1974 Ferrari 246 Dino Targa Coupe

Alfredino Ferrari, also known as 'Dino', was destined to be the future head of the company. Enzo was racing for Alfa Romeo at the time of Alfredino's birth, but he formally backed out to guarantee that Alfredino would not lose his father to a racing-related death. Enzo cultivated his son from a young age and had him study both economics and engineering in university. Alfredino also had a passion for racing, and he suggested that Enzo produce a dual-overhead-camshaft V-6 engine for use in both racing and road-going Ferraris.

Alfredino's health was not well, as he suffered from a form of muscular dystrophy. As a result, Alfredino never was able to see the car that bore his name. He passed away at the young age of 24, on June 30th of 1956. In his honor, Enzo named both of Ferrari's V-6 powered road and race cars in honor of his son.

The Ferrari 246 GT was introduced as a successor to the Dino 206 GT. Enzo created the Dino brand especially for these smaller sports cars, keeping the Ferrari name affixed to the larger and more expensive race cars and V-12 road cars. Pininfarina handled the design while the bodies were produced by Scaglietti.

Production ended in 1976, following the introduction of the 308. The Dino was Ferrari's most popular model yet, with the total production topping 6,000 units with just 1,274 of those being the open-top GTS variants.

Power was provided from a V-6 engine offering 190 horsepower and was mounted behind the passenger compartment. Weighing just 2,394 pounds, the Dino 246 had a nearly perfect weight distribution, thanks to its mid-mounted engine.

This Dino GTS is chassis number 08286 and was produced in May of 1974. It was a U.S. model that was fitted with air conditioning, power windows, and standard Cromodora wheels. It has since been fitted with the factory Daytona seats.

The car was imported to the United States by Chinetti-Garthwaite Import Inc., of Paoli, Pennsylvania, and was delivered to its first owner shortly thereafter. The car remained in the state of California since 2005, under the care of its current owner.

The car is finished in silver, over a red leather interior with black Daytona-style seat inserts. Currently, the odometer shows just under 42,000 miles.

By Daniel Vaughan | Apr 2014