12 or 6?

[priley]

The Dino had its annual(!) clean today and I thought I’d grab a couple of pics next to its new big brother.
Yes, I know it’s not a Ferrari, but them some might argue that neither is a 246!

[MrVert]

That's lovely!

[mbwoy84]

Lovely pair. Just needs a mid-engined V8 to slot in between them!

[priley]

Thanks mbwoy84. There actually is a 355 behind the Dino in the bottom pic (yes, I’m a very lucky chap). I actually thought about writing a piece for PH on them and owning ‘one of each’. I’d read it anyway :-)

[mbwoy84]

Perfect line-up then! And makes me want to get my 308 finished and on the road more than ever!

[priley]

Yes, do it! The 308 is such a great looking car, inside and out.

[4rephill]

priley said:

The Dino had its annual(!) clean today and I thought I’d grab a couple of pics next to its new big brother.
Yes, I know it’s not a Ferrari, but them some might argue that neither is a 246!......

Plenty do argue that the 246 is not a Ferrari - But they're wrong!

The 246 was designed for, and built by Ferrari (with the exception of some engines, which were assembled by FIAT for Ferrari), to add to their family of cars, albeit with Dino badges

The FIAT Dino's were designed for FIAT, and built by both FIAT and Ferrari, to add to FIAT's family of cars (to help Enzo Ferrari homologate the Dino V6 engine for racing), and they all wore FIAT badges as standard (as with the 206/246 cars, some had Ferrari prancing horses added to grilles and boot lids/rear ends by dealers or owners, to highlight the Ferrari link).

Look on Ferrari.com and you will see that they happily include the 206/246 Dino's as a part of their official car history.

They don't include the FIAT Dino series though.

If Ferrari are happy to accept the 206/246 Dino as one of their own, then that should be good enough for anyone to accept that the Dino is a Ferrari.

(The curious one would be the 308 GT4, which started life wearing Dino badges on its nose, and then after a couple of years carried the Ferrari nose badge. How do "Dino deniers" judge that one? Both cars were built in the exact same factory, by the exact same mechanics, to the exact same design, for the same company - Do they claim that the Dino badged cars are not Ferrari's, but the Ferrari badged cars are? )


Please don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to put the FIAT Dino series down - I think they're great looking cars (for once, for me personally, I think Bertone came up with a slightly better design for their coupe, than Pinifarina did for their spider - Usually I find Bertone's designs inferior to Pininfarina's), I'm just pointing out why a 206/246 Dino is a Ferrari, and the FIAT Dino's aren't (I'd say they're "first cousins" to Ferrari).

Oh, and just to add: Totally jealous!

[priley]

I think before they found they were struggling to shift GT4s in the US all none-V12 cars were pushed as the stand alone brand/marque ‘Dino’. The 246 was originally a Dino 206/246 (the Fiats were always just Fiat Dinos), as was the Dino 308GT4, until they decided re-badging it as a Ferrari would shift a few more cars.
On a related note, I wonder if with the recent news of the V8 cars now becoming a V6 hybrid we’ll see the resurrection of the Dino name?

[belfry]

That's a lovely combination to have available. I have a 1977 V6 maserati and an english V12 and there are days where only the V6 will scratch the itch, probably something about having work harder to get the performance, but this really does connect the driver with the car (and engine).

The Dino is properly clean! Did you do that yourself?

Nice to see that you still have a 612.

[priley]

Yes, there’s something about having to extract the performance from an older car, it makes you feel more involved and part of the experience.
And yes, after working my way through a few other cars I’ve gone a full circle and arrived back at a 612. I think they’re looking better with age and it really suits my current needs, not to mention sounds incredible with the aftermarket back boxes!

Yes, washed the Dino myself. The paint isn’t perfect but it cleans up pretty good!

Edited by priley on Saturday 27th April 19:33

[Bluebottle911]

priley said:

The Dino had its annual(!) clean today and I thought I’d grab a couple of pics next to its new big brother.
Yes, I know it’s not a Ferrari, but them some might argue that neither is a 246!

Nice pair! Here is my 6+12:

[classicaholic]

Nice combination!

[priley]

Oh, Bluebottle911, that Dino is just beautiful! And what a great combination too.
I'd love to experience a 246 at some point, just to compare to the Fiat. I had a couple of the Dino Coupes, around the time (early 2000's) that my friend in the Dino club had recently sold his blue 246 for £47k! And I recall him saying he didn't think it was worth that-relative to a then £20k Dino Spider. How times change! The 246GT has to be the most beautiful car ever designed though imo. And incredible that it created the blueprint for the mid-engine Ferrari sports cars for decades to come.
Enjoy your cars. I'm just waiting for this rain to dry up before I can take mine out :-)

[andyman_2006]

Fab selection of cars there, you really have a great selection to choose from. Never really liked the 612 - but as many are saying now starting to age very well indeed, personally i sometimes mistake these cars for 599's (from the front) given the lights/grill, 612 is a lot of car for the money these days - the V12's sound epic with a stainless sports exhaust.

A friend of mine had a F12, and it sounded insane, hes now swapped it for a 458 speciale....which i didn't really understand, still great car but its never going to sound as epic as a V12!

Your Dino is very pretty indeed, time to enjoy the sunshine! and top job on the detailing looks good to me, who needs a pro!

Andy