Ferrari Dino - World Of Classic Cars -

Ferrari 246GTS Dino 1972

The Dino, named in honour of Enzo Ferrari's son was a brand for V6 engined Ferrari's, the project that Dino Ferrari worked on before he died tragically of muscular dystrophy at just 24 years old. In order to homologate Ferrari's Formula 2 entry in 1966, the FIA requested that 500 production cars were produced using the same V6 unit as the race car. The Fiat Dino was born using the 2 litre V6 Ferrari unit which was later used in the early 206GT versions of the Dino. Ferrari used the mid engined configuration that was working well for them in sports car racing for the new Dino and the prototype 206S was shown at the 1966 Turin show. The car drew a positive response and Ferrari put the car into production, making it the first mid engine production Ferrari. The 206GT was produced between 1968/9 and all cars were made with left hand drive steering with the 2 litre quad cam V6 unit that produced 160bhp@8000rpm. The 246GT/S variants superseded the 206 and were produced from 1969-1974.

Ferrari 246GTS Dino 1972

The engines were enlarged to 2418cc V6, dual overhead camshaft, 9.0:1 compression ratio, iron block with alloy heads producing 195 bhp@ 7,600 rpm. The car was offered in closed Berlinetta form or open Spyder coachwork which was very popular in USA and made primarily for that market. The 246 Dino GT weighed 2380 pounds and the GTS weighed 2426 pounds using steel bodies in favour of lower production costs over Aluminium. Production numbered 2,487 GTs and 1,274 Spyders', the latter being built from 1972 to 1974 only, for a total production run of 3,761.