I suggest to restore 00152 (and its front end) to exactly the configuration it left the factory gates. Marcel Massini
I've just had a quick look & found these photos... I will get the fibreglass panel stripped back to reveal the fibre & resin, that will show if they are original factory items. We just assumed that all early 206's had these vents. I do have other photos of Eric's crashed car & there is no signs of any damage to those areas. Is it likely that 00152 was originally a prototype? If so, how could I find out more? I noticed that the fibreglass dashboard had the number 28 written on it, seats 19 with the majority 27 & there may be others... I will try & speak with the restorer tomorrow to find out if there was any other numbers marked on other items. He may have photos of the fibreglass panels stripped. That will show if they are original factory items as the resin & fibres are very specific. I do have other photos of Eric's crashed car & there is no signs of any damage to these areas at all. MaxR Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hello Max, with Ferrari everything is possible.... Your engine no. *04342* *30* and gearbox no. *29* and the body no. found so far clearly indicates a production car, not a prototype.... Maybe a few parts taken of crashed a prototype for your Dino (vents), that`s possible, but unlikely. Your approach to analyse the fibreglass is a good approach to have a better idea wheater the vents are original or not. Clearly wrong is your front.... If you like the new front keep it, if you want a restoration back to original specifications, the front needs to be changed. I agree 100% with Marcel comment. For 206 GT`s autenticity is key, because they are so rare and collectors items these days. I don`t know how precise you want to be with your restoration? Original you don`t find hardly any yellow cad (zink) parts on a 206 GT. Just a few examples I noticed from your pictures: Hand brake levers are original painted black, most of the suspention bolts are black burnished or all Girling brake calipers are silver zink, suspention U-bolts are painted black original with the 206 GT`s.... I would highly recommend the Dino Compendium... if you have any question beyond, send me e-mails, I`m happy to help. Regards Matthias
Hi Matthias, Thanks. rebuilding hasn't started as yet, so I will ensure that the components are put back as original finishes. It is highly unlikely that the fibreglass panels are not original. The car has not had any work done to it since 1971. Why would the Cranleigh Motor Company back in 1970 bother reproducing a panel which was not damaged, even if it was (which it wasn't) why would they reproduce an incorrect panel? & the carpets are original! More investigation is required...
I agree that the silver/gold plating, other components & materials must be correct & will be. However, I am still not sure whether the font air vents should be corrected as the Clapton crash & subsequent repair is to me as an important part of this car's history. It is also likely that the factory would not have had any spare 206 aluminium front ends in stock, hence the use of the later revised front end being used. MaxR
I was looking at the thread here on Jacks started by OMGJON. This is a photo of my 206 GT jack. it is different to OMGJON's photos... Is it a correct 206 GT jack or not? Thanks MaxR Image Unavailable, Please Login
Hi Marcel, I'm not sure which which front clip you are referring to. Can you be more specific? Thanks MaxR ____________________________________________________________________________ Also, The silver/Gold plating photo's I have uploaded, may or may not be all for my 206 GT. As I am currently having four of my GT cars restored at the same time, some items may be for a 246 & not my 206. However, the Girling calipers I must admit should be silver as per most period british cars of the time. I believe the colour of the calipers prior to restoration could not be verified. Here is some of my chromework, again not all for my 206 GT (00152) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
After sending photos direct to Matthias, it has been established that my 206 GT 00152 1. Has all matching body numbers. (Apart from the seats?) 2. The full vinyl dash in (00152) is original & correct. Most 206 GT's have two thirds of the dash covered in mousehair. All 206 GT's after approx serial No. 00200 were mousehair. It is thought that only prototypes & some early production cars had full vinyl used. 3. The original paintwork on my Dino 00152 had standard beige primer applied first, this is what Ferrari always used. However, 00152 then had purple metallic paint applied on top. After that the final orange colour was applied. Matthias thinks that It could be a kind of primer for the orange paint? He has seen two other 206GTs with beige primer which then had another very dark primer/precolour applied & finally a its dark blue top colour. Could this be used to produce a better quality top coat? 4. 00152s coolant reservoir mounting has no body number stamped on it. This is unique as far as Matthias is aware. He says this can mean one of two things: a.) 00152 is a very early 206 GT & does not have a body number stamped on the coolant reservoir mounting. (This needs to be verified on other early 206 GT's! to see if they are also the same) b.) It could be one of the two missing prototypes (as outlined in chapter 5 Dino Compendium) which has found it's way onto the production line & was modified to a production 206GT (which could explain the the slatted footwell vents (this would be typical for ferrari) So they may have used the Chassis frame & fibreglass panels of a prototype to build 00152 to save costs I will also be sending Matthias photos of the engine & Gearbox numbers for 00152 in the near future to see if that throws any more light on the car. I would like to thank Matthias for his ongoing help & wealth of knowledge relating to 00152. If anyone else with an early 206 GT has any useful information, I would be grateful. Also, any comments from the forum on this matter would be appreciated. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Initial photos of painted shell. Not polished yet. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
very interesting... thread of the month here. Did you determine if the fibreglass around the vents is the original type? If the chassis and fibreglass was recycled from a prototype, it's likely your original carpet was also. Is there anything written on the back of it or different compared to other early 206 (mat, piping)?
