The 1984 Sbarro Super Eight is the hatchback Ferrari never made
A one-of-one 80s hatchback with a Ferrari V8 in the back. It's a recipe for success.
Here's another wacky Bring a Trailer finding for you weird car sleuths. When's the last time you've heard of a 1984 Sbarro Super Eight? No, not the pizza company. Sit down and grab a drink, this one's an interesting tale of creativity and unrelenting doggedness.
The creator of the Sbarro was a visionary
Franco Sbarro, the namesake of the company. worked as the chief mechanic of the Swiss racing team Scuderia Filipinetti until 1968 when he left to pursue his car-building dreams. Using designs he had sketched up during his tenure at Filipinetti, Sbarro founded Atelier de Construction Automobile, in Grandson, Switzerland.
His initial bread and butter was converting Ford GT40s and Lola T70s for road use on top of also building replicas and custom creations. The one-off 1984 Super Eight was one such custom creation.
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The Sbarro Super Eight is a hatchback with rear-mounted Ferrari ponies
Built on top of a shortened Ferrari 308 GTB frame, the 1984 Sbarro Super Eight uses two-door fiberglass bodywork and a rear-mounted 3.0-liter Ferrari F106 Quattrovalvole V8 mated to a five-speed manual transaxle. An even more outlandish version dubbed the Super Twelve used an inline-12 engine that was essentially two Kawasaki powerplants and two transmissions.
The Super Eight was built in partnership with industrialist Bernd Grohe, who got the car after it was shown off at the 1984 Geneva Motor Show. At some point after that, it made its way to the Sbarro Museum from where it was purchased by its second owner. It later spent time in a Swiss collection before being purchased by its current owner four years ago. Bring a Trailer
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Every inch of the Super Eight screams 1980s design
If it wasn't already obvious, the Super Eight is an 80s baby, from the front panel louvers to the chin spoiler, cowl vent, flared fenders, Testarossa-like rear intake vents, straked vents behind the rear windows, painted heckblende and quad upturned exhaust tips.
The red exterior is not only racy but also matches the red valve cover of the Ferrari V8 in the rear.
All of that is radical, no doubt, but two details take this thing from "rad" to "hell yeah" territory in my book. Exhibit A is the 15" gold basketweave BBS wheels over ventilated disc brakes.
Exhibit B is that interior. Brown is everywhere and I'm in love. The dashboard is brown, the seats are brown, the carpet is brown, and the steering wheel is brown. It's like the cabin of a Chrysler TC except the car around it is actually good. Bring a Trailer
The best part is that this can be yours
This Sbarro Super Eight is offered on dealer consignment in Paris, France, with Dutch registration that lists the car as a 1980 Sbarro. The auction ends in seven days so if you ever wanted a not-quite-Ferrari hatchback that literally nobody else in the world has, the 1984 Sbarro Super Eight is a dream come true.
