Ferrari Dino 246 is a classic car model once built by Ferrari. Even though this car model is not as famous as other legends from the Italian car brand, it is still sought after by many car collectors. Furthermore, this model is also the predecessor of the new Ferrari 296 GTB supercar launched by the brand not long ago. Recently, a rare Ferrari Dino 246 GT L Series was meticulously restored by Bell Sport and Classic down to the smallest detail.
The 246 GT bearing number 00436 was brought to the Bell Sport and Classic brand’s facility in 2017. The Ferrari brand has confirmed this is the 7th car out of 357 Dino GT L Series ever produced. This model was owned by car enthusiasts from Germany, France, Canada, and the United States. Over the past 48 years, the car has only operated about 85,295 km, but the exterior, interior and engine details have been worn out and are no longer in the best condition.
When brought to the restoration facility, the car’s inner door was heavily rusted, and the front and rear wheel cavity panels were deformed. The car’s air vents are misaligned with the body panels, and the wheel arch height is unbalanced. The rear roof line is also misaligned and no longer in its original state. Project leader Peter Ensor shared that after carefully examining the current condition of the car, the team had doubts about the ability to restore the car, but the team decided to “try” despite possible difficulties. encountered.
Bell Sport and Classic employee Elliot East explains that these errors are just the visible ones. When disassembling the car, the team further discovered that the front wings, door sills and sill panels had been welded onto the original bodywork. Therefore, after disassembly, more rust spots were revealed and many damaged details needed to be restored and repaired.
After conducting the initial assessment, the team spent several months completely dismantling the details, leaving behind the bare frame. The restoration team completely removed aluminum panels, doors, glass and mechanical parts from the car. Bell Sport and Classic realized that this restoration would require a lot of time, finance and resources, which is why this process took up to 5 years to complete. After conducting a thorough study of the original car’s specification, the team began restoring the 2.4-liter V6 engine mated to three Weber 40 DCF carburetors. This powertrain is completely revised along with a 5-speed manual transmission, disc brakes, front and rear coil springs and double wishbone suspension.
Bell Sport and Classic have restored any parts that can be restored while excessively corroded parts are rebuilt to original specifications. After reinstalling parts of the engine block, the team ran the engine block separately for a day and the engine block was re-tested before being installed on the car and thoroughly calibrated.
After restoring and perfecting many individual details, Bell Sport and Classic began reinstalling the details into the body of the car. The team has restored down to the smallest and most sophisticated details. The team also spent a lot of time aligning the car’s side air vents so that the details are as seamless and compatible as possible. According to the explanation, in the past, the process of manufacturing and making the body still followed traditional methods, so the team spent hundreds of hours to most accurately align every detail on the body of the car. car.
In order to recreate the design symmetrically, the team aligned the wheel arches and refined the body panels. However, the car door parts have been re-engineered so that the air vents can match the rear part of the car body. Therefore, the old air cavity on the door was cut out and aluminum welded to a new part.
The goal of restoring this Dino was to use as many original parts as possible. Although installing new parts will save more money, the owner wants to retain as much of the car’s originality as possible. Because every part of the car was redesigned, even restored, the team had a hard time reassembling the car. The team must continuously align the details to be able to reinstall the parts properly and accurately.
Upon completion, this Dino was painted in its original Rosso Dino red and topped with the brand’s standard gray undercoat. The Bell Sport and Classic team then outfitted the car with Rosso Corsa primer with a Rosso Dino final coat. As for the interior, the classic sports car has been upholstered in black leather similar to the original with contrasting orange towel seat belly pads. The car’s original dashboard could not be restored, so the team replaced it with new parts.
Tim Kearns, CEO of Bell Sport and Classic, shared: “The project to bring the Dino 246 GT back to its glory was truly a labor of love and passion for cars and work. This process is not limited in time or cost but requires attention to every small detail. From here we can ensure that the car is now in even better condition than when it left the factory many years ago.”
