Ferrari Dino 308 GT4

[dinkel]

Loved the afternoon drive in this gem. Forward cabin gives a Targa Florio-esque experience.


Dash is unusual and excellent. Fighterpilot style.


Marcello Gandini did a great job designing the first mid-engined Ferrari production car.


It's pretty from every angle and compact, which makes it an agile little beast.


Dogleg 5-box wasn't a problem: the thing revs!

[P5BNij]

A gorgeous looking thing, never quite understood why so many Ferrari folk look down their noses at them. Not bad at all bad considering it originated from a rejected and shelved proposal for the Lamborghini Urraco.

Jon Podgson's passioned appraisal is it spot on here...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ9s3P34v9s

These are rather good too...

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+jon+p...

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+jon+p...

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=youtube+jon+p...

When I lived in West London in the early '80s I regularly used to see a silver one with a red interior on a private plate parked up in Old Oak Common Lane, it looked so exotic back then, and the shape and proportions still look right today. After the Mondial, the cheapest and some would say the most satisfying way into Ferrari ownership. The road test reports of the day all said the handling was top notch although some still mourned the 246 at the time.

Edit - just noticed the finish on your dash isn't the standard aluminium style, it looks good!

Edited by P5BNij on Tuesday 5th June 13:08

[P5BNij]

A distinct lack of Rosso in this line up of GT4s...



Gandini on form as usual...



There's an early Dino badged sub £40k RHD example for sale not far from me which is tempting, but could turn out to be troublesome at that price!

Edited by P5BNij on Tuesday 5th June 13:18

[vixen1700]

These have really grown on me over the years, unlike the Mondial.

Had a followed/overtook/followed/overtook drive down to Laon in the Vixen with one of these about 15 years ago.

Unlike us, he probably got back on his own steam.

[dinkel]

The car drives great, unless you go to slow.

I had no problem with that and scared both the owner and the traffic, attacking roundabouts.

[CanAm]

dinkel said:

Dash is unusual and excellent. Fighterpilot style.!

Proper old-fashioned heating and ventilation controls. Like old Fords and Vauxhalls where with one movement you could lift all three for fan, heat and windscreen at the same time. My wonderful "ergonomic" modern car needs one push button for screen, a knob for temperature and another knob for the fan.

[Bobo W]

I got very close to buying one of these 8 years ago. It looked great in silver and drove well but the lack of service history and suspect repairs following a bump put me off. Mind you, I could have got it for £12k so given today's prices it might not have been such a bad buy.

[P5BNij]

I wonder what the survival rate for these is, they were partial to rot…



Nuccio Bertone with his own example in October '79...

[MikeyC]

P5BNij said:

I wonder what the survival rate for these is, they were partial to rot…

Sprinkle liberally with rust inhibitor and wait

Sadly, their current market value doesn't make doing it financial sense at the moment

When are suitable 3D printers going to come along to dramatically reduce the cost of replacement parts or maybe panels ?

[dinkel]

65-85k for a good one. Over a 100k for a crazy restored jewel. Meant to drive...

[P5BNij]

dinkel said:

65-85k for a good one. Over a 100k for a crazy restored jewel. Meant to drive...

Most expensive here in the UK at the moment is £60k, not heard of any as high as £100k yet...!

Or are you talking euros?

[dinkel]

Yes. Or dollars.

100K:
https://rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/FL15/Fort-Laude...

[anonymous-user]

I did a deal on one 10 years ago, subject to' the wife liking it' tok her to the dealer (a mate) she got in drove 50m down the road, couldn't change gear, parked it and got out. I bought an E24 635M instead. I remind her that I offered to buy the Ferrari every time she wants anew car and moans at the budget.

[dinkel]

I found the dogleg an utter joy.