We don't get no respect, I tell ya...

This weekend, I drove the Dino and the 355 around.

In the 355, people check it out, and basically yawn. It's a full fledged Ferrari, but, after all, there have been lots of cars that are as interesting as the 348, 355, 360, 430, 456, 599, 612 and so on. Mind you, I love the 355. But it just isn't in a class with the Dino.

When I drive the Dino, people stop what they are doing and stare. People come over to ask about it. They say it's the most beautiful thing they have ever seen.

Now, I don't really care what people think about the cars. 99% of the time I drive them from my house, out on a fun route, and home, when there are as few people on the road as possible. The 355 is awesome. The Dino is just a far more spiritual experience.

Any moron at Ferrari who doesn't understand the mythical quality of the Dino and the potential it holds for the brand is just stupid. That's why so many "full fledged" members of the lineup sell for "full fledged" steep discounts from list price. Someone over there ought to wake up to the fact that dwindling fossil fuels and a global economic slowdown might cut into the market for $400,000 supercars, and a great design that inspires the spirit rather than the wallet will mean more for the marque than a million sheiks and Chinese paper billionaires. After all, they sell those chintzy, down-market Maseratis don't they?

 

When I used to own my 246 Dino GT, I had similar experiences with people when I drove it. The average car guy ---and especially kids-- really love this car.

But, I find it funny your "no respect comment". When I owned it through the eighties and to the late nineties, it didn't get much respect from Ferrari "purists".

It didn't have the prancing horse on the rear (sorry but I really hate it when people put Ferrari badges on Dinos!). It didn't have 12 cylinders. It wasn't what "Magnum PI" drove. It wasn't in Miami Vice. It was the "poor man's Ferrari". "Fiat" made the engine. It was "mass produced" unlike "real" Ferrari's. I heard it all. I didn't mind. Ordinary people really loved it. So, it was sort of the opposite of today.

I took it out on a couple of dates. What a disaster. I didn't find one female who liked riding in it. Too low, too uncomfortable, and noisy, and too hot for most. It was lot more fun from the driver's seat for sure. So, not much respect from the average female croud at the time either.

When I first saw the 360, I thought it was a modern day version of the Dino. But, to me it lacked something. Maybe it was that it didn't have the chrome bumpers, or the 360 shapes were just a little tamer than a Dino, or the size of the tiny Dino, or that simple interior and steering wheel that came right from a Daytona, or maybe it was just that it was something from an era that cannot be duplicated again in a world of crash regulations, emissions, fuel injection, and airbags. I was happy they didn't call it a "Dino" even though it's hard to believe they weren't thinking of it when they designed it.

As to whether the brand name "DINO" has any value, I think you may be confusing the SHAPE of the car from the BADGE. People respect the 246 shape but I don't think most understand what "Dino" means. I used to have a lot of people ask me "who makes that?". I would tell them the story and they would sort of nod and say "beautiful car!". I'm not sure you could replicate it today.

I think also that for many of us, the Dino was the sexist car we ever saw as kids. It had a kind of myth behind it and what it could do. There was the Dino, the Pantera, and the Countach as the three cars of many people's youth we lusted after. I don't know anyone who ever saw the car have a bad thing to say about it or say they would not wish they could own it.

If you want to talk about "no respect", talk to Fiat Dino owners. I personally LOVE the Fiat Dino Spyder, (OK, the coupes DO look like big Fiat sedans) especially the 2400 version with independent rear like the photo below (not my car!). But, they really get no respect because of that Fiat badge-- even though it's called Dino on the back. So, the idea that "DINO" by itself means something special to people, I'm not convinced. Prices of good ones Fiat Dino's have been climbing in the last few years but that's mainly because the 246 has also has too at much faster rate. If the name "DINO" meant anything, then Fiat "Dino's" would also get the average Joe's attention too. We all know they don't. So, it's not just the name. It's the 246 shape and mystique that makes them so popular.

I miss my 246 Dino. It was a terrific car. But, I don't miss the hot air coming in from the vents on a warm summer day!
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Its true that in the Ferrari world the FIAT Dino's don't get a lot of respect but in the rest of the world, they sure do.

At a local FIAT show I was told I owned the holy grail of FIAT's. At gas stations people walk and ask if that is a Ferrari or other exotic even though it boldly says FIAT and its surprising how many people (car guys) know of the FIAT Dino and how excited they get when they see one. One guy at a gas station one time called it a mini-daytona, I had to ask his logic...half the size, half the cylinders and everything in the right place (motor in front) and a true classic Ferrari-esque look (his word).

The FIAT Dino gets respect, just not from the majority of the exotic crowd, sometimes I think people prefer the FIAT over the Ferrari at least when they call it a FIAT they are not being derogatory about it like when they call a Ferrari Dino a FIAT.

Oh and by the way, everyone knows the 2.0 is the better of the 2

 

Personally, I wouldn't want that F149 Alfa 8C/Maserati platform clone to be branded "Dino". It would devalue the marque.

 

+1000

 

There are four at the Ferrari/RM/Sotheby's Auction at Maranello this weekend.


A 72 red GT with over 62k km estimated $145-185k
A 73 red Euro GT with 40,000 miles ("Impressive original condition" - new carpets and dash) est. $155-190k
A (repainted) yellow Euro 206 GT with ? miles estimated at $155-230k
A (repainted) red Euro 73 GTS with 47,000 miles estimated at $190-215

All three are identified as "Ferrari Dino" not something else, and described as "Unmistakably a Ferrari"...

As Ali G would say "Respek"

There's a midnight blue 67 275 GTB4 that is exquisite, for a mere $1.2-1.7million, and James Coburn's '61 250GT SWB California Spyder at only $5-5.5 million. Both of them are astonishing.

 

Car magazines would have a purpose if they printed them on softer paper with perforations every 4 inches.