1973 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS

“Occasionally, we do test cars that closely approach perfection, missing it only in details of execution or performance. Into this rare category comes the 2.4-litre transverse mid-engined Ferrari” – British magazine Motor gets to grips with the new Dino 246 in 1971

Few cars truly warrant the epithet ‘Most Beautiful in the World’. Of those, only a handful are as rewarding to drive as they are to look at. The immortal Ferrari Dino is one.

This Dino 246 GTS was first delivered in 1973 to a customer in Zurich. The following year it was sold to our client, also Swiss, who has kept it ever since.

The opportunities to purchase a two-owner Euro-spec Dino GTS are rare. To find one in this condition, in highly sought-after and very 1970s Marrone, is one not to be missed.

The Ferrari Dino 246 GTS

Launched at the 1972 Geneva Motor Show, the targa-roofed version of the popular Dino 246 GT – a car for the wealthy sporting enthusiast, rather than the super-rich clientele who favoured the big Maranello V12s – was based on the final, E Series Dino 246.

The most accomplished version of the first mid-engined Ferrari road car had a redesigned and improved gearbox and other modifications to make it a far more rounded GT than the first L and M series cars. Rather than being just ‘the affordable Ferrari’, the final Dino was a desirable luxury sports car in its own right.

The Dino 246 GTS had a hard roof that stowed behind the seats and, with the windows in the rear sail panels deleted, the GTS was given a distinctly different stance. Of the 1,282 Dino GTSs built, most were exported to North America, a market that took a Federalised version with a lower-output engine (minus 20bhp), the familiar US repeater lights and other small changes.

In total, Dino 246 GTS production ran to 1,282 examples. Left-hand drive, Euro-spec cars numbered just 401. Of these cars, leather upholstery was unusual – many were delivered with vinyl seats and trim.

Today, the European cars are the most sought-after, with exciting vibrant colours such as bright greens or blues, orange/red Rosso Dino, metallic browns and golds highly praised. With so many cars repainted ‘resale red’ in the 1990s, it’s hard to find a Dino ‘as delivered’ in unusual 1970s shades. This 1973 Dino 246 GTS is one.

This Motor Car

Dino 246 GTS ‘7054’ was commissioned by a Zurich-based, Swiss client in elegant Marrone Dino Metallizzato (106-M-73) with Beige (430, vinyl) interior. Interesting options included power windows and air conditioning. The sale was handled by the national distributor SAVAF (Société Anonyme pour la Vente des Automobiles Scuderia Filipinetti) and it was completed on 31 August 1973.

That year, company owner Georges Filipinetti’s big Ferrari 512Ms were going head to head with Porsche 917s at Le Mans.

The car’s first owner was a Mr Zimmerman, but in 1974 he sold it to another Swiss gentleman who has owned it ever since.