a. They will be sanded back to prove / disprove their originality Later this week & I hope to have photos soon after that. They are not able to do it any sooner as they are neck deep in work on my other cars. b. I am awaiting the return of various new carpets from my trimmer. The old sets will be returned at the same time. I do not know what is "normally" found on the back or on the piping but I will let you know once they are back. MaxR
Hello Jon, is it possible you post a picture of the coolant reservoir mounting of you 206 GT #00136. Does it have your body number "18" stamped on it? Many thanks. Regards Matthias PS: Please check also if your dashboard had only mousehair on original. I would think it has been a full vinyl cover?!
I will get a photo next week when I get back from Texas. My dash had a combination of vinyl and mouse hair which I've already had redone.
Are you back from Texas? Would be very interesting to know it your 206 GT has the body no. stamped at the coolant water reservoir mounting.....
Sensational reading! I loved the letters.... And the photos are awesome too.... Keep up the exceptional work!
Hello Max and Everyone, I am new to this forum but not to the FerrariChat. Unfortunately I dont have much free time anymore and therefore I am also not very active in reading and posting comments unless there is something that I think might be of interest. I took a couple of days off and I thought it would be nice to catch up with the latest in this forum, deciding to read all posts related to 206 and L series models. For the very first time I saw this thread (UK 206 GT Dino HistoryDino). An incredible story and a great car. Congratulations! Max, it will be very difficult to prove originality of every single detail on this car as it is, in my opinion, a pre-production car. Just to let you know that there is a vital clue in one of your pictures. The seat photo taken from underneath. It reads 'PILOTA'. This means that your car was assembled in a special area in Maranello where they build the very first cars- 'pilot run / trial run'. Generally these cars are not for sale, as the development is nearly finished. Any teething problems with the assembly or after testing which is still ongoing will be corrected before the real production run will commence. Pilot run cars are built with pre production parts and the cars are assembled with whatever is available, frequently changing the parts between different cars - if parts are not available the workshops will improvise (not all suppliers are ready to supply components). Things like brackets, pipes routing... anything could still be changed, engineering drawings modified and updated before the real production. Reading through the documents it looks like the request from Col. R. Hoare prompted the organisation to deliver a demo car. Cars in development are not just lying around waiting for something to happen. Everything is planned for specific activities, testing, shows, press, e.t.c.. Since Maranello Concessionaires was an important dealer it could be possible that the factory looked to see what was available in order to deliver a demo car in the colour requested, e.g. respray an existing car. It is very probable that your car was originally painted purple metallic and was assembled using the method I described above. Also, it is very probable that your car was a recycled prototype or went through a development evolution with a final proof in the PILOTA. To this day the first cars are done like this. Any information on purple metallic cars from that period could be beneficial to completing the history on your car. Matthias might have some information on this. I am sure that there will be plenty of speculation and skeptics discussing your car. I am also sure that most of these people dont understand the car development process and are able to base their comments on cars which are were built on a production line. Not a criticism but a fact. As you also know, even the standard production had some significant changes during the run. What happened in the PILOTA no one will know. I think it is a very important car, with an incredible history, the early part we will probably never know, unless something new comes up. The documents you shared with us are fascinating and vital to the super complex puzzle you are trying to put together. Good luck, I am sure you will do your best. I am also sure everyone here with their knowledge and passion for this model will give you support to finish this project. Max.
