Dino 246 gts replica | FerrariChat

Dino 246 gts replica

Discussion in '206/246' started by spiderscott, Jan 12, 2009.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
    #1 spiderscott, Jan 12, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    OOoops I will get some stick for this thread, but thought i would post some pics of a replica I bought for some fun.

    After selling my 360 Spider (ive also had a 348 spider and 355 spider) I decided to buy this for some fun to tinker around with over winter.

    Basically its a replica 246 gts built back in 92 running with a 2.0 litre Lancia engine, its not too bad a replica and had most of my local ferrari owners club guys fooled at first glance. But its just a bit of fun to drive around in while I wait for the F430 prices here to finish crashing.

    Its got lots of original parts etc, i have some original wheel hubs that need to be fitted after modifying to 4 stud plus a few other bits to fit.

    ..... heres some pics
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  2. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
  3. Crawler

    Crawler F1 Veteran

    Jul 2, 2006
    5,018
    Well, as replicars go, it doesn't look too bad, though a bit stubby... Is it built on the Lancia Monte Carlo (Scorpion in the U.S.) platform or is it a purpose-built tube frame?
     
  4. rdefabri

    rdefabri Three Time F1 World Champ

    Jun 4, 2008
    33,571
    NJ
    Full Name:
    Rich
    Not bad at all! Compared the the Dino replicas I've seen (which look like a Bradley GT on 'roids), this is nice.

    Who is the manufacturer of said kit?
     
  5. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
    Thanks guys

    Well from the details I have with the car inc the build data and manual, this is a purpose built car not built on an existing car (lancia etc) but used the running gear and engine from a 1982 Lancia Beta 2.0. Ive not compared it side by side with an original yet, but there are a few obvious differences to the body ... I think the nose is slightly wrong and also the angle of the rear pillars (rear screen) , also the wheels are 4 stud but are actually original dino (fiat) wheels that have had the centres modified to 4 stud pattern.

    well its just a bit of fun, personally I am totally against replica ferraris normally but this one came up I fancied a winter project to play with plus being fiberglass it wont rust !. Will post some more pics when its finished as like all my other original ferraris this is true to form in that it constantly has something wrong with it that needs fixing lol.
     
  6. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
    Manufactured originally back in the 90s by a company called JH Classics. However I think these guys bought the moulds for the company a few years back. My car was down there getting some work done a few months back .... Apparently a few original Dino owners here in the Uk buy a replica from these guys to use as a run around while their originals sit in the garage gathering dust, not my style personally i prefer to use all my ferraris.

    http://www.classicreplicasuk.com/
     
  7. rdefabri

    rdefabri Three Time F1 World Champ

    Jun 4, 2008
    33,571
    NJ
    Full Name:
    Rich
    Just saw that - I wonder if this is something they'd import to the US?

    From the front, it's darn close - only the bumpers seem a little shorter (on a real Dino they extend into the front intake), and mildly stubby at the rear...but it's fantastic looking!

    In the States, we've had to suffer with things like the Kelmark GT - which looks nothing like a Dino to me...
     
  8. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
    #9 spiderscott, Jan 12, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017

    Think it depends on the year of the dino, early Dinos did have the bumpers that went into the front intake scoop like you say, where as the later model series (especially here in the UK) had the shorter front bumpers. Just the angle on my front bumper is not right, it slopes downwad slightly.

    Agreed those Kelmark cars look terrible, like a swooshed version of the car !
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  9. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
    the pic above is of an original UK car
     
  10. 2GT

    2GT Formula 3

    Aug 25, 2008
    1,830
    Western NY
    Full Name:
    Fred
    Actually, both the front and rear ends seem to droop a bit. I remember reading about this replica in British publications when it first appeared. I have never seen the spider version. Perhaps it was a later edition. The view from the rear three-quarters angle, accentuating the chopped rear section, suggests that perhaps a 206 was used as a template or model. As replicas go, it is head-and-shoulders above the Kelmark. About 15 years ago, while one of my Dinos was parked in the driveway, a young man stopped to proudly tell me that he had a Dino, i.e., a Kelmark. I asked him not to festoon it with Dino badging. He replied: "Oh, no, I'm very proud that it's a Kelmark!" You have the correct attitude: enjoy it for what it is, but don't try to fool the unknowing into believing that it is a real Dino. Fred
     
  11. stratos

    stratos Formula Junior

    Dec 9, 2003
    639
    Switzerland
    The Brits specialize in this kind of manufacture. I think it is not a good thing to have large, not so knowledgeable, audiences think they're seeing the real thing. In this, as well as in all the other similar cases, I believe this is the biggest drawback. Additionally I do not think you can register such a car in the EU.
     
  12. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa
    Thanks Fred, yes totally agree just enjoying it for what it is which is still a pretty looking car despite being a nasty replica.

