| In March of 1980 the Ferrari 308 received a major | | | | Around 494 GTBi and 1743 GTSi models were |
| change from the exotic sports car introduced in 1975. | | | | produced in a two year time span. |
| The American legislation, along with other countries, | | | | While the power was way down, the car was still a |
| began to restrict what could and could not be done | | | | mid engine sports car. A mid engine means that the |
| with an engine by way of emission control standards. | | | | majority of the engine is located between the front |
| Up to this point the Ferrari 308 had four double choke | | | | and the rear axle. Front engine cars have most of the |
| Webber carburetors. However, the carburetor | | | | engine weight in front of the front axle and rear engine |
| approach did not allow the cars to pass the new | | | | cars, like the VW, have most of the engine behind the |
| emission control standards. Ferrari's answer was to | | | | rear axle. By using a race proven design of a mid |
| drop the carburetor approach and install a fuel injection | | | | engine the 308s were still very nimble cars on a twisty |
| system Bosch. | | | | road or on the track. They made up for the lost |
| This almost killed the 308 line. The rated horsepower | | | | horsepower by their exceptional handling. |
| for the American model dropped from a factory | | | | While the 308's came in the two unique body styles |
| number of 255 bph to one of 205 bph. Stock | | | | there were many other differences in the cars that |
| American street cars could outperform the 308. The | | | | Ferrari was producing. The cars designed for the |
| car had come in two body styles, the 308 GTB or | | | | American market had to meet certain safety |
| coupe and the 308 GTS or spider, which had an open | | | | standards that the rest of the world did not impose. So |
| top, rather than a full convertible top. The fuel injected | | | | the American version weighed more, had different |
| models added the letter i for injection so the models | | | | gearing and some features like side markers were |
| become the 308 GTBi and the GTSi. Of all of the | | | | different. The European versions had a top speed of |
| used 308 models available these became the least | | | | 147 miles per hour, and the U.S. models under 140 miles |
| desirable, because of the decrease in horsepower. | | | | per hours. |
| For Ferrari they still sold a lot of the injected cars. | | | | |