The design has sharp, angular shapes, entirely in contrast to its delicately curvaceous two-seater predecessor, the Dino 246 GT and GTS, and was controversial at the time.

Enzo Ferrari himself took a major role in its design, even having a mock-up made where he could sit in the car to test different steering, pedals and cockpit seating positioning.

[3] The chassis was a tubular spaceframe based on the Dino 246, but was stretched for a 2,550 mm (100.4 in)[2] wheelbase to make room for the second row of seats.

The suspension was fully independent, with double wishbones, anti-roll bars, coaxial telescopic shock absorbers and coil springs on both axles.

During the energy crisis at that time many prospective owners were hesitant to buy such an expensive automobile not badged "Ferrari", being confused at the significance of the Dino name.

In an effort to improve sales until the 1976 official re-badging, Ferrari sent out factory update #265/1 on July 1, 1975 with technical and cosmetic revisions in many areas.

This leaves many 1975 GT4's with a variety of modifications which are hard to document as "correct" to aficionados who may not understand the complicated series of events surrounding this model year.

Some of the revisions included adding Prancing Horse badges, repainting in the Boxer two-tone scheme (lower half painted matte black), air conditioning fixes, etc.

Introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1975, the 208 GT4 was a low-displacement version of the V8 produced for the Italian market, where cars with engines larger than two litres were subjected to more than double VAT (38%).

Smaller Weber 34 DCNF carburetors, a lower final drive ratio and skinnier tires completed the technical changes for the 208.