To all you Dinophiles, Guys, I need your support and thoughts on this one. As most long termers on here know,I have been restoring (albeit slowly) GTs 07528 for some time now. The car was supplied to the UK as a wide arch model with standard seats. But my HUGE dilemma and this is where you come in, Is that the vehicle was supplied in special order 20-B-50 Salchi (Black in other words) back in August 1974. The car was reputedly the only wide arch GTs to come to the UK in black. I have the original provenance of the car supplied to me by one Tony Willis ex of Marenello Concessionaires. The car over the years has been silver,mid mettallic blue and red twice! Heres my dillema, I want to keep the car as long as possible and half of me would love the car in either silver or the blue that Omgjon has put on his car, The other half of me is saying that this is a special car and should look the way it did when new in 74. personally i am frightened that black does not do the curves and lines of these beutyies justice and that it will show EVERY mark and blemish. This has come to a head now as the chassis is painted and the black (20-B-50) turns out this colour was only produced for ONE year and that ICI have to make me a batch from scratch to order..... Well it's been on order for a month now and i am beginning to have second thoughts and to be frank i have from day one. Do i say stuff the provenance and go with a different colour??? Over to you. Regards, G P
Hi Graham I would say thats a no brainer apart from the fact that its a very rare option as a colour(english spelling) the few i have seen in black were exceptional looking cars and there is no shortage of red or yellow ones .Mine was white when new but it came to me red and when i do repaint it wont be back to white because to me they just look wrong in white where as i always thought the black ones were special. Why dont you ask all the guys with black ones to post some decent pics to help you make up your mind i am sure MRONY wont mind as his looks very good. well thats my opinion but as my love of Dinos came from the Persuaders and we all know how cheesey that is nowadays what would i know. Good luck Danny (ex Brummy)
Yes! Black! I suspect it will look very good, and it will certainly look very different, as well as original. Julio
Paint it whichever color you like! As you are keeping it a long time, please yourself with it. Good Luck! Art S.
Omgjon also has a black coupe that he is planning to do a "ground up" rebuild like his current blue one.
That was a Spider I sold and got the original flares and chairs coupe (Black) to keep and restore. I will not be keeping it black. Black is a tough color. They look great freshly washed but you turn around and when you look back you can see every dust flake that has landed. I would just do a color that you really like. I'm going through colors in my mind now for the black one. My favorite color is no suprise (Dino Blue Metallic) but I can't do two that color unless I had a matching coupe and spider, I think not.
Check out one of the early posts by MRONY - "Dino 07974 Just Arrived" - good photos of his car just after he took delivery. I think his car looks great. BTW, with respect to white, I remember seeing recently a photo of a white Dino posted somewhere here and it looked much better than I though it would. Keith W. also thinks that white really "pops" on a Dino.
Is Dino Blue Metallic the same as "Blu Sera"??? I share your passion for blue Ferraris. I have had three blue ones (currently just two). Julio
I am wrestling with the very same dilemma. As noted above, my car is black, original paint from 1974. It has a billion imperfections -- chicken feet everywhere, cracking around the gas filler, badges, etc. I am seriously thinking about repainting it, because from less than 3 feet away, the paint can drive you nuts. Of course, no one else cares except me. But, from 5+ feet away it is mesmerizing. There is no question that black is impossible to keep clean. Dust, fuzz from towels, water spots -- every single thing shows. But, like a great-looking, high maintenance woman, it can be worth the effort. In my humble opinion, this car is an absolute killer in black. The sensuous shape is actually enhanced by the color, and the subtle genius of the design is elegantly underscored by it. In fact, I would not have bought a red or yellow car. No slight intended, but those colors, while Ferrari hallmarks, just scream out LOOK AT MY EXPENSIVE CAR!!!! to me. My unscientific parking lot, wife, and teenage daughter and her friends surveys indicate that women tend to go for black over all other colors -- if that's a factor. Part of the charm of these cars is the individual vehicle's story and history. If your car was the only black Dino of its type brought into the UK, making it another color just makes it another repainted car. Having said that, if you like another color more, and you're going to drive it a lot, and seeing some dirt will make you crazy, the pleasure of having the money to toss around for on of these cars is that you can make it look the way you want it to, and to hell with everything else. Personally, if I were to change the color, I would go for silver -- and maybe one of the subtly-hued silvers There's a color that was supposedly mixed for Priness Grace that's just amazing - I saw it on a 360 a while back! Once you deviate from the original color of the car, who cares if the paint you pick is an "official" Ferrari color? Here's a small file of a picture I took today. I haven't edited it at all yet. Black, purple pink or blue -- just driving it is all you need anyhow... Image Unavailable, Please Login
You have a very rare opportunity to preserve history, seize it and be the purveyor of the righteous path. With a little foresight this is actually a very good colour. You will not regret the original black as it makes the lines of the car stunning and is a great contrast to the chrome trim. If you haven't seen a Dino in person that is the black colour then you need to, it will immediately solidify your mind to do it. One local owner who has a black Ferrari, Dave Tegeler, is a concours winner albeit the fact that he goes on nearly EVERY FCA club drive and trip - rain or shine, dirt or track. HINT #1: He plans on and has the front re-sprayed every 4 years and includes 14 coats of clear coat applied with the intent of being able to rub them off. Dave plans ahead and got a primer colour of black so that when he receives a chip it will not be blatant and in many cases are diminished from view HINT #2: When washing or waxing the black car, NEVER make strokes in a circular direction, always move in a fore-to-aft direction. Like the reflectivity obscuring stealth fighter, this will minimize the number of swirls reflected back to the eye. Once you drive the black Dino and acquire chips, as we all do, you'll find that re-spraying the front to be sooooo easy on a non-metallic car. No, Bleu Sera (aka Evening Blue) is darker and has a heavier cast to it.
