It’s believed that only 100 or so examples of the Ferrari 308 GTS Mini were made, they were developed and built under license from Ferrari in Italy by the Agostini Auto Company, using a body design as close to the original car as possible.
Much like the first generation of the Ferrari 308 GTS, the Mini version has a steel frame with a GRP (glass reinforced plastic) body, a mid-mounted engine, seating for two, and four wheel independent suspension.
After the first 800 or so examples of the full-sized Ferrari 308 GTS (and GTB) were built they switched to an all steel body which added 331 lbs to the kerb weight. The earlier lightweight GRP version of the car is called the “Vetroresina” in Italian, and they’re now highly sought after by collectors.
The Agostini version of the 308 GTS is designed for children up to about 10 years old, and they can comfortably sit two kids side by side up to about 7 years of age. The interior is designed to be simple but still with some Ferrari design cues including the instrument cluster (non-functioning) and the gear shifter, though sadly that second item isn’t gated. There’s also a three-spoke Momo steering wheel that imitates the well-known “Veloce Racing” design.
There are two upholstered seats and the doors don’t open for safety reasons, the wheels, tail lights, and other body details are all designed to mimic the real car, and there’s even a Pininfarina badge on the sides.
A modest power output is provided by a single-cylinder Briggs and Stratton four-stroke motor, this power unit will be multiple orders of magnitude cheaper to maintain than the full sized car’s 2927 cc V8 with its double overhead cams per bank spun with timing belts that require regular, eye-watering engine-out changes.
The transmission is an automatic two-speed with a reverse gear, which is operated via the centrally mounted shifter – a great way to get kids used to using a shifter in preparation for moving to a full manual gearbox in their first “real” car.
The engine and air filter can be accessed via a rear hatch and the car runs on regular pump gasoline/petrol. Top speed and range aren’t listed but given the engine, they’re probably all best described as “adequate”, particularly given the young nature of the drivers.
Authentic Ferrari badges appear on the front, back, sides, and wheel centres. There are front and rear license plates that read “JNR 308” for obvious reasons, and the front and rear lights, and the horn, are all fully functional.
When these cars were being built in the 1980s they were largely sold through luxury retailers like FAO Schwarz and Neiman Marcus for more than $50,000 USD each to exceedingly wealthy buyers. It’s not known how many of them have survived but they’re now very collectible, particularly when offered in excellent, running condition like this example.
The Ferrari 308 GTS Mini you see here is currently for sale with Collecting Cars, bidding doesn’t have long left so if you’d like to register to bid or read more about it you can click here to visit the listing.
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Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
