Santa came early this year with #00504

See what I have recently acquired; an older sister to my 308 QV. It is an old lady from January 1970, 246 GT early L-series with 3 previous owners and a well described history. I believe she was number 52 of the lot?The clock is showing 58.000 km but only god knows
if any hundreds should be added.

I drove her home from Norway yesterday, down through the western part of Denmark and back to my home, a scary trip of several hundred kilometers in rain and darkness most of the time. But she didn't let me down despite a weak battery and a small cooling water leak. What an experience, very different from the 308 in all respects and a beautiful noise from a smooth running engine.

The Dino has been my childhood dream since I watched the persuaders in Danish television many years ago. The car appears mostly original and even the old digiplex ignition is still ticking. The car was semi overhauled in the late nineties (Down to bare metal) and that included some engine work as well (I need to go through paper stack for further details).

I am not an expert in Dino's so any inputs with regards to originality is much appreciated. I cannot wait to scroll through the two bags of documentation I got with the car, but amongst a lot of other stuff there is the original France numbers plates and a Dyno test from after the engine was rebuild.

I plan to start further investigations into her condition this winter and will then decide at what level she will be brought back to previous pride. I will keep you updated and hopefully you will provide me with all your expertise as when I overhauled my 308.

I hope to find Matthias's compendium under the X-mass tree this year!
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Peter,
Congratulations, that's a great car to have, early L-series.
From the photos, it looks to be in great condition and alot of the original parts are there like wheels (valve stems) and even the steering wheel.
I think your car came with a factory leather interior, is it still leather? It may have been redone.
You might already know dinoregister.com has 3 records on your car, first delivered to Geneve, Switzerland.

You might want to check over the body number, internal engine number and gearbox numbers to see if they are original for your car.
The body number is stamped into many parts but you could drop the inner mount for the coolant overflow tank and it's stamped on the mount, should be around 201.
The gearbox number is stamped on the casing, should be around 204 and the internal engine number is stamped on the block next to the water pump, probably around 50 (~50th L-series produced).
You can search for key-words in this 206/246 section and there are many threads with photos showing you where to find these.

The small round indicators on the front wings look to be the wrong type, you want ones which are more flat - made by Altissimo 21.19.10.
There was a small steel tab next to the serial number that had an engine light mounted on it, it looks like it might have been cut off or bent flat.
Check your wiper arms have Arman & Co. stamped on them, they should be a silver finish, the wiper frames look to be black - they might have been painted.
The mirrors were added, these are period style though.
Great car, enjoy it.
Andrew

 

Hello Peter,

welcome and well done. I know #00504 from pictures, ex Carl B.
I think you made a good buy.
Original colour was Bianco Polo Park 20-W-152.
If you have any questions, feel free to send me e-mails.
Your wife can order the Dino Compendium here:
http://www.dino-book.com/en/home/

Regards Matthias

 

congratulations . and best of luck . I am also a new Dino GT owner (several months) nothing like the first drive.
Larry

 

Lovely car Peter! Are those older Michelin X's? If so, time to get replacements real soon

Welcome to Dinoland!

Regards, Alberto

 

This may be a stupid question but why do certain European countries require yellow headlights?

 

Yellow is a longer wavelength so it penetrates fog better than white. Otherwise I don't know.

 

Congratulations on the purchase.

 

Thanks for your comments Andrew,

The interior appears to be original except from the dashboard that's newly covered with suede (The prevoius owner claimed the dash was original covered with vinyl). I believe the interior is all vinyl (The center insert in the seats could be leather says my wife, but I doubt it).

I have been looking for numbers and can confirm the following:

Body number: 196
Engine number (tricky to see with engine in, but best guess): (135* 000) (0005298) (L73)
Gearbox number: 226

It could be nice if somebody could confirm it these numbers make sense compared to the VIN number.

The wiper arms are silver colored / stainless steel and are stamped Arman&C.

I cannot see any mounting plate for the engine compartment lamp you mention. There is a small flap below the VIN number, but that looks like a wiring support flap, so the mount might have been removed years ago?

Mirrors and front indicators are brand new and that explains most likely why these are not original as you point out.

There is an odd looking exhaust on the car. It looks kind a homemade (see picture), maybe someone will chime in if it rings any bells.

Best regard Peter
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The bracket for the engine compartment light may have been cut off and you should find evidence of a weld where it was. There is lots more information on my website www.dino246.com with hundreds of photos in the restoration blog.

Blue vinyl comments removed as per the correction by Iain below.

 

Blue vinyl was a factory option Rob. This is the Blue Skai vinyl interior of the Bianco Polo Park 1971 London Earls Court motor show car that was bought by Rob Walker. All of the interior trim - centre tunnel, centre console, handbrake gaiter etc is in blue vinyl.
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Hi Matthias,

I bought the car from Mr Carl B. He is a very nice person and was very concerned about finding a good new home for his car. He bought the car in 1995, when he lived in Belgium, from a Mr Zaggia. Zaggia owned the car from 1977 according to the register.

I am quite a believer in originality without being a fanatic, but not so much that i will change the cars color back to Bianco Polo Park (White if I am not mistaken). White i just not my favorite at all, I would prefer nearly any other colour. Re-sale red is not bad, but it is a bit ordinary and boring if I my say so.

The link to your compendium has been forwarded to my wife with kind words reminding here about what makes me happy.

I will no doubt make use of your offer to ask questions along the road. It is a previlege to have access to such a knolledge database that you present.

