Vehicle Description
Chassis No. 00600
Engine No. 000.5317
Transmission No. 255
In November 1969, exactly two years after the debut of the
mid-engined 206 GT under the newly-formed Dino marque, Ferrari
unveiled the Dino 246 GT having already begun production months
earlier. Its appearance at the Turin Motor Show that year came
shortly after Fiat took a 50-percent stake in Ferrari, which
included moving production of the new Dino 246 GT to their Turin
plant where the Fiat Dino had been in production since 1966. The
246 GT, therefore, represented a more refined Dino, with Fiat's
major investment and manufacturing might ushering in a new era of
two-seater Ferrari sports cars.
The Dino's timeless Pininfarina-designed coachwork, now rendered in
steel, remained almost identical to its predecessor - its engine
cover slightly elongated to accommodate its 2.1-inch longer
wheelbase. The Formula Two homologation regulations, which had
necessitated the 206 GT's two-liter displacement were no longer in
effect, allowing Ferrari to increase the Dino's engine capacity to
2.4-liters. Still transversely mounted and topped with triple Weber
carburetors, the enlarged V6 produced a claimed 195-horsepower,
more than compensating for the added weight.
Completed on 4 February 1970, this particular Dino 246 GT hails
from the first of three series of cars referred to as "L," "M," and
"E" to differentiate minor variations in production. Early
"L-Series" cars, produced from late 1969 through 1970, are
supremely desirable and are unofficially designated as an "interim
car" by connoisseurs for their mixture of 206 GT and 246 GT
features. They retain the 206 GT's Cromodora single knock-off
wheels, 206-style seats and dashboard, and a lightweight aluminum
front lid, while benefiting from improvements like the more
powerful 2.4-liter engine and servo-assisted disc brakes. As
documented by Marcel Massini, chassis number 00600 is the 98th Dino
246 GT of 355 L-Series Dinos.
Finished in 20-W-152 Bianco Polo (White) over a 161 Nero Similpelle
(Black leatherette) interior, this left-hand-drive Dino was
retained by the Ferrari factory in Maranello for use in further
development testing by the Reparto Esperienze (Experience
Department). In a letter dated 15 April 1997 from Ferrari
Assistenza Tecnica, chassis 00600 is described as being modified
from its original center-bolt, knock-off wheels for testing of the
five-bolt wheel attachment system that would appear on production
M-Series Dinos. As a result, 00600 is believed to be the first Dino
featuring five-bolt wheels to be sold into private ownership when
in June 1971, the car was sold by the factory displaying
approximately 3,000 kilometers to Guido Conti of La Spezia, Italy.
Conti drove the Dino as it was intended, as evidenced by the 21,130
kilometers displayed on the odometer when it returned to Ferrari
Factory Assistenza Clienti at Viale Trento Trieste in Modena for
service in September 1971. Conti then passed 00600 down to his
grandson, Gianpiero Conti of Bologna, Italy in December 1982, who
would retain the car as a cherished member of the family for a
further 14 years.
After residing with a documented sequence of Italian owners in the
late 1990s, the Dino was imported to the Netherlands in 1999 where
it entered the care of Nico Koel showing approximately 50,000
kilometers. Shortly thereafter, Koel entrusted the renowned Ferrari
specialists at Piet Roelofs Engineering in Oosterbeek, Holland to
oversee a mechanical overhaul of the suspension and
matching-numbers transmission. During Koel's 14-year stewardship,
chassis 00600 received Ferrari Classiche certification in 2007 and
was featured in issue no. 195 of Cavallino magazine in October
2013, a digital copy of which is on file, before finally parting
with the car later that year.
As a part of the Academy of Art University collection since 2015,
this spectacular Classiche-certified L-Series Dino 246 GT has been
remarkably well kept and is believed to retain a large amount of
its original factory finishes. Additionally, it still rides on its
as-delivered five-bolt Cromodora wheels - likely the first
production example to feature this mounting system before it
appeared on all subsequent Dinos. With a comprehensive history file
of Italian and Dutch registration records documenting a series of
keepers from new, and boasting a matching-numbers engine and
transmission, chassis 00600 is undoubtedly one of the finest
examples offered in recent memory.
