1969 Ferrari Dino 246 GT Early "L" Series, completely restored

Absolutely gorgeous

 

My son who is 19 says this is his dream car 246 Dino. He says at some point he will have one, I hope he does and is that successful.

Wish I had enough to get him one. Better go get a lottery ticket today.
Looks amazing. GLWS.
Car is stunning by the way.

 

Yes. Gorgeous car. GLWS.

Robb

 

Beautiful GLWS

 

Wow. I love the color combination. Could you post more pictures of the interior?

 

Spectacular! What a fine example!

 

For anyone looking for a perfect Dino this vehicle represents a rare opportunity.

The word 'restoration' is thrown around a lot and is normally attached to a car that has been painted with new upholstery and it continually annoys me to see second or third rate cars be referred to as 'restored' or 'perfect'. This car is far from that.

I have often said that the last 5% easily doubles both a restorations time and budget and this car is certainly nearer to 100% than it is to 95%. I too have recently gone through the process of trying for a 100 point Dino and it is brutally hard and time consuming to get the last little bit correct. The owner of this Dino did just that during his restoration investing amounts of time and effort that can never be recovered at the selling price. In fact with a FREE complete starter car a restoration to the standard of this one would require north of $500K to achieve.

The non numbers matching drivetrain may scare off some collectors but as noted the engine and transmission are perfectly correct to an L series Dino so for the buyer who intends to DRIVE their car and enjoy it then this should be of little consequence.

I personally have no interest in the sale of this car but I do respect exceptional work when I see it and hope that this Dino finds a good home with an owner who will drive it.

 

Keith,
I've driven your car, crawled all over it, taken countless pictures, asked you a thousand questions and it's a beauty and an inspiration.
I hope the new owner has as much enthusiasm for it as you ...
Best, Andrew

 

WOW that is just beautiful. All the Best.

 

I've seen Keith's Dino since July 2007 when he first brought it to the "Ferraris on 12th" event. He spent 30 mins showing me his portfolio book on all aspects on the restoration. It is simply immaculate and everything is executed to a very high level.

Terrible news that you must sell but somebody will get an exceptional Dino.

If you're not familiar with Jon Byers or his paintwork, his painted cars have won Pebble Beach awards every year since 1996 and Jon is the exclusive painter for the Jon Shirley collection.
Vintage Race Cars

 

cangratulations! I am so envious

 

This makes no sense. Not original drivetrain, yet can qualify for the highest award.
What award goes to cars with the same quality restoration yet have the original drivetrain?!
A level higher than platinum?
This judging paradox would diminish my degree of acknowledgement & worth.

 

It makes total sense when you understand that the judging criteria of the Ferrari Club of America places an emphasis on the importance to drive a Ferrari over it being exact to the way it left the factory. For this reason they do not deduct points for wear and maintenance items that have been replaced for reasonable substitutes.

Other marques require that everything be exact down to date coded items that compromise the ability to drive the car and make it little more than a show piece. An example would be a date coded radiator hose which may be a 40 year old NOS piece of rubber but today is too old and risky to use.

In the case of a drivetrain this is far from a service item however the FCA considers a drivetrain that is correct to period and restored as such as being not worthy of a deduction whose primary concern is that of DRIVING the car. We are really just talking about a number stamped on the block here which I agree has some value but in no way diminishes ones restoration work or your ability to drive a car with the exact same feelings as original.

The FCA judging standards are very sound and make no efforts to hide mis-matched numbers but place their emphasis on the quality of restoration work along with the ability to use the car as it is intended.

When it comes to selling a car then the difference in drivetrain should be considered and it is up to the buyer to determine how much this matters to them. In the end there really are two types of buyers:

One that buys a car as a trophy placing a premium on market values. Ironically these owners rarely ever drive their cars and in my opinion they miss the point of owning a car in the first place.

The other buys the car as a car uses it enjoys it and then sells it on when they choose to have something else. I prefer this way of doing things and would not discount a car too much for a mismatched drivetrain. After all when I was a kid I fell in love with the car not documents, tools, pouches, and ID tags.

 

Good god that car is amazing

 

Thanks so much for the link to the photos, so very nice. Part of me wonders if you could have sold it already outside of the auction if you had started off with great pictures and drive videos.

 

Fantastic looking car, GLWS Keith. Tremendous job on the restoration.