Guide price: £270000 - £320000. <ul><li>UK-delivered, right-hand drive car with just 41,000 miles and four previous keepers</li><li>A matching-numbers example with a fully documented history</li><li>Very well maintained. Sympathetic restoration in 2009</li><li>Owned by a real Ferrari enthusiast for the last 10 years</li></ul><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #000000;">The Ferrari Dino was built to honour Alfredo 'Dino' Ferrari who died of muscular dystrophy in 1956. He was the only legitimate son of 'Il Commendatore', and unlike any previous road-going Ferrari, the Dino utilised a V6 engine (Tipo 156) which Alfredo himself had developed and fiercely advocated during his lifetime. Enzo Ferrari vehemently answered his critics when he said: "For reasons of mechanical efficiency he finally came to the conclusion that the engine should be a V6 and we accept his decision." The acceptance of this decision resulted in a legacy of motorsport orientated derivatives from Formula One through to various famous sports car racing applications. Following this continued success on the track and in order to homologate Ferrari's 1966 Formula Two campaign, a new line of mid-engined production V6 coupés with Fiat running gear went on sale in 1967 in two-litre form. However, in 1969 a larger 2.4 litre Dino was introduced, named the 246 GT or GTS in the case of the Spyder.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #000000;">Only 3,913 definitive Dinos were built in total with 1,274 in GTS (Spyder) form and only 235 of those were right-hand drive, before the introduction of the completely restyled V8 engined 308 in 1975. The voluptuous bodywork, which many people regard as the prettiest ever to grace a road-going Ferrari, was designed by Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti and covered a tubular chassis which carried wishbone independent suspension at each corner. The compact, four-cam engine which delivered 190bhp, was mounted transversely above the five-speed gearbox and just ahead of the rear axle, allowing for both a comfortable cockpit and some usable boot space.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #000000;">We are delighted to be able to offer for sale this exquisite, UK-supplied, right-hand drive, 1972 (Series lll) Ferrari Dino 246 GTS for the first time in 10 years. Chassis #05426 was ordered from Maranello Concessionaires of Egham Surrey on the 17th October 1972 by Motorworld Garages Ltd. of Kidlington, Oxford. The original specification was Rosso Chiaro (Racing Red) with a black leather interior, but this was promptly altered to a beige interior and confirmed in writing by Maranello on the 1st November 1972.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #000000;">The car was delivered to Motorworld Garages on the 19th February 1973 and registered BVX 199L before subsequently being sold to Mr Roy Watts on the 11th November 1974 and re-registered as RDW 31. Mileage at the change of ownership was 18,995.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #000000;">Roy Watts was a very capable driver and was keen to use his 246 properly, and he and #05426 had quite an exciting time during his ownership taking part in track days at Snetterton, Goodwood, Mallory Park and others. The car was very well maintained during this period and the history file includes numerous invoices from Maranello Concessionaires and other Ferrari specialists. One service in 1978 cost £433.00 which, at the time, would have bought a brand new Fiat!</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #000000;">Roy finally sold the car (having purchased a Ferrari 308) on the 7th March 1980 to Mr J.C McIver of Manchester and a transporter collected the car on the 1st April 1980. Mileage at the time of change of ownership was 31,700. The private registration RDW 31 was transferred and #05426 was re-registered as BVX 199L. Mr McIver used the car infrequently but it was serviced and fitted with new tyres in March and June 1981. The last maintenance invoice during this period is dated 25th August 1983, with the mileage recorded as 32,741. The Ferrari was hardly used during 1984 and was dry stored before being sold on the 10th April 1985 to Mr D. Ager of Sutton Coldfield, at an indicated mileage of around 33,000. It was then registered as 5 FNY and very shortly thereafter was placed into storage, being run up occasionally, but not road run. Mr Ager owned the car for 23 years until 22nd March 2008 when our vendor bought it with the mileage recorded as 33,400.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #000000;">23 years without use is not good for a Ferrari so it was appropriate to appoint a Ferrari specialist to sympathetically restore the car's mechanical parts and get it as fit as possible. ‘Grand Tourismo Services' of Chertsey were tasked with the work and on the 1st April 2008, they commenced a complete rebuild of the mechanics, suspension, cooling systems and engine/gearbox. Photographs showing each phase of the restoration were recorded. #05426 passed its MoT on April 22nd, 2008, with the mileage being recorded as 33,510. Invoices to the value of over £16,000 cover this work. The clutch was replaced in September 2008 by ‘Grand Tourismo Services' (at 34,247miles) and since its mechanical restoration it has been serviced and maintained by Ferrari specialists.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #000000;">Unfortunately, #05426 was involved in a no-blame 'ding' in a car-park by a Smart car (the Dino was stationary and unoccupied) on the 9th August 2009. The damage, although very minor (see last image) was such that the originality of the body and paintwork could not be preserved and the decision was taken to place it with ‘Barr-tech Specialist Cars' of Cambridge in October 2009</span><span style="color: #000000;"><span style="color: #000000;"> to repair </span>the damage and complete a full bare-metal re-spray and body restoration. This included the formation of some new panels and repairs to the arches and front/rear valances. During the body restoration, the wheels were refurbished to original colour, new original specification tyres fitted, all brightwork re-chromed, the dash recovered with original coverings, and all rubbers replaced. The body was fully prepared to Concours standard and the paintwork was completed in the original Rosso Chiaro. The Targa roof was painted back to original matt black (having had a colour change to red by Roy Watts in 1980). The original beige leather seats and carpets did not require any work other than cleaning and conditioning. On completion of the body restoration, the car was MoT'd and the mileage was recorded as 36,993, and in excess of 200 photographs record this phase of the work. Since 2010 it has been maintained, improved and serviced with no expense spared by ‘The Ferrari Centre' in Kent. The mileage recorded today is still just over 41,000.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #000000;">Pleasingly, #05426 is accompanied by its spare keys, the original warranty booklet, numerous service invoices, an original set of manuals (in the leather ‘Dino' pouch), an original jack and tool-roll, original sales brochures, plus copies of the original sales invoice and correspondence between Maranello Concessionaires and its first owner.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="color: #000000;">Rarely do such well-documented cars of this quality come to market and we are proud to offer this beautiful example which is now ready to begin the next chapter of its life.</span></div><p><span style="color: #000000;"> </span></p><p> </p><ul></ul>