The Ferrari Dino Came Out Of The Maker’s Commitment To Motor Racing

The launch of the Dino 206 GT came about because of Ferrari’s commitment to motor racing. Due to the rules and regs of Formula 2 single-seater racing for 1967 one of the requirements was that the engines had to be production based and with a homologation figure of 500 units. This would be an impossible task for Ferrari so an alliance was formed with Fiat who would build and provide the V6 two-litre engines, supplying some to Ferrari, and fitting some in its own upmarket range of front-engine cars.

The Dino name and badging would be utilised by both companies; it was the first name of Enzo Ferrari’s son Alfredino, who had died in 1956, and who had been working on a V engine project before his death.

The Dino was promoted as a separate marque but as the sales brochure stated, “Tiny, brilliant, safe proof of the constant development of the smaller Ferrari cars”. For the first time in the history of Ferrari, the Dino would be built on an assembly line in the effort to increase sales and reduce the cost of production.

Transverse Mounting

The Fiat V6 was worked and developed and mounted transversely amidships along with a specially designed and manufactured in-house Ferrari five speed gearbox below and to the rear of it within the sexy yet classic lines of the Pininfarina designed body. The Dino 246 GT was an evolution of the 206 GT with a wheelbase lengthened by 60mm and a larger 2.4 litre V6 engine providing a top speed of 235 km/h and came as a response to the increasingly powerful Porsche 911S. The design was almost identical to its predecessor only with a longer engine cover, and with the fuel cap repositioned.

The Dino 246 GT was launched in 1969 – at the same time as Enzo reached an agreement with Fiat’s Gianni Agnelli to take over the production of Ferrari road cars in order that he could concentrate on his first love of motor racing. It was officially launched in November 1969 at the Turin Motor Show.

Over the course of its five-year production life from 1969 to 1974 there were various small changes and modifications to the 246 and there were three separate series referred to as ‘L’, ‘M’ and ‘E’.

Immensely Popular

Essentially however, the 246 GT remained unchanged and proved immensely popular with 2,487 units produced as compared to the 206 GT which had sold only 152 units. A version for the market in the United States was introduced in 1971 which can be differentiated by vertical instead of indicators mounted flush in the front panel and with rectangular side marker lights on all four wings.

One big change, however, did come about at the beginning of 1972 with the introduction at the Geneva Motor Show of the Dino 246 GTS. The GTS, of which some 1,274 units were produced, was a ‘targa’ top version of the GT featuring a removable roof panel finished in black in contrast to the car’s body colour. It can also be easily identified from the GT by the fact that the rear quarter windows had been replaced by a metal panel.

In the latter part of its production the Dino was offered with what is now colloquially called ‘Chairs and Flares’. Fitted with wider Campagnolo wheels – rather than the standard Cromodora wheels – flared wheel arches were necessitated whilst the interior could receive ‘Daytona’ style seats with a different and more elaborate stitching with thin horizontal bars in the middle in the pattern to be found in its bigger V12 sibling the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 more commonly known as the Daytona due to the Company’s racing success at the Daytona International Speedway in the 1967 World Sportscar Championship making a perfect start placing 1,2,3 to a winning season.

Tony Curtis… Harry Styles…

It was a Ferrari that appealed to a younger audience of buyer, an audience that was captivated by such as Tony Curtis in the 1971 TV series ‘The Persuaders’ whose character Danny Wilde drove one, as did Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones who chose one finished in Argento Metallizatto with a black Connolly leather interior, though nearly all Dinos had vinyl upholstery. The manager of Led Zepellin owned a GTS, and it goes almost without saying that Nick Mason of Pink Floyd one of the great car collectors of all time also purchased one new in 1974, whilst a more recent advocate, Harry Styles, has a 1972 246 GT in his collection of classics.

And to drive? The Dino is such a thrill with that high revving 2418cc with chain driven twin overhead cams per bank creating 143 kw maximum power at 7600 revs per minute buzzing away right behind where you sit low down but in a comfortable cabin. By today’s standards the Dino is no longer remarkably fast, but its skateboard feel and precise steering let you know that you are driving a real sports car which will go from 0 -60 mph in 7.5 seconds and then on to 146 mph whether in GT or GTS form. Eminently collectable a good ‘baby’ Ferrari Dino GT today will cost in the region of US$500,000 with the GTS, especially with ‘chairs and flares’, now commanding a significant premium.

This Ferrari, which was almost a Ferrari, was and still is one of the most popular Ferraris of all time even though it never carried a Ferrari badge but instead the special blue Dino script on the famous yellow background with a blue outline.

Just Imagine It In Violet…

The Dino 246 GT and GTS were certainly cars that epitomised their time. They were sleek and stylish and available in a variety of eye-catching colours. Alongside a wide variety of reds (of course, as befits a Ferrari), silvers and blues, a purchaser could choose Nocciola Metallizzato (nut brown metallic), Verde Pino Metallizato (pine green metallic), or the even more spectacular such Viola Metallizato (violet metallic) or Verde Germoglio (green shoot) along with a wide range of tones across the whole rainbow spectrum.

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