| Unsurprisingly, performance of these fuel-injected cars was well down on earlier versions with a zero to sixty time of 7.2 seconds and a top speed of just over 140mph. Other than the injection suffix attached to the end of the GTB/GTS designation (becoming GTBi etc.), fuel injected 308's could be identified by their cast aluminium engine intake box that replaced the crackle black air filter of carburettor cars. Externally, the bodywork featured a single electrically operated wing mirror (a passenger side mirror was available as a cost option) and a very slightly altered five spoke alloy wheel design. It was, however, the interior that Pininfarina subjected to the most substantial aesthetic revisions. These included new seats with a revised central panel design, new carpet covered door buckets, a steering wheel with vented spokes and a slightly revised central console which now incorporated the clock and oil temperature gauge. The GTBi and GTSi were launched simultaneously during 1980, both press and public voicing real concerns about the sudden drop off in power (not least in America where output of US legal GTBi's and Si's had dropped to just 205bhp at the same 6600rpm). But after less than two years in production during which time 494 GTBi's and 1749 GTSi's were built, Ferrari's much needed four-valve 308 was launched. |
