1967 Fiat Dino Spider by Pininfarina

The Fiat Dino was introduced at the Turin Motor Show in 1966 alongside the Dino Berlinetta GT, later to become the Ferrari Dino 246. Powered by a shared four camshaft, two litre, V6 engine, both cars benefited from a racing pedigree that went back to Ferrari's Dino 166P sports-racing unit and their 246 Grand Prix engine. However, when Ferrari decided to race in Formula 2 with its new V6 engine designed by Enzo Ferrari's son Dino, the company had a problem. Under homologation rules, they were required to build enough cars to satisy the rules for racing. Ferrari could not build enough cars to homologate the Dino so a deal was struck with Fiat for a joint venture and the Dino was born. The Dino model was built as either a Bertone designed coupé or a sleek spider from Pininfarina. However, it is the spiders, both in 2.0 and 2.4 Litre guise, that have become most sought after amongst collectors. In the words of Sports Car Market: "The Spider is one of the prettiest designs to emerge from Pininfarina's studio in the 1960s…. and even accelerating in top gear from low revs, there's a seamless delivery of power." A mere 1,133 spiders were originally built, but far fewer are left in existence today. This 206 Dino Spider was bought new in Belgium and a letter from the factory confirms the car was built in December 1967. The UK registration certificate states this Spider has had only 2 former keepers since 1972. The previous owner acquired the vehicle in 1989 and had the car bare metal resprayed in its beautiful current colour combination of Azzurro Cielo (Sky Blue) with cream interior. A Nardi steering wheel was also sourced for good measure. A full photographic record of the respray and rebuild can be found in the history file and after the work was completed, this little Spider won the prestigious UK Concours D'Elegance for the Dino Club. Purchased by the current vendor in 2003, himself a passionate collector of Italian cars, the light-weight aluminium block and gearbox have been recently rebuilt to racing specification. This work was carried out by Ferrari Marque specialists Superformance and the engine is still under warrantee from them. The vendor reports that the engine freely revs up to 8,000rpm. Buyers should note that it was only the 206 Dino models, with 2 litre engines, that had aluminium blocks. This resulted in reduced weight and superior handling to the 246 model and saw the 206 cars raced in period. Consequently, this car is eligible for entry to events such as the Le Mans Classic, 1,000 kilometeres of Monza and the Targa Florio. This example has a current Historical Technical Passport, enabling it to compete in FIA events and a custom made roll bar that is removable and will be sold with car. This is a car that can genuinely be used for all occasions, be it races, rallies, tours or concours, the car is welcomed by event organisers and admiring crowds wherever it goes. A large history file covers the last 25 years of maintenance and this Dino Spider is supplied with a current MoT certificate. In addition, a taylor made indoor car cover, with Dino logo, are included in the sale as is the fantastic registration number: DNO 206F. "These cars were designed by Pininfarina and built using the same engines and assembled by the same Ferrari engineers on the same Ferrari production lines as the 246s, albeit significantly rarer. In this respect, 'FIAT' Dino and 'Ferrari' Dino was simply early marketing driven 'badge engineering'. When one discards the marketing, the lineage is plain: Dino...."