Ferrari 308GTB

[njsteve]

Funny story: 308s are very jealous cars. I sold my 1971 hemicuda convertible in the spring of 1987 and though I was the coolest dude in the universe having been able to say I sold a Plymouth and with the money, bought a Ferrari.

It was a 12,000-mile 1985 308 GTSI. Really cool car. Rosso Corsa with saddle leather interior. I drove it all over the place that summer and even to my college reunion in the Fall. But it would not run if a woman was in the passenger seat. The car would simply refuse to start. It would crank a couple times and then nothing. It was like there was a XX chromosome-based kill switch under the seat or something.

The final straw was when I was car-pooling with a friend, coming home from law school in Boston. We stopped at my parent's house where the Ferrari was stored and I was going to drive her to her house just over the NY line from CT. The problem was she was full-blooded Sicilian and "My Lady From Maranello" didn't like that. First, the electric garage door wouldn't even open. Once I unhooked the emergency release, I was able to lift it up manually. We then both got in the car (I of course opened her door for her like a true gentleman) and I went to start it and nothing. Not a click, not a light, not a beep from the horn. My friend just smiles knowingly and shrugs her shoulders and says: "She is a jealous woman". So we hop in my old Suburban, which starts up just fine, and I drive her over to her parent's house in Westchester County.

I get back to my parent's house later that day. The garage door operates like nothing ever happened. I open the door to the Ferrari, the dome light immediately illuminates. Turn the key and she starts on the first click of the ignition. She just sat there, purring like a jealous Sabre Tooth Tiger. I sold it back to the Ferrari dealer a couple weeks later.

Oh, and I almost forgot: the dealer then tried to deduct the price of the timing belt service from my sales proceeds saying that the 1,000 miles I drove it, put it past the recommended replacement time span.

Here's the only photo I have of "That Car". Taken in my parent's driveway by my Mom in 1987.