The Ferrari purists out there will likely cringe at the comparison of this 1968 Fiat Dino with their beloved Prancing Ponies, but this Fiat is actually very closely related to Ferrari’s Dino. Sure it’s not mid-engined, but the engine is nearly identical and many of the parts are interchangeable. This one was discovered in an airport hangar where it has been stored for the past 23 years. It appears to be in solid shape and can be found here on eBay.
When Alfredo (Dino) Ferrari developed a new V6 to be used in Formula 2 it had to achieve certain production numbers to be homologated. To achieve the necessary numbers, the new 2.0 liter V6 was installed in a new entry level Ferrari and Fiat’s new top of the line Dino. This high revving V6 only puts out 160 horsepower, but sounds amazing while doing it. The seller hasn’t tried to start it, but they did check the compression and found that all the cylinders still had good readings.
Fiat’s Dino was meant to be an intermediate step between a typical Fiat and a Ferrari. The interior is definitely higher quality than your typical Fiat and has switch gear more like what would be found in a Ferrari. Overall this interior is solid, but the dash is cracked and the seats will need some leather conditioner. The seller claims the previous owner was an Italian mechanic and it’s obvious that they took good care of it before parking it.
While this Fiat looks to be in great shape and will likely be much cheaper to buy than its Ferrari cousin, it will still be expensive to repair. With any luck the engine won’t need much work to get running again, but don’t count on it being a simple fix. This leaves us wondering whether we’d rather just save up to get an actual Ferrari. Which would you rather have, this Fiat Dino now or a Ferrari Dino later?
Save Up.
For a Ferrari.
Well, that bubble has popped.
This is a beauty. And FIAT was blessed with some nice coachwork in the 50s-early 60s.
Wish there was a. Wav file for the sound of the V6, though.
http://www.sportscarshop.com/1958-fiat-abarth-750-zagato-double-bubble/
I have always had a bit of lust in my heart for these…
I drove a 1967 bright red Dino across the auction block in Palm Springs in February. It was in very nice shape and ran great. Sold for $14, 175.
As the former owner of several Fiats & even more Alfa’s these less expensive Italian cars are great fun to drive. The big trick to owning these cars is to find a private repair shop that specializes in these cars ( if you don’t work on them yourself ) These guys no all the tricks to keep them happy, really good & talented Italian shops are becoming hard to find. I hope this one ends up in a good home.
These Fiat Dino coupes are among the cheapest of the non-Ferrari/Lambo/Maser exotics, and can be almost as much fun, altho this one with a 2-litre engine will not outrun a lot of modern sedans. Get a ’69 or later for the 2.4 litre engine and a bit more power. Or, get an Alfa GTV6 and get similar performance and sound for a fraction of the cost.
The Coupe was made in greater numbers (5, 814) than the Spider (1, 989) and generally sells for a lot less (Coupe: $19-32K; Spider: $49-82K; all #2 cars), which is typical for closed vs open models, even if the production numbers were similar.
This car might be a #3 or lower, and should definitely sell below the low end of the range for a #2 coupe, but factor in the absence of underside pics and the untested suspension and engine and it should be worth still less, but I’m not assuming there’s a particularly low reserve here.
Altho that 165# compression reading is good, it’s artifically high because of the oil that was put into the cylinders the day before the compression test. This engine has timing chains, not belts, and so there should be no reason not to try to start it, assuming there are no obvious horror stories showing in the oil or coolant.
I would not bid on this without hearing it run. A rebuild will cost as much for a $10-12K Dino Coupe engine as for a $200K Dino 246GT engine, and it won’t be cheap.
~ I believe Dolphin has capsulized the salient elements of the discussion. I am very fond of the interior design. It just fits like a gentleman’s kid-skin glove. The shape of the body design, (to me personally) is infinitely better (to my eye) than the non Fiat Dino.
HANGAR, not hanger. A hangar is where you keep an airplane (and the occasional Dino). A hanger is something you keep your shirts on in a closet. I was conjuring up weird mental images of a disassembled Dino in a walk in closet with the pieces on hangers.
I like old Fiats. The interior is a delight.
Anyone out there have my ex? (not the ex wife), a ’61/’62 OSCA spyder from SoCal? Red with black plates.
No, but I wish I did (the OSCA, not the Ex)
Reserve is met so someone is going to own a very nice project car. Seller has a XKE on ebay also.
Highest valid bid: $13K
Seller cancelled all bids, so no sale.
~ how very strange. reserve was met but seller cancelled all bids. so the outward reserve, and more, was bid then the inward, super-secret, reserve was applied leaving the shopping public scratching wtf. auctions frequently state ‘reserve lowered’ or ‘waived’, this is the other kind of sale. an offer for offers.