Ferrari 308 Gr.B - Lot 33

Ferrari 308 Gr.B "Michelotto 1980 Chassis no. 30525 Italian registration document Italian registration title The end of the 1973 season marked an absolutely radical turnaround for the Prancing Horse firm. the 24 Hours of Le Mans and other events, Enzo Ferrari decided to turn all the Scuderia's efforts to Formula 1... Despite this difficult decision, some customers and private teams knocked at the door of the Maranello maestro with the aim of taking part in Group 4 races: Enzo Ferrari then proposed to Giuliano Michelotto to work with his Officina on the construction of an entirely new car, based on the 308. On March 2, 1978, the wizard from Padua presented his newborn, the now legendary "308 Gr. 4 Michelotto". While the body, made of fiberglass and Kevlar, was enlarged, very few elements were actually modified. Despite this, the beast boasted a weight of around 1 tonne, and a power output of almost 300 hp... Success followed, culminating in two victories in the Tour de France Automobile in 1981 and 1982. After 11 cars had been produced, the FIA regulations changed, and the 308 Michelotto moved up to Group B (a combination of Group 4 and Group 5). A number of modifications were made: the body was modified, with narrower fenders and the retention of certain steel parts (making the whole unit 30 kg heavier than the Gr.4s), and above all the Kugelfischer mechanical injection system was replaced by a Bosch K-Jetronic electronic injection system. Only four Ferrari 308 Gr.B Michelotto were produced, and all were commissioned by Pro Motor Sport, an Italian racing team. In addition to Michelotto, a large number of tuners tried their hand at preparing 308s, but it was only the wizard from Padua who succeeded in making this car even more precise and agile, thanks to very special work on the chassis... The 308 GTB that illustrates these pages was delivered in January 1980 to a certain Caterina Fassio, living in the province of in a rare shade of Blu Dino. She sold the car in April 1981 through the Turin Ferrari dealership to Claudio Pernini, who sold it in September to Scuderia Automobilistica Città di Milano, a Milan-based association headed by Virgilio Facetti (no relation to Carlo Facetti, another 308 tuner). It was in fact Panettoni Maina-Retequattro's racing team that had instigated a program to race Ford RX3s, Opel Kadett GTEs and a Ferrari 308. They enlisted the help of Virgilio Facetti and his Scuderia Città di Milano to manage the operation, and to drive the Ferrari 308 in the races. This driver has remained in the shadows of the great history of the automobile, despite his absolutely astonishing skills for the budgets he brought together: it was he who first prepared the 308 GTB #30525 via Effegi, a workshop he had set up shortly before in Milan. On its first outing, at the 1st Rally di Limone Piemonte on July 7, 1984, the car finished in 7th place. On its second competitive outing (the car had in the meantime opened the Rally Valli del Bormida), the car performed well and reached 3rd place in the Rally Tre Laghi 1984, just behind a Lancia 037 and a Porsche 911 Gr.4! After that, the car took part in the 7th Rally dell'Autodromo di Monza, this time without much success. On December 19, 1984, Virgilio Facetti asked Giuliano Michelotto to make the chassis and body of #30525 lighter. The two Italians had in fact met on the car's first outing, at the Rally di Limone Piemonte, where Michelotto had asked who had prepared the car's engine to find out how it worked so well! So Michelotto sent #30525 to Lino Cazzola's factory, to be given the same treatment as the four other 308 Gr.Bs already produced by his factory (copies of invoices on file). On the agenda: a change of bodywork to polyester and carbon Kevlar, and above all, an evolution of the chassis to meet Michelotto standards! The chassis was then numbered 18, a stamp still visible on the rear left-hand side of the frame. After leaving the Officina Michelotto, #30525 was repainted yellow, and twice took part in the Rally dell'Autodromo di Monza, before being sold to a certain Fabio Penariol, director of Pro Motor Sport (the team that had ordered the four other 308 Gr.Bs)! Fabio Penariol put #30525 into Gr.4 configuration (mechanical injection), and sold the car to Jean-Louis Préhoubert in 1988. In addition to the purchase price, the winning bidder had to pay