UK 206 GT Dino History

that`s very interesting....
attached picture of #00116 (very early car) with standard vents
your vents can only be original, if your 206 GT was a prototype, later became a production chassis no.
what`s your body no.?
this would be key to identify your 206 GT as a prototype or production 206 GT
you find the body no. stamped in the mounting of the coolant water reservoir
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The 246 L-series were almost all steel bodied and only a very small number were made in Aluminium. To have a Ferrari-supplied Aluminium front end with the larger L-series centre vents is something a little special...

 

looks like your body no. is 27, but your seats have body no. 19 (could be mixed up during production...)
please check your body no. on the mounting of the coolant water reservoir

but clearly no prototype, very strange vents for a production car, first time it appears...

I would think it has been changed after the chrash....

 

I thought the car looked orange in the picture of the car after EC crashed it and you can see it in the pic above underneath the red.

 

makes perfectly sence, because Ferrari always sold the latest evolution possible as spare parts...

 

Arancio tipo PF (later called Rosso Dino) was the original colour

 

top original, unrestorated car until today....
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That's a great job......

Letter is fantastic!!!

 

Were the first 246 Dinos all alloy bodied? I see that 206 00354 had an alloy bonnet, engine cover and doors? A 206 with a 246 engine????

Talacrest link: 1969 Ferrari 206 Dino GT *-*For Sale At Talacrest

 

the GQ Irvin belts are rare and nice, GQ seems to have been the go to belt supplier for good cars. plenty of earlier type about in NOS, used on the bmc works cars so make reasonable money. might be worth trying one of the historic rally specialists to seem if they can locate you some. nice piece of history, a uk specific thing from what i have seen

 

yes, that`s correct, the pictures where taken from a prototype.... not a production car

 

206 (20/68) and 246 (29/69) brochures (same car) show this vent style with carpet trim on the interior photo below, does your carpet appear to be original with the same trimming?
The Turin motor show Dino had round vents from a photo in one of Gabriel's books from around the same time so they were trying different options.
Maybe they just used up the various footwell tubs they had on hand?
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What do you think I should do with regards to the front end air vents? should I have it changed back to that of a standard 206 GT or keep it as it is now, after Eric's mishap & subsequent repair?

Max
Max, For what it's worth (probably very little!), my feeling is that, if the car was repaired in the early days of Dino production with a factory-sourced "incorrect" nose, that configuration is part of the accepted history of the car. On my first visit to the Ferrari factory, in 1982, I spied a new 308 GTSi, just off it's pre-detailing test drive, with a badly damaged right quarter panel, and a clump of grass and dirt protruding out of the right rear corner of the car. I pointed it out to my tour guide, Brenda Vernor, who joked that the test drivers sometimes got a bit too enthusiastic, and then said that the car would probably be worth more in the future because it had been repaired at the factory! This is not to suggest that anything done by the Ferrari factory is automatically "correct," but supply of a nose not conforming to the original piece is still a historical fact, which nicely supplements the car's (unfortunate, in this case) provenance. Just my thought on it. Fred

 

try to produce a "no stories" car.

 

This is an interesting response and I would agree with that....

OTOH, that is really nice work, and it's a shame to 'back up" to fix it?

At the end of the day, its your money, your car.
Which apearance do YOU like??

 

I'm sure Matthias will have much more information/photos on the footwell vents. Original carpet makes it pretty clear, and interesting.

With regards to the front air vents...
As I understand it, the replacement nose is possibly one of very few original 246 L-series alloy pieces made, it was supplied by Ferrari for the car and you've already completed excellent restoration work.
If it's documented then it will always be an interesting conversation point and a remnant of history from a previous famous owner.
Correcting the vents would wipe all trace of the accident and you'd have a car looking like it did when it left the factory.
It's entirely up to you as the owner and how you want to present the car. Personally, I find it a more interesting car by leaving the front air vents as they are now.
A warning, soliciting opinions on matters like this might lead to threads with over 1100 posts

 

You got THAT right!!!

But it's a good discussion.