iceburns288
Dino = any non 12-cylinder Ferrari (street car... some Ferraris have been de-12'd because of racing regulations, like the F1 cars these days)
WTF?
Dino is not some catch-all title that you give to any Ferrari without a 12 cylinder, the Dino name was first applied to competition models that used the compact V6 first proposed by and designed by Dino Ferrari (Enzo's son who died age 24) himself.
The very first engine was the 156, a 1.5 litre 6 cylinder model (hence 156 - the Ferrari numbering system followed this pattern at the time), which was sadly not up and running until 5 months after Dino's death.
The Dino name was originally given to a range of engines (all V6 and originally all competition) not a range of cars, the Dino in the name of a number of race cars from the '50s and '60's denoted the engine fitted.
The Dino name was given to three road cars:
Dino 206GT - 1967-69
Dino 246GT 1969-74
Dino 246GTS 1972-74
As you can see from the numbering code the '67 model was fitted with a 2.0litre 6 cylinder (V6), with all models from '69 onwards powered by a 2.4litre six cylinder (again V6).
The Dino range never officially wore the Ferrari script or 'Prancing Horse' (many were added later by owners), they simply bore the Dino name, however this was writen in the same font as the Ferrari logo. Few people needed the right badge or the horse to know what the car was.
The production numbers were huge for Ferrari at the time with a total run between 1967 and 1974 of 3,913, broken down as follows:
206GT - 152
246GT - 2487
246GTS - 1274
The later Dino 308 GT4 2+2 from 1973-80 was also produced, with 2,826 cars made.
When you compare this to production numbers of other Ferrari models of the time the volume is huge:
1968 365 GTB/4 Daytona - 1284
1969 - 365 GTS/4 - 122
1971 365 GTC4 - 500
1973 365 GT4 2+2 - 525
1973 365 GT4/BB - 387
1974 308 GT4 2+2 - 2826
The cars above were in production at around the same time as the Dino range and total production of these models was 5,644 units. This would give the Dino range approx 40% of Ferrari sales at the time, the bulk of which came from the 246GT and GTS. Not bad at all for a little V6; however during the excess' of the '70s and '80s people seemed to forget about the little Dino and the myth that a true Ferrari had to be a 12 cylinder monster was once again borne.
Its a nonsense to suggest that all true Ferrari's must be a 12 cylinder, certainly the Dino was the first road car made by Ferrari that was not fitted with a V12, but it was not the last.
1973 - 1980 Dino GT 2+2 (V8)
1975 - 1985 308 GTB/S, GTBi/Si & QV (V8)
1985 - 1989 328 GTB/S (V8)
1980 - 1989 Mondial (V8)
1984 - 1986 288 GTO (V8)
1988 - 1991 F40 (V8)
1989 - 1994 348 TB, TS, GTB/S & Spider (V8)
1994 - 1999 F355 (V8)
1999 - 2004 360 (V8)
2005 - F430 (V8)
Now while it would be right to say that every one of these cars owes something of its existance to the original 206 and 246 Dino's, it certainly does not mean that they can all be called 'Dino's' as a catch all title.
