Up or Down Vote: Is the 246GT(S) a Ferrari?

The biggest surprice for me is that a simple question like "Is the 246GT(S) a Ferrari?" means completely different things to different people, so in the end it all reminds me of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: we have a clear answer, but don't really have an idea what the question was.

I would still vote no.

Best wishes, Kare

 

It might be 'cause it was the last one to arrive and there was no room.
its is a Ferrari, model Dino 246gts.

 

Lotus was, and probably still is, unknown in this little country. When I imported my Lotus Elan in the 70s, my customs broker called me to ask what make of car it was. I said "Lotus, as it says on the customs form I filled up." The broker handed the phone to the customs man, who said, "that is the model name; what make is it? You know, like Toyota or Chevrolet." I insisted on Lotus. The customs man, exasperated, then asked, "what engine is in it." I said, "well, the block is a Ford." "There you go," the customs man said, "it's a Ford!"

And that's what it now says on my Elan's registration form.

And that probably settles what the Dino is, too.

...

Just kidding. But the vote is still no.

Regards to all.

 

It is a beautiful color! A great picture for the Dino owner!
The more I look at it the more I like that picture, I'd like to get a full res and enlarge it and frame it!

 

It looks like the only Ferrari in that picture, Dave.

 

Nice .... also looks like all the others are 'bowing down' to the Dino and saying "we're not worthy"!

Great photo

Tom

 

Quite by accident tonight, I came upon an episode of "Top Marques" on the local motoring cable channel, featuring "Ferrari"! This started with the earliest Ferraris and ended with the F50, the newest model the year this old film was released. At the time, the producers of course had no inkling of the Great Philosophical Debate that would engulf this forum on the identity of the Dino. Accordingly, the film blithely discussed the racing Dinos and thereafter the 206/246.

That provides no ammunition for either side of our discussions here, but does emphasize that a history of Ferrari or its cars without mention of the 206/246 would be sorely (and disgracingly) incomplete. As would, in my view, a history of the 206/246 without mention, of the Fiat Dino and the "Super Dino" the Stratos.

 

Oh you mean the Lancia?

 

I own a Lexus - but it's made by Toyota. In fact, when Toyota executed recent recalls, the Lexus cars were lumped in (although thankfully, not mine!)

brand-schmand - A 246 IS a Ferrari.

 

Yes. If it hadn't won the World Rallye Championship 3 years in a row, this homologation special would have an identity crisis, too.

 

The 70s was an incredible decade for all forms of motor sports and I think those Lancias with the Martini and the Alitalia liveries were right up there with the best. Pity we don't have too many high res movies or clips, or do we?

 

It's a great Pininfarina design, regardless of a mere badge. Pinin' took over the production of the Fiat Spider from 83' to 85'. I own an 83' Spider, virtually identical to a Fiat Spider. The badge says Pininfarina, but the plenum says Fiat. I call it a Pinin or Fiat, depends on who I'm talking to. It's a classic design, and actually shares the Momo very similar to the 308. It's a wonderful Italian car, the 246 is so much more, it was a 'pivotal' car in Ferrari's history as Sergio Pininfarina personally persuaded Mr. Ferrari to do a mid-engined car due to the, at the time, emergence of mid-engine street cars. His response..."Okay....you build it, but it will be a Dino." The Dino engine was based on an old design from the 50's done by Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari, Enzo's son, it paid homage to his son. Of course it's a Ferrari, of course it's a Pininfarina design, and of course it's a wonderful Italian sports car. The car is more than the badge, and a mere badge is far less than the entire car. To say that because it has a Dino badge on it's not a Ferrari is to utterly disregard, or to simply not know, the history of the name Dino itself. Pininfarina and Scaglieti figure as much in the history of Ferrari as anything, just read any Ferrari book that gives more than a cursory history of the marque. It trivializes the history of Ferrari to squabble over badges and show a completely unwarranted and wanton form of exclusivity that is fabricated. To me, even the Fiat Dino's are Ferraris because if Fiat had not mass produced those engines, Ferrari never could've gotten homologation of the engine to race, so the connection runs to the core of Ferrari, the passion for racing. Winston Goodlow's "Ferrari - Road and Race Cars" is an excellent starting point.

 

After much thought and deliberation, I have come to the conclusion that the 206/246 Dinos are not Ferraris.

Just kidding. The forum has become a bit quiet.

Andres

 

haha....



Basically, as others have said, is a Lincoln a Ford, Toyota a Lexus? Acura a Honda? Audi a VW, on and on...

In the end, all that matters it's an awesome car - whatever you call it.

Cheers

 

This is my take on the subject.

It might be nice to pretend it's more exclusive than a Ferrari, but the reality is that, however badged or "branded", at the end of the day there's no getting away from the fact that it's a Ferrari, just like the 156/206/246 racing Dinos from which it was descended and the 308 Dinos which it spawned and which were re-badged/named part way through their production run. Calling it a Dino was just a branding exercise.

There was not, as far as I am aware, ever a company called Dino that made cars.

All the paperwork issued when my Dino was new is on letterhead bearing the name Ferrari and its addresses in Modena and Maranello. One piece also has a Dino logo on it, although another has the Ferrari logo on it. There is nothing with only the Dino name.

It is also rather interesting that one piece of paperwork, a sales invoice bearing the Ferrari addresses in Modena and Maranello, includes the item "Supplying & fitting prancing horse". So it seems that the addition of what is a Ferrari, not Dino, badge was sanctioned by Ferrari.

 

The answer to that lies in history.

A Lincoln is a Lincoln. A Lexus is a Toyota. An Acura is a Honda. An Audi is an Audi. Lincoln and Audi are the names of real manufacturers, subsequently acquired by Ford and VW. Lexus and Honda are brands invented by Toyota and Honda to make their cars sound more exclusive.

By the same token, a Dino is a Ferrari.

Agreed!

 

agree 100% it's just a name - like say 'Denali' on a GMC. Of course, it's a Ferrari, and if somebody wants to say otherwise - fine. An Acura is not a Honda...not worth fighting about.

 

It is thoroughly diabolical that YOU, of all people, WENT OUT OF YOUR WAY TO REVIVE THIS moribund and beaten to death thread. Shame on you.

Now everyone new to this section on FCHAT will dive in again and again and again and debate and debate and debate.

"The horror, the horror."

 

As you say, it's not worth an argument, but as it happens, in the UK the NSX was sold as a Honda.

 

Perfect analogy.

 

Wow, way to wake up a 6 year old thread.

Answer?

No, it's not a Ferrari, it's better.

D

 

I refer to my car as a Dino – until I get a blank stare and then I say “built for Ferrari”.

Strangely, some people on this thread want to argue that it is a Fiat – given Fiat’s stamping the engine casting with their name. With that logic they would refer to the Lancia Stratos as a Fiat. The Fiat Dino was built using an existing Fiat chassis and a Ferrari designed engine – a Fiat product. The Dino 206/246 was designed and built like every other Ferrari, starting with an engine and a blank page - a Ferrari product.

However, referring to my car as a Dino – reflects the intent of the builder and how the car was badged and marketed.

Dave, you’re absolutely correct – it’s not a Ferrari, it’s better!

 

Sorry. I was just kidding. No one was posting ...

 

I see" Ferrari" on each of the carburetors and on the air filter housing. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the earlier racing cars with the Dino badge were considered to be a Ferrari.