Thanks Peter

 

This is the interior of 01134 before it was restored this year. The Dino register shows it as having a blue leather interior. The centre sections of the seats and the door cards are not in the original material but the outer seats and centre console are actually in the original blue Skai Dino vinyl. . This is more apparent in the large format pics the previous owner sent me when I was considering buying the car.
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Thanks Alberto,

Good point...I've checked the tires as per your recommendation. They are from week 13 2008, so not that bad. There are hardly any wear noticable so they should be good for another cuple of years.....But anyway they will be out of date when I am finished with the workover, so I better start saving up for new rubbers. The spare tire is from 1974

Peter

 

Peter,
The numbers look correct, original to me. I was out by 23-25 on the engine (the "L73" part is the internal sequential engine #) and gearbox but they match up, which is great.
Others may have more accurate data from cars closer in S/N to this, Matthias certainly would.
As Rob said, the light mount was probably cut off, it gets in the way while getting the engine in and out. A mechanic probably cut his hand on it, swore and cut it off as the light on it was probably broken anyway....
Good you have the original wipers, hard to find and yes, someone made an exhaust for it.
Take your time to find original parts to correct any issues as they are minor. Soon you'll be worrying about hose clamps
Andrew

 

Congratulations on a wonderful, early Dino
Forza!

Scott

 

Hello Peter,

body no. clearly matching...
engine and gearbox no. point to #00544
#00544 was original delivered in Italy but seems to be in Belgium for many many years....
so this raises the question whether there was a change of engine and gearbox during life time in Belgium.... have a word with Carl
the dinoregister shows 1987 until 2001 Maurice Harlaux (Brussels, B) as owner of #00544
I would try to contact him, to find out more.
Also possible a mix up during production at Ferrari (#00504/#00544) but unlikely from my point of view.. you need to check with Ferrari Classiche

Regards Matthias

PS: No order from your wife yet ;-)

 

Interesting information Matthias. Thanks a lot. It looks like I need to approach Ferrari Classiche for a final confirmation....I believe that might not come cheap.

Alternative I can attempt to trace up Mr Harlaux. It could be very interesting to know the status on #00544. Maybe someone here know something about that car and if it still exist?

According to Mr Carl B's verbal information (And he's knowledge I believe) the engine was not changed out during he's ownership period from 1997 to 2012, but the car spent nearly 4 years in a workshop in Belgium!. There are extensive documentation from that workshop stay consisting of invoices and pictures (Engine + gearbox repair, Bare metal strip down, rust repair and paintjob, re-assembly etc.)

I have spent some of my weekend going through the pile of documents that followed the car and can so far set up the following history file (History source in brackets):

January 1970: Imported from factory to Geneva, Switzerland by SAVAF (Dino register).

19xx - 1977: Apparently owned by Marie-Christine Ferrari, in Versoix, Switzerland (Registration attest + maintenance invoices from SAVAF).

1977-1995: Owned by Mr Jackie Zaggia, France (Insurance documents, Dino register).

199x-1997: Sold by Belgium import company "Promo-Group SPRL" to Carl B. in March 1997 (Sales invoice - Insurance papers, maintenance invoices).

1997-2003: Owned by Carl B. The car is in Belgium in this period. Car undergoing repair from 1999 - 2003! at Dany Lallemand "Restauration de Vehicules" - Bare metal strip down, rust repair + engine work- (Invoices + various correspondence)

2003-2012: Owned by Carl B. The car is in Norway in this period. Sold to undersigned late 2012.
I hope someone can share some more information about #00544, it might be interesting!
Matthias, I'm sorry for my wife's missing shopping abilities when it comes to car compendiums, she is much faster when it 's about buying shoes. I shall kindly remind here.

Alberto (swift53), you are absolutely correct with respect to the age of the old tires. I must have interpreted the DOT code wrongly. They are from 1998 and not 2008 as I implied earlier. I found the invoice in my paper stack confirming this.

Best regards
Peter

 

Those yellow lights look great! I think it was typical French, you see it on a lot of French cars, but probably also on Swiss cars as well! Congrats on the new toy!

 

Hi Peter:

Wonderful car - enjoy!

I own S/N 00542 (one car before 00544 on the production line). Matthias also made me aware that my engine and gearbox almost certainly were transplanted from another "L".

I'm still trying to figure out why and when this transplant happened but searching for answers has been fun.

Regards,

Keith

 

Peter, PM sent to you with some interesting additional informations....

 

Since the installed engine and gearbox are matched and the numbers are so close in production to the units that we think should be in the car, it's also possible they were swapped in at the factory due to a failure.
In any case, it's a good engine/gearbox combination for the car.
Andrew

 

Thanks for all the nice comments and help with trying to identify the matching numbers and original interior.

I believe there is a fair changes that the car has the original drive line, but I will not know for sure before having consulted the Classiche program at Ferrari. I might chose to do that one day when I have no better things to invest my money in.

I have attached a couple of pictures from the restoration work performed in the late nineties including a picture of the Ferrari emblems that was removed at that time. It is funny have big a deal it was to show the car belonged to the Ferrari family at that time.

I have also attached a scan of the Dyno test that was performed a few years ago. 178 HK at the wheels seems quite fair to me on such an old lady.

Lastly I have taken a couple of pictures if the horns. They do not appear to be original and I think they are installed in the wrong location on the outside of the spare wheel well, maybe someone can recognize them? The brand name is Marchal and they are made in France.
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View attachment Dino Dyno Graph.PDF

 

What a nice flat torque curve!
As you suspected, the horns are not original and in the wrong location. They should be FIAMM horns next to the battery.
Might be hard to find, I don't know of other cars with the same model horns.
Andrew

 

French -Départment 74- plates.
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