Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 17

Thread: Fiat Dino 1966-1973

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Wichita, Kansas USA
    Posts
    11,217

    Fiat Dino 1966-1973

    Fiat Dino

    The Fiat Dino is an exotic front-engined, rear-drive sports car manufactured between 1966 and 1973. It was an intermediate step towards creating Ferrari's "Dino" and the two are often confused. The Fiat Dino allowed Ferrari to achieve the necessary production numbers to homologate Alfredo Ferrari's (better known by his nickname of "Dino") V6 engine for Formula 2 racing. The Fiat Dino Spider was introduced at Turin Motor Show 1966 and Coupe version one year later at the Geneva Motorshow.

    Ferrari started its first line of mid-engined cars in 1968 and sold them under the brand name of "Dino" (not Ferrari). The intention originally was to brand all V6 cars as "Dino", as a tribute to Alfredo, Ferrari's son, who had died aged just 24 and is credited with the inspiration for the V6 engine. The 'Dino' brand was rejected however by the US Ferrari dealers as difficult to sell, so the cars were designated 'FIAT' and 'Ferrari' Dinos. The Dino 206 GT and Dino 246 GT & GTS were equipped with engines identical to those used in the Fiats; whereas the later Dino 308 GT4 had an unrelated V8 and was rebranded "Ferrari" in 1976, thus ending the use of the "Dino" trademark.

    The car was first offered with a 2.0-litre, 160 PS (118 kW; 158 hp) V-6, with a 5-speed manual transmission.The same 2.0L engine was used in Ferrari Dino 206 GT, produced during the same period. The conversion of the Dino 196 racing engine for road-going use in the Dino 206 and the Fiat Spider and Coupe was entrusted by Fiat to Aurelio Lampredi, to whom Ferrari owed so many great engines. Lampredi, interviewed in the early 1980s (he died in 1989 at the age of 72), noted that, "Things didn't work out exactly as Ferrari had foreseen." Ferrari had counted on building the engines at Maranello, but Fiat's management insisted on taking control of production, to avoid any breaks in the engine supply.

    Fiat quoted 160 PS (118 kW; 158 hp) for the Fiat Dino and Coupe, and in 1967 Ferrari - presenting the first prototype of the Dino 206 GT - claimed 180 hp (130 kW). This, however, was not the case. Both engines were made by Fiat workers in Turin on the same production line, without any discrimination as to their destination, and all were exactly the same. 150 units were simply taken from the first production batch at the beginning of 1968 to power the Dino 206 GTs. Jean-Pierre Gabriel, writing in "Les Ferraris de Turin", notes that, "La declaration de Ferrari ne reposait sur aucun fondament technique" - Ferrari's statement had no technical basis! However, as always, it was certainly a savvy piece of marketing by the Commendatore.

    This engine was later enlarged to a 2.4-liter, 180 PS (132 kW; 178 hp) unit in 1969. The Fiat Dino was originally equipped with a live axle suspended by a single leaf spring, but later examples used a sophisticated coil-sprung independent rear suspension setup derived from the Fiat 130. As regards provenance, the 2.0 litre was the first car to have electronic ignition as standard, ran in Le Mans and many of the 'Ferrari' and 'FIAT' parts are interchangeable. Moreover, the Girling brakes for the 2.4s were shared with the De Tomaso Pantera and the Lamborghini Miura. The ZF gear box was also used by Aston Martin. The Dinoplex C electronic capacitive discharge ignition was developed by Magneti Marelli in 1968 for the high revving Dino V6 engine (hence the name Dinoplex). Performance was impressive, with a 0-60 mph time of less than 8 seconds. Fuel was delivered via three Weber 40DCNF12 carburetors.

