For this car that I have restored
to use and enjoy daily
I concentrated on three things.
First the brake system,
second are the suspensions and
third is the engine's cooling system.
If these systems work perfectly,
then you can drive this car anywhere and anytime.
For me this is something to be proud of.
My name is Chayanin Debhakam
This is my Ferrari 308 GTB.
The first V8 mid-engine Ferrari
is the 308 GTB with fiberglass body.
It changed from the previous Dino Model
which had a V6 engine.
The 308 is the first mid-engine V8 for Ferrari.
The day I decided I wanted a 308,
I knew I wanted I 308 GTB.
I was not into the GTS
and I wanted a carbureted model.
The 308 GTB is the Ferrari that I grew up with.
and it is the first Ferrari I ever saw.
I happened to run into the president of the Ferrari Club of Thailand
I asked him if he could find me a 308
in Thailand since there were not that many around.
He finally found one and
it was exactly what I was searching for.
When I got the car it was red
and after checking with the official Ferrari
importer of Thailand,
we learnt that the car left the factory
in yellow with black interior.
The car was red with cream interior when I got it.
I wanted to restore the car back to the original factory standard.
For the body it was very difficult because
it was a hand made car.
You can't make the left and right panel fit perfectly
and if make it perfect it will ruin the hand made charm.
I have been into cars since I was young,
I always like to work on cars myself.
I like to study them.
Before I buy any cars I am interested in
I always buy the manual first,
so to be able to study the car throughly.
Some time it's not just the design that I like
I love to learn and study
the engineering and technology of that period.
I happen to have some working space at my office.
I have a few colleagues that are into classic cars
we use our spare time, early in the morning
to work on our hobby.
Sometimes on Sunday we are free
we spent a couple of hours here and there
when we could on the car.
We took it apart and put it back together.
We are proud of this car that we worked on together.
We do not have many chances to work
on this type of car
and we are all passionate for classic cars
we all learn something new every day.
Some of them have different skills than me
I use my passion and love to work on this car.
I don't know everything or cannot do everything myself
so having extra help and knowledge is great.
When I worked on this car my ultimate goal is
to have it how it drove and felt
when it left the factory.
Other than a standard carburetor
the header is also stock
and I found a NOS exhaust as well.
I want to hear and feel this car
the way it left the factory.
You can go full throttle on this car
which means you can easily push it to the limit.
It is a lot more fun than driving a more powerful car
but only using partial throttle.
When you turn you can feel the response from the car
and every input or movement you make with the car
you get a powerful feedback.
One of the best thing are the smiles on people's faces
they think the car is adorable not a show off super car.
I feel good when I know the car is making someone smile
this is the charm of driving classic Ferraris.
To own and drive this car you have to
take good care of it.
You have to know it and how it behaves,
then you can take her anywhere.