    There are a load of fake F355 and even 360 replicas appearing over here some of them are just terrible looking, i remember a few years back i was im my F355 Spider and a Toyota MR2 based kit 355 trying to race me at a set of lights, well temptation got the better of me then and I decided to show him the real difference between the real deal and a replica 355 .... seconds later he was a small dot in my rear view mirror.

    I think you are right in that the original front and rear end moulds were believed to be taken from an early 206 Dino, this is what the guy down at Classic replicas also told me. not sure where the GTS version came into play as there was never a 206 gts built so my replica must be a mismatch of various moulds and modifications.
     
  13. rdefabri

    rdefabri Three Time F1 World Champ

    Jun 4, 2008
    33,571
    NJ
    Full Name:
    Rich
    True, although for someone like me (who can't afford the real thing), part of it is replicating the sensation of owning such a car. Part and parcel of that experience is others thinking it's an exotic, although I agree representing it as a "Dino" when it is a "replica" is not proper.
     
  14. nerodino

    nerodino Formula 3
    BANNED

    May 19, 2005
    1,161
    Suffolk UK
    Full Name:
    Graham
    I have to say that it's the best replica i have ever seen, particularly the interior.
     
  15. stratos

    stratos Formula Junior

    Dec 9, 2003
    639
    Switzerland
  16. rdefabri

    rdefabri Three Time F1 World Champ

    Jun 4, 2008
    33,571
    NJ
    Full Name:
    Rich
    Well, depends on how you look at it. Many of us will never own a Porsche 550, for example. Therefore, a replica fills that need / want pretty nicely. It may not make the owner of a real 550 too happy, but I'd doubt they really care.

    I can totally understand the misrepresentation piece, though. That bugs me more when you see Viper replicas, when an authentic version could be had rather cheap.
     
  17. 2GT

    2GT Formula 3

    Aug 25, 2008
    1,830
    Western NY
    Full Name:
    Fred
    Having had a number of people, over almost 33 years of Dino ownership, and 26 years of multiple (2) Dino ownership, accuse me of not owning "a real Ferrari" (these are almost always unknowledgeable people with a bent toward schadenfreude --hope I spelled that right!), I can't imagine having to defend my car to the second power, as a "wannabe-Dino," which some people seem to think is itself a "wannabe-Ferrari"! I always set people straight on the "not a real Ferrari" assertion (all the while feeling my blood pressure rise!), but I don't think that I'd want to do this for a Dino replica. As a variant of the European problem with fakes (the Favre 250 GTO comes readily to mind), the American car hobby has the problem of so-called muscle-car "clones." These are lowly Chevrolet Malibus, Pontiac Tempests and LeMans, and Oldsmobile Cutlases that are retrofitted with engines and cosmetics of Chevy SS 396, Pontiac GTO and Olds 442 models. Some are initially sold as either "clones" or "tributes," but some unwary buyers a few owners down the line have been burned by paying inflated prices, incorrectly believing that they have bought "the real thing." They often learn of their mistakes when they attempt to sell their cars as originals. This is the real problem with replicas in general. They are sometimes so good as to be the automotive equivalent of counterfeit currency. Anyway, this particular replica appears harmless enough, and should provide a great deal of enjoyment to its new owner. Fred
     
  18. rdefabri

    rdefabri Three Time F1 World Champ

    Jun 4, 2008
    33,571
    NJ
    Full Name:
    Rich
    +1 to that - when the replica becomes part of a fraud, it's never a good thing.
     
  19. open roads

    open roads F1 Rookie

    Jan 28, 2007
    3,798
    Sarasota, Fl.
    Full Name:
    Stan
  20. 206gt

    206gt Karting

    Feb 19, 2006
    84
    MTL
    Full Name:
    Mike
    +1

    Not bad for a replica!
     
  21. rdefabri

    rdefabri Three Time F1 World Champ

    Jun 4, 2008
    33,571
    NJ
    Full Name:
    Rich
  22. spiderscott

    spiderscott Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Feb 24, 2004
    1,654
    Ratarossa HQ UK
    Full Name:
    Ratarossa

    Yer i believe Gordon the owner took over the DEON moulds and business.
     
  23. John Corbani

    John Corbani Formula 3
    Honorary Owner

    May 5, 2005
    1,153
    Santa Barbara, CA
    Full Name:
    John Corbani
    #24 John Corbani, Jan 16, 2009
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    It looks pretty good at first glance but the nose and the tail didn't look right. Both of them seemed to droop. I took a look at some of my old pics, found one of my car at the same angle and started playing with the editor. Removed color and got the edges and the size. Tried to overlay the two pictures. Nothing much is right. I finally matched wheelbase as a reasonable starting point. Front bumper is about 2" low, rear deck is 8-10" low and short. Door quite different. Oh well. Panel lines are nice.
    John
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
  24. need4speed

    need4speed Formula 3

    Nov 3, 2003
    1,616
    Pacific Palisades
    Nice visual analysis John.
     

Share This Page