The name Dino was used in tribute to the son of Enzo Ferrari. The young Dino died in 1956 from muscular dystrophy that accompanied him from birth. But a few months earlier, Dino convinced his father with good foundations to develop a high-performance V6 engine.
The V6 engine in question had a double overhead camshaft per bed, a displacement of 1,500 cm3 and an angle of 65°. This engine was designed in 1956 and in the coming years would achieve victories and successes in Formula 1, Formula 2 and Sport Prototypes championships.
Returning to the history of the street car, between 1965 and 1967 Ferrari exhibited various prototypes with technical and aesthetic variants. It was not yet close to being a production car and some solutions presented were used in the subsequent competition Dino.
In early 1968, Ferrari presented the Dino 206 GT ready to be mass-produced at the Brussels Motor Show. This model mounted on its steel tubular chassis a central V6 engine located transversely, a layout that Ferrari had not used before in a street car. The 206 GT also had direct sprocket and rack steering, telescopic shock absorbers with springs, anti-roll bars, disc brakes and alloy wheels.
The V6 impeller designed by Franco Rocchi reached 1,987 cm3 of displacement with a compression ratio of 9.2 to 1. With its three Weber 40 DCN double-mouth carburetors and 180 hp at 8,000 rpm, the Dino achieved excellent performance, accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 7 seconds and reaching a top speed of 225 km/h.
Pininfarina's bodywork design was once again a sample of the traditional and harmonious design style that fascinates the entire car enthusiast. The aluminium body was manufactured by the other illustrious Italian bodybuilder, Scaglietti.
A curious fact was the non-use of Ferrari emblems. The traditional Cavallino Rampante was not present in the Dino, which in principle had been considered as a possible independent brand.
The interior maintained the same level of attention to detail and exquisiteness of exterior design. With a chamois covered top, Nardi wooden steering wheel with three beams and two-tone armchairs, the interir was the perfect harmony between sufficient elegance, passenger comfort and sporty look.
By 1969, just over a year from the debut of the successful Dino 206 GT, Ferrari had sold 150 copies. Then production was interrupted. It turned out that the performance of the Porsche 911 was beginning to shout over the Dino, so Enzo Ferrari decided to redesign it to improve performance.
The second generation of the Ferrari Dino was presented, in its final form, at the Turin Motor Show in 1969. The only visible aesthetic difference lay in the fuel load cover.
To compete against the Porsche 911, Ferrari increased the size of the V6. At the time, with 2,418 cm3 engine capacity, the Dino 246 GT reached a superior power: 195 hp at 7,600 rpm.
The new V6 block would cease to be alloy to return to iron smelting, this was for cost reasons. For the same reason, the body would replace its aluminum panels with new steel panels. Although he actually used a lot of alloy panels.
Another important modification in the chassis was the increase of wheelbase to 2,340 mm. This affected the total length of the car up to 4,230 mm. The weight was also altered by the changes, increasing 50 kilos to a total of 950 kg.
But with new Weber 40 DCF/14 carburetors and other mechanical modifications, the revamped Dino 246 GT seemed to be affected by overweight. On the contrary, it achieved better performance, accelerating from 0 to 100 km/h in just 6.2 seconds and reaching a top speed of over 240 km/h.
© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —
Ferrari 312 P
Ferrari 312 PB Ferrari 330 P Prototypes Ferrari 512 BB Ferrari Mondial Ferrari 365 Daytona Ferrari Mythos Ferrari 250 GT Le Mans Speciale Ferrari F430 Scuderia Ferrari 512 BBLM