1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GT

A grey 1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GT arriving at and leaving Cars and Coffee at Crystal Cove Shopping Center.

This car was a Ferrari in everything but name. Though branded under the Dino marque, it was designed by Pininfarina like contemporary Ferraris, powered by a Ferrari-built engine, and marketed and sold by Ferrari. It utilized various Ferrari parts and was the predecessor of Ferrari's popular line of mid-engined V8 cars from the 308 GTB/GTS to the modern-day F8 Tributo. And most examples I've seen are classic Ferrari red.

Of course, unlike other cars built by Ferrari, the Dino only had a V6. And surely it would have been pure sacrilege to place the Prancing Horse badge on a vehicle with such a lowly powerplant, right? Well, performance actually wasn't too bad. Sure, it wasn't the fastest or most powerful. But intended to be a more affordable sports car rivaling the Porsche 911, it proved to be extremely fun and engaging to drive and is now considered by many one of the best Ferraris of all time. It's quite good looking too, both in its time and today. I often see 246's parked alongside "real" Ferraris at car events, and nobody seems to care that they're "only" Dinos. Many Ferrari collectors love the car, and some even added Ferrari badges to them. If it looks like a horse, runs like a horse...

Today, Ferrari continues to be known in supercar circles for elitist exclusivity, often requiring customers to conform to a tedious process of owning specific cars and agreeing to stringent rules in order to qualify for purchasing the more special models. Some find this attractive, while others find it repulsive. But the fact is Ferrari has been slowly but surely expanding its customer base with models like the California, Portofino, Roma, and Purosangue. And for the first time since the Dino 246, it now has a new V6-powered car (though that V6 is paired with hybrid technology). Who knows - maybe one day Ferrari will decide to revive the Dino name on a new model!

On a separate note, I have no idea what the area of a circle has to do with the Dino, but as a shameless math nerd I applaud the owner of this car for the creative license plate. Study hard in school, kids. Maybe one day you'll be driving one of these too.

Do you consider the Dino 246 a "real" Ferrari? Leave a comment on YouTube and let me know!