True love at first sight (the story of Dino Ferrari).

This car had a lot riding on it just by the use of the name “Dino” the son of Enzo Ferrari. Born in the year 1932 the first son of Enzo Ferrari his full name was Alfredo Ferrari, Dino was groomed from the age of 15 attending one of the finest schools in Europe and he was later on responsible for cars such as the 750 Monza. All the dreams that Enzo Ferrari had of his son leading the empire came crashing down. Dino suffered from a medical condition known as Muscular Dystrophy at the age of 24, passing away in June of 1956.  Enzo like any other parent was devastated. The Dino series of racing cars were named in honour of his son. Dino was initially a standalone brand and they built 6 cylinder roadsters. The 206 was technically not a Ferrari but a Dino yet it was Maranello’s first mid-engined road car. Now we all know that Enzo loves his V12 engines however since his beloved son made the suggestion of using a V6 it was carried out this V6 was originally intended to be used for formula 2 cars, and the FIA required them to produce 500 engines. The original V6 would have never been ideal for road use hence Aurelio Lampredi a famous engineer worked on this engine. It was modified to 2.0L and produced 180hp, the car was initially named the “206” due to the number of cylinders it had. This engine was originally produced by Fiat and was shared with the Fiat Dino.  This was done not to save costs but to meet the homologation regulations of the FIA as I mentioned before.

Dino 166P 

Like all Ferrari’s of the time the Dino’s were also designed by Pininfarina and man is it a looker, the Coke-bottle like low swung doors and roof accompanied by the curved wheel arches makes it one of the most beautiful roadsters till date. The younger brother of the 206 GT was the 246 GT this car redefined the small mid-engined sports car concept. The 246 GT was lighter, it now produced 200hp from an upgraded revving, twin cam per bank 2.4 litter V6 making just under 200 HP in European spec, the American models made 20hp less due to primitive smog equipment fitted to reduce emissions. The 246 GT also had features such as disc brakes on all four corners and independent suspension at all four corners. The 246 GT was larger in size but in no means was it heavier than the 206 GT. The 246 GT debuted on November 1969 in the Turin auto show.

Here are the exact specifications of the 2.4 L V6.

• ·        The engine was a rear, transverse engine mounted at 65 degrees
• ·        The bore and stroke was 92.5 X 60 mm
• ·        Total displacement was 2419.20 cc
• ·        Compression ratio was 9:1
• ·        Maximum power was 195 Hp at 7600 rpm
• ·        It used a three weber carburettors 

Dino V6

Over all the car was a master piece to look at. At the time when Dino’s were produced their intention was to beat Porsche and take the title of the best mid-engined sports car. Hence it was not like the Ferrari’s of the time which had huge V12’s instead it was a small 2 seat roadster that was built to chase production numbers while being more luxurious. In the end a Dino may more than just keep up with a Porsche in a straight line but it still struggled in the corners. But it made its presence with one of the best sounding V6 engines ever made in my opinion.

Dino 206 GT

The Dino’s suffered from several issues mainly quality problems common to many Italian sports cars of the time. The Dino was built using slightly cheap metal causing them to rust easily, and the electrical systems were a nightmare. But all this was forgotten as soon as you looked at the car, because it was that beautiful.

In 1975 Ferrari debuted the Dino 308 GT4 in the Paris motor show, this car was the end of the Dino line up and it was never intended to be a Ferrari, when you look at it, it is everything except a Dino to look at. This is because it was not designed by Pininfarina. Ferrari need a new design and Pininfarina was taking too much time hence they went to Bertone ( a famous designer), Bertone had this design ready and hence they used it and then came the 308 GT4, this design was initially meant to be a Lamborghini Urraco. The 308 GT4 was originally badged as just Dino, but then they never sold hence the dealers were instructed to install Ferrari badges, they did and some dealers completely removed all the Dino badges.  What a lot of people don’t know and talk about is the smaller brother of the 308 that is the 208 GT4. The 208 GT4 had a 2.0L engine, the 208 were aimed slightly towards the Italian market and its engine was deboard to avoid the tax that was implied on cars with an engine larger than 2.0L, this 2.0 L V8 was not very powerful but it made up for it with the sound of the engine.

Dino 308 GT4

In the end the Dino was a brand that lived up to its name and it definitely reset the bar much higher for a good looking mid engined sports car. Now a days Dino’s are going up in value especially the 206 GT and 246 GT’s, as they are true works of art.   

Dino 208 GT4

Dino 206 GTS prototype 

Image source: https://petrolicious.com/ and https://auto.ferrari.com/en_EN/sports-cars-models/past-models/dino-208-gt4/