I've owned my Dino in black for 24 years. I would not dream of another color. About 20 years ago, I did a down to the metal high quality repaint. I have looked after the paint ever since with Meguire's products, and I'm not afraid of driving the car (I have 94,000 miles now). The car still looks gorgeous. It all comes down to what you like. I think Dinos look best in colors other than red, and that black does a great job of bringing out the lines.
Thank you Synchro. I have a similar but lesser dilema. My Dino was originally "Blu Sera Metalizado", but when I purchased it it was a non-original light blue, which my wife loves and I think suits the car wonderfuly (see picture). Now, the paint is getting very, very tired and i think it will soon be time for a repaint. Should I go back to the original? Or keep my wife happy and maintain the great new color? That being said, I don't mean to hijack the thread. Evidently black looks great on a Dino. Mrony your car is stunning! I am just curious about your antenna and its installation point. I hate the antenna's position on my car, smack in the center of the roof... At least I have something to think of when I have trouble sleeping... Julio Image Unavailable, Please Login
Graham. Do whatever color you want. However, if it was my car, I'd go black. The car looks STUNNING in black, and it's a small car, som maintenance should not be all that killer. My Porsche is black, again, a small car, and it does require serious attention to keep it looking nice, but it's do-able on a small car. I'd never buy a black SUV, but a little Dino, ABSOLUTELY!! What are you going to do with the initerior? Do you have the original stuff, or are you popping in all new? Dave M.
When I bought my dino some 12 years ago a (famous) also new owner bought a red one and let it paint black. Mine is silver and I saw the 2 next to each other. In fact the silver (mine) looked fantastic as the black one was "dead". The black paint just kills the beatiful lines of a dino. Just think why just one dino was black original. Let the new (future) owner go for originality (let alone that you can speak of that after 5 color changes). I saw a 275 in black, same story! Oscar
Well, All was going well until 275's reply albeit i respect his comments. It seems that the general concensus of opinion is to put her in black which is kind of what i expected. I have spent literally five minutes totally letting myself become mesmerized lokking at Mrony's car it does it for me. Secretly you have mostly all said what i really needed you to say i just am very jittery about the whole thing, and i guess the main problem is that i have never seen a black car in the flesh!. Syncro i take note of your valid points on care of the black surface thankyou. Dave, The interior was reupholstered some 18 months ago! and is to the original colour spec see below. So there you have it, I go out singing to myself these immortal words, " I see a line of cars and theyre all painted BLACK, No colours anymore i want them to turn BLACK" Will post photos of her as soon as paint is on. Kindest Regards, G P. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Here are a few more of the photos I took yesterday... Just take your time when you're buffing it, and I love the idea of black primer! You will be happy. Look "dead" to you???? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very, very nice! I particularly appreciate the absence of little horses and other after-market additions. Clean Dinos are rare. Cheers, Julio
I love silver Dinos, but the paint is generally a flat metallic finish, with almost no reflective quality, which robs it of depth. It seems the goal of silver paint is essentially to look like brushed stainless steel (think Delorean!). To call black paint dead, when it mirrors the world and picks up all the colors, makes me think you are looking for a different word. There is no accounting for taste, and the Dino looks nice in almost any color (I'm sorry, the orange and purple cars just don't work for me at any level!), but black is beautiful!
Everybody has his/hers preference. I just give my thoughts and I do not expect to change other opinions. Black is beautiful? For a T-ford.....But now you say, I wear Prada, and thats mainly black.......... Oscar
