto parts dealer. During his first couple of months at work, he was allowed to renovate the manager’s Porsche 911 Targa, in exchange for borrowing it over the summer.

“That Porsche—I drove it all over the country that summer. It was really fun,” says Torbjörn with a smile on his lips.

“Porsches are nice cars, but they are almost too good, because you can really push them in both wet and dry conditions and nothing happens. It becomes a little too boring. I want something more raw, with character, feeling, and something more mechanically engaging.”

Italian cars have always been closest to Torbjörn’s heart, but a couple of Porsches have also been part of the journey, as the air-cooled 911s can still offer that extra emotional connection.

Torbjörn’s first real sports car was an Alfetta GT, and that was when he realized that some cars take time to truly learn how to drive.

The Ferrari 308 is timeless

“I really had to learn to drive that car. It was completely willful and had its tricks when it came to starting and running—I really had to treat it with care. It had a lot of personality.”

When it comes to the Ferrari and personality, it is more Torbjörn who has put his personality into the car.

“After running the Lancia Delta on track for a few years, I wanted to switch to a more pure sports car.”

“I had never driven a 308 before, but I just knew I had to have one. It is so iconic and classic in my eyes, with its color and its shape. Clearly a sports car that will never go out of style.”

I nod in agreement as we stand next to Ferrari’s iconic model. Those round taillights evoke so much automotive passion, and this particular model is a true milestone in Ferrari’s history.

The car broke down in Italy

Torbjörn talks about the journey down to Italy when he picked up the car in 2010. His good friend had a gap in his calendar and was able to come along, which turned into a long and pleasant adventure for both of them—although it started off a bit tricky.

“The first thing that happened down there in Italy was that the engine overheated and the gearbox didn’t feel right. It turned out that the water pump was broken and the clutch was completely worn out.”

“They said they would fix it in two days, so I called home and explained the situation. After that, I sat by Lake Garda and played poker under a tree with my friend. Of course, you could spend your time in worse places.”

Two days later, Torbjörn stowed five small boxes of wine in the rear compartment and left northern Italy behind. Over the mountains, along the German highways, through flat Denmark, and finally parking the dream car on Kungsholmen in Stockholm.

Ferrari dosen’t give you that wow-feeling

When I ask Torbjörn how it felt to finally own his Ferrari 308, he answers:

“Well, I can say that the wow feeling I had in the beginning when I saw and drove cars has calmed down a bit and doesn’t appear in the same dramatic way as when you are a child. I can miss that.”

“Though this Ferrari 308 gives me joy in so many ways, and I will, as it stands now, never sell it.”

When Torbjörn talks about all the cars he has owned, the setups, his thoughts on mechanics, the search for parts, and how he takes care of this red ’80s dream, I realize that he has created his own homemade engineering degree in classic car ownership.

He is a sharp person who sees himself as a world citizen, aware and with a strong sense of what he wants to accomplish, and he shines with joy for life and a childlike sparkle in his eyes.

That joy of life and childhood shines even brighter when we later head out on the roads to cruise through Stockholm’s northern tunnel system.

“It has a different ignition sequence than an American V8 and therefore howls more when you press the throttle.”