    Two body designs were made and manufactured for Fiat; the Spider by Pininfarina and the Coupé by Bertone. The more common 2.0 cars were assembled by FIAT, whereas the 2.4 cars were assembled by Ferrari at Maranello alongside the 246s. Paradoxically then, the 2.4 cars were as much 'Ferrari" as the 246s, especially the 2.4 Spiders, of which only 424 were made. These cars were designed by Pininfarina and built using the same engines and assembled by the same Ferrari engineers on the same Ferrari production lines as the 246s, albeit significantly rarer. In this respect, 'FIAT' Dino and 'Ferrari' Dino was simply early marketing driven 'badge engineering'. When one discards the marketing, the lineage is plain: "Dino...."

    Of the 7,803 vehicles produced, 26% were spiders and 74% were coupes
    Last edited by Duell; 10-31-2013 at 03:32 PM.
    I'm going to eat breakfast. And then I'm going to change the world.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Wichita, Kansas USA
    Posts
    11,217
    I'm going to eat breakfast. And then I'm going to change the world.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    Boston, MA
    Posts
    205
    Is there any relation to the Ferrari Dino?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Tallinn, Estonia
    Posts
    2,861
    Quote Originally Posted by gregvl52
    Is there any relation to the Ferrari Dino?
    Yea, and a huge one!
    Read all about it from here

    cheers

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    Eindhoven
    Posts
    4,059
    Matt, why are you so keen on Fiat's?
    "The best thing about this is that you know that it has to come from a country where drugs is legal"

    Top Gear on the Vandenbrink Carver One

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Wichita, Kansas USA
    Posts
    11,217
    I'm not necessarily.
    I'm going to eat breakfast. And then I'm going to change the world.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Eindhoven, The Netherlands
    Posts
    7,833
    Fiat Dino at the concours d'elegance Paleis Het Loo 2004
    Attached Images Attached Images

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2003
    Location
    Romania Bucharest
    Posts
    1,026
    Quote Originally Posted by jorismo
    Matt, why are you so keen on Fiat's?
    i could ask the same thing about BMWs

    the Fiat Dino .. one of the best Fiat's ever .
    There is no terrible way of winning
    there is just winning

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2003
    Location
    Wichita, Kansas USA
    Posts
    11,217
    Fiat Dino #3

    Found another one
    Attached Images Attached Images
    I'm going to eat breakfast. And then I'm going to change the world.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    The Netherlands
    Posts
    4,218
    Fiat Dino #3
    Attached Images Attached Images

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Delft
    Posts
    4,487
    1967 Fiat Dino Spider
    Attached Images Attached Images

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Tallinn, Estonia
    Posts
    2,861
    Series 2 Fiat Dino Spider.

    New 2.4-litre V6 engine, independent rear suspension, bolted wheels instead of knock-offs.

    Only 420 Spiders were made between 1969 and 1972.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Revo; 08-14-2020 at 01:57 PM.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Tallinn, Estonia
    Posts
    2,861
    Series 1 Dino Spider.

    2.0-litre V6 engine, live rear axle from Fiat 2300, vinyl covered dashboard (wood trim appears after February 1967).
    Attached Images Attached Images

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Tallinn, Estonia
    Posts
    2,861
    1,163 Series 1 Spiders were made between 1966 and 1969.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Location
    Tallinn, Estonia
    Posts
    2,861
    Series 1 Dino Coupe.

    Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone.
    Attached Images Attached Images

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Similar Threads

  1. Gran Turismo 5
    By Sauc3 in forum Gaming
    Replies: 1020
    Last Post: 05-19-2014, 03:16 PM
  2. Fiat Seicento (187) 1998-2010
    By drakkie in forum Matt's Hi-Res Hide-Out
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 06-14-2013, 11:26 AM
  3. Fiat Punto (199) 2005-
    By McLareN in forum Matt's Hi-Res Hide-Out
    Replies: 54
    Last Post: 09-04-2011, 07:22 AM
  4. FIAT near stake in Chrysler.
    By Dino Scuderia in forum General Automotive
    Replies: 106
    Last Post: 01-31-2009, 12:59 PM
  5. Fiat Coupe, My Review
    By Revo in forum General Automotive
    Replies: 29
    Last Post: 03-04-2006, 09:53 PM

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •