Thinking of buying a 246GT or GTS

I have Owned 5 different Dino's in the past 15 years, and done total rotiserie resto's on 2 of them..The car is a dream to drive.What is your Budget?
The Best of the Best is a 74'Chairs and flares GTS. If you read Sports car market mag, they comment on a steady rise in sale prices over the last 12 months.
A euro model will always be frowned upon here in the states and would be worth a little less.A gt of any year is a value in Europe however americans always opt for the spyder.A U.S. non chairs car is worth about 10 - 20 g's les than a chs&flrs gts.
Just about all parts are still available though pricey and difficult to find.
Points to watch for are rotted gas tanks/collision damage and poor maintainance...look for records and low mileage.
Expect to pay $110 for the best and 70 -80 for mediocre gts,
a gt max'es out at @70,000.
Michael

 

Vince: Try www.dinoregister.com.

 

before you start looking for a car, you need to decide what you want. the chairs and flairs option were actually 2 different option. the chairs look good and command a premium. the flares are a matter of personal taste. i do not like them and consider them to take away from the car. i would never pay more for such a car. the flared cars came with campagnolo wheels. many people have retroed these wheels to thier cars. just because the car has these does not mean it's a "flared" car. keep in mind a good number of people created chairs and flairs during the restoration process. this was especially easy for the chairs options.

as previously discussed on an ealrier thread, the tools and books are worth $8-10k. if the car doesn't have these, do not pay for them. most sellers see a selling price as acar and not tools and books. the cars you see selling for over $100k have these items.

the first thing i looked for when i bought was an unrestored car. at least that way you know what you are getting. i found an non-restored car that was repainted with no body work in 1990. that was good enough for me to know that there wasn't anything hiding under the paint.

 

A US spec GTS is going to weigh around 500# more than a Euro spec GT. With the power available that may be a consideration for you. Some prefer the cleaner lines of the GT over the GTS. For cruising around, a GTS is great as many people value a sports car with the open-air driving experience. The Euro GT will have the performance edge. I have had a GTS and a GT for years and their looks still grab me. I see them almost everyday and I still say WOW!, that is one cool car!

 

If you don't mind me asking, what is 'chairs and flares'?

 

Chairs are the daytona style seats.

Flairs are the extended wheel arches that Ferrari affixed to the car to accomodate the 1" wider Campy wheels.

I have chairs in my car, but no flairs.

Here's a couple of different daytona interiors, both from my car.
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Chairs and Flares was the common term placed on a special option package for these 73' and 74' Dino GTS's and a few GT's. the standard Dino came with boring leather high back seats. the most desirable seat at that time by Ferrari was the Daytona connelly leather seat with air cushioned stripes inserted in the seat and backrest area...hence CHAIRS, the Flares package was a 1 inch wider campy wheel along with a quite noticeable steel lip flare extending
straight out of each wheel well fender surround. I believe the tyres were the same, mich XWX's.To me the overall presence of the package raised the feeling of "this is a real Ferrari" even though Enzo never intended it to be.
this Package has always commanded a higher resale value than the non equiped ones.

 

Michael.

It never was a "package" per se.

They were individual options available on the car.

That's why, for concours, it's ok to add the Daytona Seats and not ahve to include the flaired fenders.

 

The weight difference between the US and Euro spec cars are no more than approx. 100 lbs. since there are no US spec. bumpers required for the Dino model years. I also can't imagine that a Euro spec car sells for any less than a US model since warranty is no longer an issue.

Try to buy a car whose engine has been rebuilt. The sodium-filled exhaust valves have a tendency to "drop" (read: break off) after many years, resulting in an expensive rebuild (I speak from experience, having dropped $22,000 on a rebuild of my former 1972 246 GTS). It is a great car which is really fun to drive in the twisties!

 

Um, sort of.

If you drive it regularly, and have a good mechanic, this shouldn't be a problem.

But, the Dino is a very different animal than your '73 911, and needs some extra TLC to be happy.

Do good maintenance, drive it weekly, and you can probably thrash it about any time you want. Just warm it up, like 20 minutes of driving, before you try and smash through the hills.

Good hunting, keep me in the loop.

DM

 

Michael.

Is the point you are making here that many Euro Spec cars have dubious histories, and ownership is sometimes sketchy?

I have read on occasion that many of the European cars that came to the US came here under shady circumstances, and may not have the best history, cleanest ownership trail, in the world.

One advantage to a US car is there's a clear ownership trail, and title can't pass without it.

DM

 

I couldn't Have of said it better....

 

A PIC OF FLARES 246
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Got $90K you don't need? I know where there is a very nice silver GTS for sale, private owner, good history on the car, US Spec.

Lemme know,

DM

 

Vince, I have a 206 GT. Had the engine completely rebuilt in mid eighties, transmission rebuilt in late eighties, some electircal stuff recently. The car gets used less frequently than I would like and has never given me a reliability problem. Starting merely requires a good battery and after a few turns the engine lites up. I agree with the caution of a slow warmup as the second gear synch needs slow double clutching until up to temp. Mine is yellow, by the way, its the best color for a dino.
Mike

 

Not an expert on them, I assume there are some body differences, I have seen both and they look about the same but the roofline was a little different and I didn't really notice any major differences in the body, some trim differences.

The engine is the big difference, the 206 is a 2 liter alloy block and the 246 is a 2.4 litre cast iron block. An extra 85lbs in the 2 motors but the horsepower difference makes up for it and then some.

I have never driven a Ferrari 206 but I own a FIAT Dino 206 and I can only compare that to the 246 I have driven, I think the 206 revs up faster but it could be weight differences since they are very different cars.

 

the ferrari 206 is very different from the 246. the 206 has an aluminum body, outside filler cap and shorter wheel base. the 246 also has a change in interiors that wasn't seen at first. the 206 and early 246's have the headrest mounted on the rear bulkhead rather than the seat. the 246 also has a longer wheel base and the fuel cap is hidden behind a door that is released from the levers on the drivers side, later 246's had ac and power windows. the ealry 246's and 206's had manual windows and vinyl, unless optioned.

 

See...told you I assumed there was body differences.

 

I have a couple of pix of a 206 interior. Originally, some had velour inserts as one of the pictures shows.

Also, remember the total run of 206 was miniscule, (about 150 I believe) and in general, from what I've seen, they sell for a little less than the 246. There's no cachet value in the 206.


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