1987 Ferrari 328GTS

Coincidentally, that’s exactly what we can offer you today. This 328 GTS would have rolled through the gates of Maranello in the summer of 1987. The car was imported to the UK by official importers Maranello Concessionaires Ltd and was subsequently supplied new to its first owner by Emblem Sports Cars on the south coast.

The 328 went on to be lightly used and, no doubt, enjoyed by four owners between 1987 and 2015. The first owner retained the car until 1996 and covered around 24,000 miles in that period. The second owner kept the GTS until 2004 and added a further 13,500 miles approximately. The third owner kept the Ferrari until 2006 with the fourth keeper owning the car right up to 2015.

The current owner acquired the car in 2015 to become its fifth keeper. At that stage the GTS had covered around 41,500 miles. In his eight-year tenure the current owner has covered a shade under another 1,000 miles bringing the current mileage up to a mere 42,378 miles.

Aside from light and sympathetic use the other common factor in our car’s history is its diligent and fastidious maintenance routine. A shining example of this level of care and attention is the fact that the Ferrari’s cam belts have been changed in 1993 (at around 18,000 miles), in 2006 (at approximately 38,000 miles), in 2015 (at roughly 41,500 miles) and in 2022 (at around 42,400 miles). The cam belt tensioners were also changed in 2002. If this doesn’t give you a flavour for the level of care and attention that has been lavished on this Ferrari, then nothing will!

Carrozzeria Pininfarina made some subtle changes to the 308’s exterior to differentiate the 328. These succeeded in modernising the look of the eight-year-old 308 as well as improving the drag coefficient of the car. The wedge shape of the 308 was softened somewhat with rounder front and rear end treatments. Body coloured bumpers integral with the valances helped harmonise the car’s look with its Mondial 3.2 relative.

For many people of a certain age the profile of a Targa topped 328 GTS is the one they mentally conjure up when someone says “Ferrari.” This could well be thanks to a certain moustachioed Thomas Magnum winking and wheel spinning his, earlier but visually similar, 308 GTS out of a gravelly layby. Our example shares its Rosso Corsa livery with Magnum’s steed and looks good enough to make you don a Hawaiian shirt for no practical reason.

The Rosso Corsa paintwork looks very good indeed exuding a deep shine and looking smooth and evenly applied throughout. A deep dive into the extensive paperwork archive will uncover a couple of references to earlier paintwork undertaken. In 1993 Maranello Sales repainted the nearside door following some vandalism damage. In 1996 the lower rear wings, bonnet louvers and other black trim parts were attended to by Oselli. In any event they appear to have done good work with no obvious blending issues noted.

The GTS sits elegantly on the signature “star” five spoke alloy wheels. These are documented as having been refurbished in 2006 and, given the car has covered less than 5,000 miles since then, they remain pristine looking. A matching set of Pirelli P6000 tyres are fitted in the correct 225/50 configuration. These appear to retain a good level of tread but may need to be checked from an age perspective given the car’s miniscule recent mileage.

The black vinyl removeable roof panel looks to be in great order. Light lenses, cabin glass and marque and model badges all look to be original and in fine fettle. There are quite a lot of black accented panels to the exterior of the 328 including the rear bonnet louvres, three-quarter light louvres and lower panel sections. The finish of these all look crisp and well finished.

The interior of the 328 also underwent a spruce-up when it morphed from the 308. Updates included the sublime, back-lit, orange on black Veglia Borletti gauges from the earlier GTO. The seat finishes, cabin switches and door cards were all also updated and modernised.

The treatment seems to have aged very well for a car in excess of 35 years old. It is immediately recognisable as a Ferrari cabin, simultaneously managing to look sporting, stylish and luxurious. The leather is finished predominantly in the Sabbia hue with black stitched leather reserved for the dashboard top roll and lower sections of the door cards.

The sports seats are double stitched into short box pleats. Both seats look to be in a fine, original condition, being only moderately patinaed with no signs of any heavier wear or deterioration. The centre console is finished in the same hue of leather but a little variation in shade is noted. This console is populated with a number of delightfully period knobs and switches. Ahead of these sits the iconic, deeply chromed gated gear lever.

Those superb orange on black gauges sit in a hooded binnacle and are visible through the top aperture of the sublime Momo Morreti-Monza alloy and leather steering wheel. The centre console is home to a trio of supplemental gauges monitoring fuel level, oil temperature and telling the time. A JVC Radio / CD head unit is fitted just below these. The door cards are in fine, original shape as are the black carpets. The latter are protected with Sabbia leather edge bound carpet mats.

Under the sloping nose is a small compartment housing the full-sized, alloy spare wheel. A narrow aperture behind the engine compartment provides luggage space. This is a carpeted area and is ideal to house the original and extensive Ferrari tool roll, jack and Ferrari branded red car cover.

Of course, the big news that came with the arrival of the 328 cars was the increase in capacity of the “Ferrari Dino” V8 engine. Its use in the 328 marked this engine’s swansong and saw it in its most advanced and powerful production form. The engine had risen to a 3,185cc capacity, remained transversely mounted and boasted a four-valve-per-cylinder configuration. Bosch K-Jetronic fuel injection delivered the fuel to give around 270bhp in original form. Power is fed to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual gearbox which sits below and behind the 328’s wet sump to aid balance and weight distribution.

Lifting the big, louvred rear hatch allows you to feast your eyes on this superb Tipo F105 CB 000 power unit. The red finished alloy intake cover is, likely, the first feature to catch the eye. The presentation under here appears highly original with all the requisite data plates appearing present and correct. The underside of the car looks in fine original shape with plenty of preservative underseal remaining present.

Given the almost obsessive level of maintenance that our 328 has enjoyed it should provide the lucky new owner with the optimum of reassurance about the amount of enjoyment and life this example has left to give. Another example, as if one were needed, of the care this car has benefitted from is its MoT history. Of the 18 MoTs detailed on the DVLA’s portal, there is only one fail and one advisory. For a thoroughbred car of this nature and age, that should be considered as incredibly unusual.

There is an absolute plethora of paperwork and history included with this Ferrari. Our photographic archive captures much of this for your review. The headlines, however, can be considered as follows.

The V5 in the name of the owner is present. The current MoT is on-hand showing validity until September 2023 and, of course, being advisory free. The original 328 book pack is included, together with the all-important service booklet. This includes 8 stamps but barely scratches the surface of the documented maintenance. Seemingly reams of invoices are present, giving lots of detail about work undertaken including many services that don’t appear in the service booklet. There are also stacks of hard copy MoTs included which help verify the mileage increments. A paperwork archive that’s as hard to fault as the car.

The Ferrari 328 GTS must surely qualify for the much over-used and abused “icon” status. It took the winning formula of the earlier 308 and gave it a subtle buff and a polish to deliver a car which is better in almost every important respect. It must, surely, tick every box for those in the market for a modern-classic with a prancing horse on the nose. As such the 328 is a much sought-after and deeply desired model.

If you have got this far you will, hopefully, already know what a gem this car is. Of course, it looks amazing. It’s a Rosso Corsa Ferrari with a removable roof, after all. Dig a little deeper, however, and you will start to appreciate the low mileage and impeccably maintained character of this car. If you are in the market for a modern classic Ferrari, then this is an example which should demand your attention and attract your bids.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with us at The Market HQ near Abingdon; we are open weekdays 9am-5pm, to arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.