Sports car features parts from at least seven different Ferrari engines.
For years, Ferrari V8s made their power the simple way. The naturally aspirated 308, 328, 348, 355, 360, 430, and 458 grew increasingly more potent. They were all motor. No superchargers. No turbos. The 288 GTO and F40 supercars are the most notable exceptions to that rule. While not quite as well known as those exotic machines, the 308 enhanced by ATS Racing that you see here is also an exceptional V8 Ferrari.
In the video above, The Smoking Tire‘s Matt Farah takes the blue brute around the Eagles Canyon Raceway in Decatur, Texas. The 1978 one-off features an engine originally intended for blasting down the Bonneville Salt Flats that comprises the parts from at least seven other Ferrari power plants and a single turbo. All of those alterations and a modified firing order mean this car’s engine doesn’t resemble what factory workers installed back in the late 1970s – not in the cosmetic sense or the sonic sense of the statement. Whereas the original car made 189 horsepower at the rear wheels, this weapons-grade wedge generates 572 rear-wheel horsepower.
That number is hard to hate, but Farah finds the enhanced 308 to be difficult in corners because its steering weight seems to change depending on which direction he turns. On the plus side, the turbo V8 delivers its massive power in a linear, predictable fashion and is more often than not on boost. Even after short shifting, Farah’s able to hit 125 mph down a straightaway. Flat out, the 308 allows Farah to shift the dog-leg manual gearbox at a stratospheric 8,500 rpm.
The more Farah drives ATS Racing’s thoroughly reworked Ferrari 308, the more he loves it. It may not make its power the simple way it once did, but it earns Farah’s affection in an old-fashion way: by putting a smile on his face.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
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