By Andrew Court
June 30th, 1956, was the worst day of Enzo Ferrari’s life—his beloved only son Alfredo “Dino” Ferrari passed away. He was only 24. When Dino was born Ferrari gave up racing to start his eponymous company with the hope that one day his son would take over. This was not to be.
Caring for his son in his final months, Enzo recalled “I had deluded myself—as fathers often do—that our attention would help Dino to regain his health. I had convinced myself that Dino was like one of my cars … The sad truth was quite different: my son was gradually wasting away with progressive muscular dystrophy.”
After Alfred passed Enzo channeled his grief into a car. Dino’s name would go on to grace the hood of one of the company’s best-looking vehicles.
Rise of the Ferrari Dino
The mid-engined coupe was aimed at a younger market searching for a compact and agile car. Beyond sentimentality, Enzo alighted on Dino for the name because he wanted a youthful brand that denoted a distinction between the V6 and the higher end v12 GT cars. The name, emblazoned on a badge copying Alfredo’s signature, would come to mark this new variety of Ferrari.
Dino had studied engineering, and even at a young age had shown a precocious talent. He worked on the 750 Monza racing car and the 1.5 Liter DOHC V6, pushing his father to incorporate these lighter engines in their vehicles.
The first version, the 1957 Dino 156 f2, was a single seater intended for Formula 2 racing. Like all Ferraris, the numerical name was based on engine size followed by the number of cylinders. This Formula 2 platform would also be the basis for several road racing sports cars. Over the next decade it became a distinguished part of their racing program.
The road Dino, the 206 GT, debuted in 1968. This was Ferrari’s first mid-engined sports car. The iconically beautiful body was constructed in aluminum, which was rare for that era. While the 6-cylinder engine only made 180 hp, because of its extreme light weight it could get to 60 in 7.2 seconds. While this is slow by modern standards, for context the same year Porsche 911 went to 60 in 8.5 seconds. Only 152 were made, making this the Dino collectors covet.
From 1969 to 1974 Ferrari produced the Dino 246 GT. Following their naming system, this car had a bigger 2.4-liter engine. The extra power was necessary as this new model had a steel body which was more durable but heavier.
British automotive Journalist Jeremy Clarkson shares a lot of hard-core Ferrari fans’ disdain for the Dino.
In one of Top Gear’s “budget supercar” challenges Clarkson refers to the Dino as a “lesser Ferrari” for people who couldn’t afford a real one. Co-host Richard Hammond, who purchased a Dino for the episode, retorted that Clarkson was an idiot and that the car was named in honor of his dead son. Clarkson boyishly claimed it was just a “slower and wet” substitute.
I agree with Hammond on this one, and I think Clarkson misunderstands Ferrari as a brand. Enzo sold road cars to support racing, not the other way round. The Dino evolved from the racing program, the true high altar of Modena. The “Dino” road car was an evolution of this program and was honored with his son’s name.
Dino’s Legacy
The Dino certainly has attracted a lot of enthusiast attention. Take John Corbani for example. The Californian spotted his Dino on a used car lot in 1986 and after a 15-minute test drive he was hooked. Corbani used the car as his daily driver, transporting pool chemicals and even towing a broken lawn mower. Eventually he racked up over 100,000 miles. You probably won’t see anyone do that in a modern Ferrari. He called his car the “do-it-all Dino”
Corbani paid around $30,000 for his in the ’80s, but like all these things the prices have only gone up.
Well-preserved examples of the 246 GT typically trade between roughly $350,000–$550,000, with top condition or special spec cars achieving significantly higher prices. Recent auction records include a 1974 246 GTS selling for $1.325 million at the Amelia Island concourse auction. The rarer 206 GT commands even higher premiums, often around $700,000 in recent sales. Collectors especially love the “chairs and flares” variation which has Daytona-style bucket seats and wider wheel arches. My choice would be the Targa roofed GTS body style.
If you don’t want to spend the price of a suburban Charlotte house, try the Dino 308/208. These V8 cars would be the last of the Dinos; in 1976 Enzo gave in to customer pressure to put the Ferrari brand on the bonnet. They are generally in the $60,000–$130,000 range, with stable to gently rising values. Like everything however, enthusiasts will argue if this is a “real” Dino. At the end of the day it will be fun to get coffee in, so who gives a fuck what the Cavallino Classic crowd think.
I love the Dino and it’s hard to overstate its historic importance. It’s the origin story of all mid-engine road Ferraris and paved the way for cars like the F355 and F360, which were on my bedroom walls. I firmly believe a sports car should be light and nimble, not a pondering boulevard cruiser designed for the valet lot of a Florida steak house.
The Dino, at the end of the day, hits all the right notes while looking absolutely stunning.
