One of 18 Ferrari Dino 206 S Models Built
Bidding opened yesterday for a 1967 Ferrari Dino 206 S via RM Sotheby’s “Sotheby’s Sealed” online auction and will close February 17. The Dino 206 S was built by Ferrari to compete in the FIA-sanctioned Group 4 class which had been largely dominated by various models of Porsche campaigned by privateer teams.
The car was powered by an evolution of the V6 engine created by Enzo Ferrari’s son, Dino Ferrari. Although Dino passed away in 1956, the engine was developed after his passing and powered the Italian Formula 1 team to a Driver’s Championship at the hands of Mike Hawthorn in 1958. In the early 1960s Ferrari’s Formula 1 team started using different engines, the Dino engine was further developed for sports car prototype racing.
The Dino 206 S proved worthy of the Ferrari name once it was introduced in the 1966 season. It finished 2nd at the Targo Florio, took the bottom two steps of the podium at the Nürburgring, and finished in 6th place at Spa. Ferrari planned to build 50 examples of the Dino 206 S for homologation but production was stopped after just 18 examples were built due to labor issues.
The car being offered by RM Sotheby’s is the last Dino 206 S completed. Of the 18 that were built, two sported coachwork by Pininfarina and three were coupes, leaving only 13 Drogo-bodied Spyders completed. This car, Chassis 032, is believed to be one of only two that were equipped with the most powerful version of the Dino Ferrari-inspired engine, producing 270 horsepower – up from 220 from the original V6 that started the Dino 206 S series.
Noted Ferrari expert Marcel Massini researched Chassis 032 and found that it competed in a number of hillclimbs in Italy between 1966 and 1967. Originally sold to Corrado Ferlaino of Naples, the car would make its way through the ownership of several other Italians before being purchased by a French collector in 1979.
After passing through another few owners it landed in the collection of Carlos Monteverde in 2001, who used the car to compete in the Ferrari Historic Challenge. After it was involved in a collision during one of the Challenge races the decision was made to restore the car in 2003. This would be the first of its restorations, the second of which came in 2014 when it was restored at Ferrari’s factory and received its Red Book certification, confirming it to be a matching-numbers car.
This is the best opportunity for a Ferrari enthusiast to obtain a Dino 206 S for his or her collection, considering how few were built and that many examples are already in the hands of prominent collectors and are unlikely to become available in the foreseeable future. Not to say that this will pull 250 GTO money, but the bids will be up there and the final price has an excellent chance at setting a new record or two.
Bidding closes on February 17.