Vehicle Description
1969 Dino 206GT
Year 1969
Make Ferrari
Model Dino 206GT
Chassis No DINO 206 G.T. ?00378?
Body No 138
Engine No 142 (N 142 135B 000 000.5125)
Gearbox No 141 (N.141)
Chassis Type 607
Engine Type 236B / 135B
Production Sequence No 140 (140 of 153)
Exterior Color Rosso Chiaro 20-R-190
Interior Color Nero 161 (Black) Vinyl with Cloth Inserts by
Stabilimenti di Brandizzo
Completed February 1969
Ordering Dealer M.G. Crepaldi S.a.s., Milano, Italia
Original Owner Dott. Achille Chiavelli, Milano, Italia
Mileage 97,063 Kilometers
Background:
Incredibly, Ferrari while on the brink of bankruptcy somehow
managed to complete a total of 153 Dino 206GT models from 1967 to
1969. This was of course, before FIAT wisely stepped in to put a
stop to the insanity of the concept and initial design. From that
point forward a legend was born achieving today a cult-status few
other automobiles have ever achieved. The hand assembled,
ultra-curvacious, all alloy-bodied 206GT, while clearly an
automotive work of art, was also a complete marketing and sales
disaster. The complicated design of the car featured a traditional
steel oval-tube frame with an inner fiberglass body and outer
panels all in a light-weight aluminum alloy. The mid-mounted,
quad-cam, transverse V6 engine was a directly descendent of the
two-liter Sports Prototype racing 206SP and even in detuned
production form was capable of being spun past 8,000rpm. Features
such as one-off, unique Magneti Marelli wiper blades, light-weight
magnesium, knock-off wheels, external out-side, rear deckled latch
and an outside fuel cap while aesthetically pleasing greatly
increased production cost. The interior retained a traditional
ornate wood wheel, full-length glove box, fixed rear head-rests,
unique gear-shift knob and both a passenger side grab handle and
foot rest bar. All of these features would have been great for a
"one-of-one" show car, but as a production vehicle, these items and
so much more all pushed production expenses to the point that it
was impossible for Ferrari to make any money on the model no matter
how many they built. The FIAT bean counters must have had serious
doubts about their decision to buy into the company after looking
at the 206GT from a profit to loss perspective. On the other hand,
fortunate clients who obtained one of these rare machines were in
for one of the most entertaining and beautiful Ferrari's ever
built.
FIAT/Ferrari attempted to address the short comings of the 206GT
production in order to make the car profitable or at least
initially less of a loss. The replacement model, now referred to as
the 246GT and internally as the "L-Model" retained the basic
concept of the initial design but utilized far more modern
production methods and more "off-the-shelf" components to reduce
production expenses. Knock-of, magnesium rims were still utilized
in order to use up those Ferrari had already purchased. Only the
opening panels were now completed in alloy. The outside fuel filler
cap was gone and the interior vastly simplified. The alloy block
two-liter, race-derived engine was replaced by a 2.4-liter version
cast in iron and while bhp and torque rose and came on in a more
linear manner, it was no longer the light road-rocket it had
previously been. The vehicle's wheel base was extended a full
two-inches, which might not seem like a lot. It did however
dramatically change the vehicle's overall appearance. The original
206GT was a ground-hugging, low-center of gravity machine of
perfectly shaped compound curves. The change in wheelbase on the
246GT altered the vehicles overall silhouette just enough that it
no longer looked like a one-off, prototype show-car and while more
comfortable and practical, again lost much of the charm of the
original design.
Despite all these changes, Ferrari still barely broke even on these
"interim, L-Model" Dinos but demand for them indicated the
potential for profit if enough could be sold and production costs
further reduced. A new "M-Model" did away with the car's few
remaining features that killed the vehicles profitability. Wheels
were now bolt-on and the entire car was now built in steel.
Interiors became standardized and with some additional changes a
new "E-Model" provided both a traditional coupe version and a "GTS"
"Targa-Top" version. In the end, Ferrari built more than 3,700
246GT and GTS models and these production versions remain ever
popular today, nearly 45 years after the last examples rolled out
of the Ferrari factory. While the production 246GT and GTS remain
popular with enthusiasts and collectors alike, it is the impossibly
rare 206GT that captivates the attention of many collectors. Most
experts believe today that probably only 100 or so of the 153
examples built survive leaving few opportunities to acquire
one.
DINO 206 G.T. ?00378?:
This particular 206GT was one of the very last examples completed
before FIAT ended production. It was built in the February 1969 as
production sequence number 140 of the 153 examples produced. It was
assembled on the order of the official Ferrari agent M.G. Crepaldi
S.a.s., in Milan for their favored client, Dott. Achille Chiavelli
who also resided in Milan. It was by all accounts a very standard
example, despite of course being completely hand assembled like
each of the 206GT models built. The exterior color was "Rosso
Chiaro 20-R-190" a very traditional Ferrari red and the interior
was "Nero 161" (Black) Vinyl with Cloth Inserts. Dott. Chiavelli's
ownership was very brief and the car purchased within the year by
an American enthusiast, Mr. George Goodrich of San Francisco,
California. It was formally imported and road-registered by
Goodrich over the next seven years until being sold in 1979 to
prominent Bay Area architect, Mr. Akira Seven Patrick of Woodside,
California. After 35 years with Mr. Patrick and now showing 97,000
kilometers on the odometer, this Dino was sold to Peter Kumar in
Astoria, New York. Mr. Kumar shortly thereafter consigned the car
in the March of 2014 Gooding & Company Amelia Island sale where it
achieved a selling price of $638,000. The new owner was the
well-known Ferrari collector, Tony Shooshani of Beverly Hills,
California. It joined his growing collection with a plan of full
restoration but that never took place. Two years later, Mr.
Shooshani consigned the car back to Gooding & Company for their
2016 January Scottsdale auction. The catalog estimates were
$700,000 to $800,000 but the car failed to reach reserve and was
not sold. Mr. Shooshani again arranged for the car to be auctioned,
this time in the January 2018 RM/Sothebys Scottsdale sale at which
time our company purchased it for a price of $423,000.
Present:
To understand this 206GT today, you need to go back more than 20
years when I first saw this Dino in a repair shop near San
Francisco, California. I was there to inspect a Ferrari Daytona we
were considering purchasing but having just bought a Dino 206GT, I
was very curious about this particular example. Our company had
owned nearly 100 different 246GT and GTS models but only two of the
rare 206GT models had been acquired in that same time frame. We
also had at the same time for sale a very rare racing 206SP and
with Dino's on my mind, I took the time to look this particular
vehicle over carefully. Denny Schue, the original founder of the
Dino Register in 1980 had been a great mentor and educator
witho...for more information please contact the seller.
