If I were more of an Italian car guy, I’d imagine the Fiat Dino would be akin to the rare, classic BMWs just within the reach of my project car budget. Like an S38-powered M6 or M5, the Dino is a car you can likely afford to buy, but the maintenance and restoration costs can put the whole proposition into a different cost category altogether. Thanks to Barn Finds reader Jim S. for the find.
And it’s unfortunate, really – who doesn’t love the idea of a car wearing the everyman badge of Fiat with a Ferrari-sourced V6 up front? While not necessarily a sleeper by its most stringent definition (and with a body like that, everybody is expecting at least some action), the cocktail of cheap-car heritage with exotic-car credentials is one that’s hard to resist.
The seller claims this particular Dino has only 18,000 miles from new and is halfway through restoration – in this case, the only details offered is that there’s been a lot of work done to the body but it’s not close to being finished – and he doesn’t even get into any of the car’s likely mechanical needs. Since he’s got five Dinos kicking around, I’m guessing he knows a thing or two about restoring them and hopefully, the body is as nice in person as it appears in photos.
You can judge the quality of the work done so far for yourself here on eBay, and the seller has already listed a second example in silver, also here on eBay. He’ll make a deal of $100,000 for the whole lot, which may seem like the deal of a lifetime for a Dino fanatic. If I’m blowing that much money in one shot, however, I want to bring home a variety of makes, models and shapes – but I’d certainly make sure there’s at least one M5 and M6 in the bundle. If you were going to spend 100 large, would you buy all of the same models or mix it up a bit?
This seller probably shouldn’t get any action from his poor ads, but with the rarity and appeal of Dinos he no doubt will, especially in California. And with those 5 Dinos in the red car’s listing, which suddenly grow to 6 Dinos in the silver car’s listing, there will probably be someone willing to spring for the 5, or 6 or whatever number of cars he has as a lot for the $100K asking.
Red car: “engine compartment is missing a piece or something for sure”
No photos of the engine compartment, and with the way the front end is sitting high, and with the engine not running, I wonder what’s missing from it.
Silver car has an engine, which looks complete except for the air cleaner, but that leather interior looks like it will need replacing from being in the California sun.
Since Fiat Dino coupes have sold recently at auction for a median price of $45,700 according to the SCM Guide, the 5…or 6…cars are probably worth it for $100K to someone who can sort them out for resale. That’s assuming that the other 3, or 4 cars are as complete as these 2. But it’s too bad that these cars are 2 liter cars and not the more desirable 2.5 liter cars that came later because that will hold the resale prices back a bit.
I meant “more desirable 2.4 liter cars…”
Too many red flags here. Obviously the seller should know quite a bit about Dinos. You just don’t end up owning 5 or 6 of anything you don’t know about unless you are a flipper having walked into a collection. Hence the wording describing something missing from the engine bay is pure b.s. No shots of engine bay support my suspicions. I’d also like to get a better idea on the quality of body work that was done and done underside shots (easy to do with a car on the trailer. Crappy pictures and poor wording are other warning signs. Yeah, the seller may get some action but I doubt someone is going to layout anything close to the asking price without a thorough PPI.
All the negatives aside, in the mid-70’s, I had a friend that worked as a salesperson at a Fiat ( among other makes) dealer, and one day he brought home one of these. He took us for a ride, 4 adults, mind you, that car really set you back in the seat. And the sound of the engine, is something you’ll never forget. And stop too. Not like the American cars with huge motors and thin drum brakes. A Fiat on steroids, for sure.
Some of the best from Europe.
Made for driving fast….