Has enyone ever owned a Fiat Dino?

David,
I have owned two Fiat Dino Coupes and one Fiat Dino Spider. Is the dealer Gullwing?

Fiat Dino motors cost just as much as Ferrari Dino motors to work on, since they are essentially the same. The brakes are Girling. Do you do all your own maintenance?

If I had to pick between the two, the Dino Spider would be my choice. It is very sporty.

Richard

 

Lots of us here own FIAT Dino's, a few have gone and sold their FIAT Dino and purchased 246GT's like Richard in the last post but there are at least 5 regular members here with FIAT Dino's. If the brake pedal is soft, the parts are available to fix that if it is not just air in the lines. But as Richard said, the motor is just a Dino motor, its ok to spend a lot to fix it when it goes into a 246GT or GTS but when it goes back into a FIAT, it hurts.

I do find the FIAT Dino to be quite a awesome little car (but I am very biased), if you go to http://www.dinospider.com/ and click on "Dino Map" you can see there are several FIAT Dino owners in your area and can talk to one of them.

Mike

 

Hi David, what was your impression of Gullwing? I see vehicles on their site that look appealing but my apprehension keeps me from making the 5 hour drive to NY. I saw that Dino on their site; price is right if it is in good shape. Has it been restored? Those panels will 'sag' due to age. Stick with the spider as coupes look 'blah'. I think 4-5k for a basketcase coupe is the going price... Spiders will bring at least 20k as far as I have seen. Did you drive the vehicle? How did it idle? The brakes are probably the least of the expenses you'll have to deal with...

 

In my opinion, you will find a better deal buying a Fiat Dino Spider from a private party. It is very important to have the motor and transmission checked out prior to purchasing the Dino, unless you plan to rebuild them right after the purchase. You would then need to figure this into the cost.

I agree the Fiat Dino Spider would be the more enjoyable ride, but the gentleman I sold my Fiat Dino Coupe uses his for an everyday car. He prefers the coupe due to the room and ability to take more than two in it. He is having a blast. He has put over 15000 km in the past 8 months in Los Angeles driving it to Palm Springs and such. So it depends on what your needs are. I would only buy excellent condition coupes.

Richard

 

is this the car that Richard bought in the newest epi. of TOp gEar?

 

Gullwing is a joke! Cant imagine any other dealer having such a range of sports and exotic cars under one roof that have so many needs. I drove down there to test drive a Mondial some years ago. Made an appt, told him my intention to drive it. Not til i arrive does he tell me the clutch is gone...

O.K I feel better now...

 

They have also had several cars for well over a year advertised, seems wrong when those kinds of cars stay for sale for over a year, especially with the models they sell.

 

They have cars all bunched together in a warehouse so tight you have to crawl over cars to get to the one you're looking it. No way to look underneath. Almost all have body/paint damage.

I made an appointment for a local friend to go check out a Roller for me. He got there and they refused to get the car out for him to see. He had to crawl over other cars just to get a look at it.


Bill

 

Never heard anything good about Gullwing.

 

I worked on a spyder that belonged to a collector.It didnt have the rust that you read about .it did have buggered wiring and the numerous Dino engine oil leaks.after squaring away the wiring and other things it turned out to be a real sweet,nice driving car that got a lot of looks and questions asked because most people have never seen one.that is most folks in the US.I enjoyed it immensly