I stand corrected. My point is that many say it's a Ferrari because of that badge, which is nonsense. "Well, they used the same body maker as Ferrari!" At the time, the Dino was considered a Fiat engine, not a "Ferrari" engine. Today it's the reverse. Who is right? Perhaps the modern interpretation but there is no doubt Fiat had it's hand in it which upset many of the "purists". To many at the time, the Dino was the beginning of the end, just like today many say the same about the 458 because it doesn't offer a manual.
Bob, Regarding the Dino engine, I think what most people either never knew, or chose to forget, is that Ferrari contracted with FIAT on the Dino racing engines because they didn't have the capacity to crank out enough of them on their own. That arrangement eventually led to the FIAT buyout of almost half of Ferrari's stock, with the understanding that Enzo would run the Gestione Sportiva, and FIAT would control road car production. For that reason, there is a chapter in a Dino book I have called "The Car that Saved a Company." Without the Dino, there would likely not be a Ferrari as we know it today, since Ferrari had already rebuffed Henry Ford II, and would only consider an arrangement with another Italian company, as a matter of pride. In that regard, the Dino is not only a real Ferrari, but also the car that ensured Ferrari would continue in business. That being said, no one wants to read the word "FIAT" on a Dino engine block. Fred
I don't disagree with you at all. But having owned one for 15 years starting in the early 80's, the respect for the car just wasn't there. Don't blame me. Blame the Ferrari snobs at the time. I drove past a used car lot in Long Beach in 1985. It had a dirt lot. On the lot was a 246 Dino GT with the white shoe polish letters "$16,000 -- low miles!" on the windshield. That was the status of Dino's in the mid 80s. People did not consider them "Ferrari's". If they did not consider them "Ferrari's" for the first 20 years of their existence, why do we today?
I agree that the respect wasn't there in the '80s. Then, it was all about money ("Miami Vice," with a fake Daytona, followed by a Testarossa) and flash, and the Dino was considered by some to be just a non-Ferrari-badged used car. I was told by the same salesman at FAF who had sold me my second Dino a few years earlier, "We don't want any Dinos. We've been burned enough by them." That same former salesman wrote a glowing Dino review a short while back, and shall remain nameless. I think the Dino's renaissance is due to the fact that, in retrospect, after five generations of mid-engine Ferraris, people are starting to appreciate the brilliance of the concept, and are willing to overlook some of the obvious crudeness common to all early mid-engine exotics, from the Mangusta and Pantera to the Bora, Merak and Urraco. Say what you will, the Dino was a trail blazer. Fred
I love Dinos, would love to own a GToneday. Of course they are Ferraris. I remember many, many years ago, a person who was around high-end cars telling me they were considered the girlfriends car. You get one for your GF to drive.
On one of my visits to the Ferrari factory, Mr. Ferrari's secretary said, "I don't mean to offend you, but we consider the Dino to be a lady's car." She also proceeded to tell me never to sell! I heeded her advice with my first Dino, but traded my second Dino on a 458 Spider last year. Fred
That's frigging funny! The man that wants to be a woman driving the Fiat that wants to be a Ferrari! BTW: love Dinos and always have!
Andy, on the 206 and the L series, FIAT is all over the place on a large variety of bolt heads. Italian classic car magazines, and in the ones of the day, there are unequivocally three listings: Fiat Dino, under the Fiat heading for all cars made by FIAT, Ferrari, as all cars made by same, and DINO, all by itself. In Italy, if you own a Dino, it is just that and only that, and if one tries to call it Dino, made by Ferrari, or worse yet, a Ferrari Dino, you end up looking the fool wannabee. Just try registering your Dino in Italy at the "A.S.I., Automotoclub Storico Italiano", as anything else, they will not even reply as for them it plainly is a: Dino. Now if we wish to say "Made by Ferrari", Dino was his son, Scaglietti, FIAT bolts, rust, and anything else to fill the ego, it is up to the individual, after all it is your car and it is a free world. The "Made by Ferrari" label, was a legal requisite, in the infinite wisdom of Italian Bureaucracy. Viva Dino! Regards, Alberto
My first trip to Milan I got off the plane and right on the tarmac was a red 246, this was in 1979. I walked over to it and said to the driver Ferrari! He said no,no, Dino!
On my *03932*, the original Italian AUTOMOBILE CLUB D'ITALIA registration documents show Fabbrica: FERRARI and Tipo: 246/GT DINO. Freeman Image Unavailable, Please Login
speaking of Dinos with an identity crisis what about my 308 GT4. no matter how many times I tell him he was built by Ferrari he says that he identifies as a Lamborghini. Dino: I was designed by Gandini! Countach is my father! Urraco is my brother! Me: But it was Enzo who gave you life!
This is my original Italian registration. Freeman, evidently, in the North it was a Ferrari, in the South, a Dino. Fabbrica ( factory) Tipo del veicolo ( model) Regards, Alberto Image Unavailable, Please Login
You just gave me a great idea! Think of the increase in value if l remove the VW and Karman Ghia badging from my 2 KGs (67 vert and 74 Coupe)!!! Between the 2 of them, could be close to $1Mil. And, I can use a similar arguement that a KG is really a Porsche. After all, the KG is built on the Beetle Chassis - which was designed by Ferdinand Porsche himself. Just kidding. Although, I do use the argument on my Porsche buddies (only those whom are snobbish), that their Porsche is nothing more than a slightly squished Beetle. Sid
Freeman, truly correct, Belgium required that tag by law. I have seen other Garage Francorchamps cars with the same tag. Isn't this fun? Regards, Alberto
'Is that a Ferrari?' I got this line right here from you and I use it anytime I can at stop lights, in parking lots, etc
What I am grateful for is that our Dinos were not included in the "Vintage" sub-forum. So nice to have our own. Andres
Just to make things more confusing: A buddy of mine owned an early glass 308GT. The information plate listed it as a Dino, not a Ferrari.
No, sorry, but it's not confusing at all: as already said above, the 308 GTB was scheduled to be a "Dino" when the development of the car began; the first prototypes tested on roads were indeed badged "Dino", there are proofs of this with pictures of the prototypes badged "Dino" indeed in periods magazines. Then the decision to market it purely as a "Ferrari" was taken, but as we know, it was customary at this time for a lot of parts at Ferrari to be used until exhaustion of the supply, so I am not surprised by this at all. Rgds
My early steel 308 GTB (January 77 production) has Dino vents on the bottom of the dash (while the visible ones on top have the horse) and Dino labelled bumper plugs on the doors.
Alberto, Where did you get the photo you use as your avatar? Was that as it came from the factory, or after crash damage? I have started a thread on the Vintage forum where I am asking how the cars were made during this era, and it seems to correspond with the comments there. The cars were apparently assembled from a fairly large number of fairly small pieces which were butt welded together. http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/vintage-thru-365-gtc4-sponsored-vintage-driving-machines/491323-what-point-were-ferrari-bodies-no-longer-made-wooden-bucks.html Jim Oddie
