Ferrari Dino 206 GT ~ 1968-69

Enzo Ferrari’s son, Alfredo Ferrari nicknamed Dino, was working in the family business and approached his father on the need to build a 1.6 liter V6 engine to enter Formula 2 racing. Mainly created by Vittorio Jano, this engine also went on to be successful in Sport Prototype and even F1. Sadly though before all this could happen Dino Ferrari died of muscular dystrophy in 1956 and never saw his vision come alive.

It wasn’t long before Dino’s engine found its place on road going Fiats to satisfy the FIA’s demands of 500 production cars sold for race homologation purposes. After a Ferrari prototype was built and showcased in 1965, the First “Ferrari” Dino 206 was revealed to the public in 1968. Enzo introduced and branded the car as a "Dino" 206 GT and not a "Ferrari", to honor his son and differentiate the expensive V12 machines from the cheaper V6 production cars with the Porsche 911 as a target competitor in mind.

The Dino 206 GT was special because it was Ferrari’s first real mid-engine sports car (even if called Dino) after the 1964 Ferrari 250 LM, which was really derived from a Sport Prototype racer only built at 16 units. Also new was the 206 nomenclature, referring to the engine capacity (2.0 Liter) and the number of cylinders (6). The all alloy body was designed by Aldo Bravarone working at PininFarina, then built by Scaglietti, and oh my… it was a true accomplishment of automotive beauty! It had some victorious P4 flair, with a very low hood and deeply sculpted headlights sometimes seen covered by Plexiglas elements on very curvaceous front fenders. Trapezoidal turning signals were placed at the tip of the nose and two sets of three horizontal air interior vent intakes were located on the hood. Viewed from the profile, the Dino looked like rolling waves, while the conical air intakes on the rear fenders starting from the doors, were a masterpiece unto themselves.

The mid-rear engine was horizontally placed to remain compact, and was surrounded by superb rear flying buttresses. This made for a smooth transition from the roof panel to the rear with a vertical panoramic rear window that allowed the driver to see out of the rear quarter side windows. The Kamm-tail had a tiny rear spoiler lip with two round taillights on each side accentuated by thin split bumpers also found at the front with a central rubber strip. To keep on breaking with tradition only two exhaust pipes found their way at the back.

The interior was inspired by the Ferrari Daytona with its oval binnacle, and housed eight Veglia gauges with vent sliders found in the middle of the dashboard. No center console was found on the 206 Dino, but on the tunnel console the five-speed dogleg (1st bottom left) gear lever had an exposed gate as any Ferrari should… sorry Dino. The tight interior space was also limited by a low roofline, but at least you were snug in bucket seats.

The tubular chassis had a small wheelbase of 2280 mm (90 in), giving the little Dino great handling capabilities also helped by the all independent suspension. Meanwhile this 1984 lb (900 kg) lightweight aluminium mid-engine sports car could stop on a dime with its all around disc brakes system.

As mentioned, the transversally mounted all alloy, dual-cam 2 liter (121 cu in) V6 Dino engine was placed in front of the rear axle for good weight distribution and was fed by 3 Weber carburetors. This gave the 206 Dino a claimed 180 hp at 8000 rpm, allowing the little Berlinetta to get to 60 mph in 7.8 seconds, while the top speed was 146 mph (235 km/h).

The Dino 206 GT was produced at only 152 cars until 1969. It left the spotlight to the more viable, steel bodied Dino 246 GT, now in charge of carrying the Dino name further.

JJP.