I've been pondering these for some time so thought I'd start a thread on vintage service signs. Here is a past thread on Dino Service signs... http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=110518 and Nico had one here: http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/3684/bild1934.th.jpg There are also replicas for which I have no interest. The lighted sign in the photos below sold recently and I believe is an earlier dealer service sign than the ones above, although I have no photos or other information to confirm, I am certain it is not a reproduction. They have a brown electrical cord, a single fluorescent tube, a gold painted steel light box (heavy) and mounting brackets to mount in several ways, from chains, wall or roof. The light box and electrical equipment are made in the USA but I think the sign itself might have been made in Italy and distributed to dealerships. I'm interested to know if similar ones were in use in europe, but presumably with different electrical fittings and/or back lighted box? I'd also like to know when they were put into use, I am guessing from around '68 in Europe and '70 in the US? Does anyone have dealership photos showing use of this type of sign? http://www.ebay.com/itm/110978106606 (no stake in this) Andrew Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Disappointed this snuck past me...time to revise my eBay search criteria. I've been looking for a Dino service sign, but my searches have only come up with already sold ones at various auctions, and all quite pricey. But I can't say I've even seen repros. If anyone knows of a Dino Service sign, original or (good) repro, please contact me. I'm also looking for what may be an even more elusive Ferrari Servizio Assistenza sign (my Dino was Italian delivery)...Peter's post #3 reminded.
this sign has no light, came from a swedish dealer in stockholm Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
These are in too good condition to be period. No wear, tarnishing or colour fad and nice sharp edges.
yes the Dino sign is in very good condition, was found in a dark room after 30 years in a Ferrari workshop
Those are lovely signs. If someone will reproduce those, I would be interested. By the way, does the existence of service signs specific to the Dino intimate that the factory distinguished between Ferraris and Dinos? Andres
Just a point of correctness. "Vintage" in the old advertising biz means that the piece is a repo and not old. May not be important when discussing on a chat forum but can be a big deal when trying to buy/sell a piece.
TRutlands has the large Ferrari sign available as repro on eBay...$2k http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Large-Ferrari-Horse-Illuminated-Light-Box-Sign-Only-T-Rutlands-West-/251191319387?hash=item3a7c2b5b5b&vxp=mtr
I missed out on a slightly cracked original sign years ago for $400! Saw one for sale on Ebay France six months ago and they were asking $6,000.
I'm guessing that the biggest challenge with these Dino and Ferrari signs is not only finding an original, but finding one that isn't cracked in some way (case in point...Peter's gorgeous Dino sign's upper left corner). It seems the plastic would be prone to easily cracking during movement/shipment, especially as it has aged. And I'm not even sure how/if cracks could be repaired.
I have got two of these signs in quite good condition. They haven`t been cheap year ago. I think I payed 1000 to 2000 Euro a couple of years ago. But these days hardly any signs on offer any longer......
I have the exact same lighted sign in post #1 hanging in the workshop, the one on ebay is only the second one I've seen and it's identical down to the electrical cord. From the posts so far, probably only a small number were made and perhaps they were US specific. If anyone has one, or a photo of one in service, please let me know. Andrew
I'd be up for a decent replica sign if the price isn't silly. I'm not looking for an original investment grade sign. Would just be cool to have one in the garage for the look.
me too- I could care less if its a repro- just something fun to hang in the garage...if anyone comes up with a good old fashioned fake/repro pls let me know! Thanks
me too- I could care less if its a repro- just something fun to hang in the garage...if anyone comes up with a good old fashioned fake/repro pls let me know! Thanks
Perhaps TRutlands' European source for their Ferrari signs would be a good place to start. Who's in tight with TRutlands to find out if that's feasible?
I still have mine original sign and I declined an offer for 2000 Euro. As there have been only a few official "Dino" dealers and the sign are fragile they are really rare and hard to find. I think the plastic material is polycarbonate which is not very flexible. The blue "DINO" and the blue frame line around looks handmade surrounded with silver and everything is painted from the inside- I cannot imagine that this can be redone in a small series production. The only repro I have seen looks like this: http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/9966/dinosign.jpg I have no source where to get it and where the picture was taken. Regards Nico
Signs of this type are still made the same way. The plastic is formed over a mold usually made of particle board and then painted from the inside. The kicker would be to have an original on hand to reproduce the colors and details of the raised font. I would think almost any commercial sign maker could produce the sign. You wouldn't have to disassemble the sign to reproduce it. A reproduction something in the 90% accuracy range would be OK with me. Would there be a copywrite issue?
Having looked at the sign photos in this thread it looks like the first sign is flat and the other sign has the Dino font raised. The flat sign would be the easiest/cheapest to reproduce. Did they make two styles of sign?
Morry Barmak (collectorstudio.com) just had one on his website. I believe Hugh Ruthven (thefinishlinestore.com) has one also. Both of these likely originated with Paolo Tron (Milano 43 in Milan, many years ago), who bought a group of them as new-old-stock some years ago.
My dad and I made a batch of 15-20 reproduction signs a couple years ago. They had raised letters and lit from behind. I'll see if we have any pictures laying around. We ended up selling them on eBay but 80% of the time the plastic molding broke when shipping so we decided not to make anymore.