Hi folks, Just registered and excited about it.. I will be going to visit someone, whose husband had a 246. He passed away a little over a year ago. I am not sure the year, the exact model, milleage, don't have the VIN number yet, etc. I am not really sure in what condition it is. I know he drove it last over 1 year ago, but it has probably sat in a garage since then. So, my request to the group is : would you be kind enough to provide me with some tips on what to look for so I can assess the condition of the car and make the lady an honest and fair offer to purchase the car? Thanks in advance.
Forza magazine #88 (last issue) has a Dino 246 market guide in it, which is high level but covers the basics. You'll get more detailed info in the 246 section here on FChat, but the big issues are rust (zero rust protection) and aging of components (i.e., after 35 years pretty much everything could go bad). Not sure how the immediate economic situations have affected Dino prices, but $150K-$200K was the range for a good running car.
Also, if you're able to take some pictures and post them here, I expect you'll be shocked at the details the 246 guys can pry out of them.
The best money you can spend is to pay for an air ticket and one night in a local motel for a willing Dino owner here on F-chat. Perhaps there is someone with a desire to visit Texas? There are a few of us that have built one or more of these delights from ground up - bolt-by-bolt. Short of that, perhaps there is a local Dino owner that can visit with you. I believe everyone will respect your first right of refusal (or is it right of first refusal?). Jim S.
Maybe, maybe not. One gent that looked over a car for me admitted he would have bought it out from under me had he the cash on hand. Stick with the "known" names here on site... JM2C.
Welcome! wspeer is our resident Fleet Dino Owner and he is already HERE in Houston Texas! LOL! So anyway sorry to hear of his passing and let us know how we can help....a pristine immaculate Dino is worth a LOT of money.....
NO! Don't tell wspeer. He is trying to corner the Dino market in Texas like the Schlumpf Bros. did Bugatti.
Rust esp. nose section,center light in tail. Dino's construction was liken to sandwitch with center section air or asbestos in certain area's. Did ground up when my 72 was only 4 yrs old as I had an awful orginal sand metallic color which could not stand day 1. Within 2 yrs nose section was about to rust through again. Changed bottom of factory nose the second time with type material used and totally replaced material used rear fog. Lower door perimeter also prone , but less so than other 2 areas mentioned. Daytona seat's pigment poor and tend 's to bleed. Dionoplex is anyother sorry affair,but ways to get around it with modification. Second gear (syncho's weak). Mono steering wheel tended to break in half mid section without abuse! Have 2 hanging on the wall currently. Other than that had no prob. ownership ,but that was new and approx. 6 yrs post. Really miss it.
Claudio, Welcome to the group. Get a Dino owner to go with you when you first look at the car. Take pictures of everything and post them on this forum. A good sample of what you will get in return for your photos is demonstrated by the response to another barn find. Take a look. The EBay site is dead but the pictures are shown in the responses on later pages. Look at all the pictures on pages 2 and 3 and then go back to page 1. The story will make more sense. Click on the link below. http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=196919&highlight=barn+find Good Luck. John
How true. He probably made a mistake by posting ANYTHING until the deal is done. Somebody in the Houston area probably already knows about the car and is heading over there right now!
i'll say this, i am in houston and own five dino's. there isn't a dino i know of like this in houston. i am willing to help anybody, but find it hard to believe this is the case. if it turns out to be true, i will be a happy guy to find another dino guy in houston. sure, stuff like this happens, but not often and not for cheap.....but then again..... here is a photo of a dino i have talked about before here that i bailed out of a back yard in houston. it wasn't cheap, but depending on the person you talk to, wasn't a "barn find" either..... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
What a nice show of support, and "interest" on this post. Thanks. I will probably bring the car home, that is IF I mange to buy it from her, before I divulge anything else. I still don't know how much to offer, as I don't want to be unfair, but at the same time I cannot afford a lot of $$ rigth now for something that will require more $$ to bring it back to "driving" condition, let alone restore it, repair rust, etc. I will shall keep all of Y'all posted...
Just make her an offer and see what she says. If it appears to need a lot of work go from there. You can always sell it yourself if it ends up needing more work than you can afford right now.
In such situations, I don't think there is anything unethical in asking the seller to name a price --- rather than the buyer start by making an offer. Sure this gal may not know anything about Dino market values, but she is an adult, and she knows how much money she has and needs / doesn't need to live in the world. Ask her what she would like to get for it ---- if she says that she only needs $20K, buy it for 20K!!! I see nothing immoral about that whatsoever. Now, on the other hand, if she says, "I have no idea what this car is worth --- can you tell me?", and you intentionally mislead her by saying, "It's only worth $20K on the open market" ---- well, then you're walking on very shaky moral ground, indeed.
So what's the deal, how's it look? Another one for wspeer's stable? Was JRVs missing Miura parked next to it? Inquiring minds want to know??!!!
I am new to Ferrarichat, but I have just completed a 5 year restoration of my Dino, so here goes: Rust On the top forward portion of the doors Under the rear quarters In the sill area Deterioration Trunk/gas/hatch lever plastic bezel Clutch cable
Unfortunately I never had a digital camera around when I was doing the work. I am in the process of converting some film pics to digital, so I may make a Dino section. The guy who did the body work took lots of pics but they too were all film images. I have a nice digital now and plan to take some when I get a nice day. I am currently up on the hoist replacing the rubber brake lines because they are too old to trust. I was wondering if anybody has an accurate count of how many 246 Dinos are still out there running around. I see them occasionally but not as many as I once did. I have owned the car since 1979.