Back to the original question, did Dinos ever leave the factory with Ferrari badges? If we're talking only about 206/246 series Dinos, I think the answer is no. But my understanding is that the GT4 series of cars adopted a change to Ferrari badging somewhere in the middle of the production years. Not sure if this was a factory change-over or something that was approved by the Ferrari and actually done by the dealers. There are GT4 Dinos with "original" Ferrari badging. Birdman
The story as I have read is that the Dino engine is a productionized version of the Ferrari formula racing motor. The racing version was first used in 1957-58 in the 156 F2, 246 F1, 256 F1 and the 296 M1. The V-6 motor served Ferrari in many variants of race car types, displacement and horsepower and served them well until it was last used in racing trim in 1962 in the 246 F1 which was Ferrari's first mid- engined car and the inspiration for the production 206-246 GT. The productionized engine was cast by Fiat which owned a good portion of Ferrari. The cast pieces were then machined and assembled in Ferrari's factory. Pictures in books on the factory at Maranello show the Dino engines being assembled. The badging on the Dino was exclusively Dino with no exterior Ferrari badging. The exception is that there exsist on all Dino's three aluminum plaques rivited to portions of the car that contain the Ferrari logo and other pertinent data, serial no., build date, car type, emission info and tune-up specifications. These plaques exist on the inside drivers door pillar, the left underside of the engine bonnet and on the left side of engine compartment firewall at the trunk side.
Not true. 308Gt4 Dinos had "authorized" Ferrari badging late in the production run. The question is whether they were installed at the factory or by the dealers.
Some of the UK dealers attached Ferrari badges to cars in 1973 to try to boost sales during the energy crissis.
From ORIGINAL FERRARI V8 by Keith Bluemel (a book every Ferraristi should own) Referring to the Dino 308GT4: "All Series 1s originally carried Dino badging only, with no mention of Ferrari. In July of 1975 Ferrari issued a directive to US dealers on the re-identification of existing stocks of Dino-badged cars. This gave instructions to fit an enamel Ferrari badge above the Dino badge on the nose of the car, to replace the Dino horn push with a button bearing the Cavallino Rampante and to fix a Cavallino Rampante to the tail panel. "All series 2s bore some Ferrari identity from the factory. The enamel badge on the nose changed to the Ferrari style, either recessed or surface mounted, but the tail badging remained the same. On US versions, a chromed Cavallino Rampante was added to the rear panel to the right of the number plate access. "This image enhancement was intended to improve sales, which had been disappointing. To further this end, some concessionaires and dealers added more Ferrari badges. The normal post-factory additions were a chrome-plated Ferrari script under the rear number plate position and/or a Cavallino Rampante on the rear panel, as on the US version."
