Your Dinos

Chris Hamilton, UK Fiat Dino 2400 Coupé

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Jonathan, Yorkshire, UK Fiat Dino 2000 Coupé It has been in my family for 26 years and I have just brought it back to show condition after 16 years in storage.

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David and Helen Brenchley, Kent, UK Fiat Dino 2000 Spider This lovely car won the Best Spider and Best Visitors choice at the 2009 Gaydon Dino meeting.

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Brian Boxall, Worcestershire, UK Fiat Dino 2400 Spider BS1319 (pictured), Fiat Dino 2400 Spider BS1562, Fiat Dino 2000 Spider AS726 I first spotted a Fiat Dino spider in 1977, at a petrol station in Swindon. It was dark blue, with tan interior, and I was smitten. It took 2 years to find one advertised for sale, in Stoke on Trent, and I paid £1500 for it. On the way home it broke down several times, and the 60 mile journey took 5 hours. I kept the car 12 months, and foolishly (and this is a pattern that seems to develop over the years) got talked into selling it to a colleague. Four more years passed, and having made contact with the guru of Fiat Dino’s, Mike Morris, located, with his help, another spider, this time in Stockport. This was a far better car than the first, and cost the princely sum of £2500 (1984). I also paid 3 bottles of single malt scotch for a huge box of spares that included a partially complete spare engine. I continued to improve this car, and had every intention of keeping it, but in 1987 purchased, as a non runner, for £6500, my 2400 spider, which I still have today. At this point in my “Dino” life, it didn’t seem appropriate to own more than one at a time (oh, how times have changed!), so I advertised the 2 litre spider, and was almost killed in the rush. The buyer came armed with £5 notes (£8700) in a Tesco bag, took it away, and managed to sell it within a week for £11,000. Do you think I may have under valued it?! It quickly went through 3 owners before selling to a good pal (and 166MM owner) the late Derek Collins. He paid £16,000 for it, and had asked me some while previously if I would sell him the car, but at the point that I was ready to sell it, I had forgotten this. As I became more fascinated by these cars, I became more willing to share my experiences, and it was at about this time (1987) that I began to write about the cars, and to organise displays, and events. I enjoyed “ELR” (the number that was on the car when I purchased it was ELR 757T, but has since been changed to a private plate, but the car is still referred to as “ELR; quaint eh?!) for around 4 years (until 1991) taking it to Le Mans (with your esteemed editor, and his family), until the corrosion seemed to get too bad to be roadworthy, and I asked a very good friend if he would do a renovation on it. I hesitate to use the word restoration, since the engine, gearbox, interior and hood all remained unchanged and untouched, whilst every since panel needed some form of repair (Generally speaking the bottom 4” of the car was replaced!). Work progressed at a leisurely pace, and had it not been for severe problems with a badly corroded screen frame, the car would have been finished by 1994, but it took another 12 months to locate a useable screen frame (in New York) which cost a whopping $500, but was necessary since I had already, unsuccessfully, wasted £300 trying to have the original repaired. The car made it’s debut in 1995, and has fared quite well, only now does it need remedial bodywork and localised painting. During the 23 years that have passed since purchasing “ELR” around 19 additional Dino’s (spiders & coupes) have passed through my hands, the most recent of which was the dark blue low mileage car that won several trophies in the 2 years I owned it, and that I SHOULD NEVER HAVE SOLD! (refer to comments on this subject from 1979 in article above!). One of the benefits (please discuss correct interpretation of the word “benefit”) of being on the Dino “scene” is that I get to hear about cars for sale, and so this is how I came to buy the 2 litre spider in December 2007. The owner at the time, had purchased the car in 2002, and had enjoyed it (when it worked). The interior and hood are actually quite good, the bodywork is so-so, but it has several mechanical issues, which I am attending to as I get time. A major effort (and not inconsiderable expenditure) saw the steering, suspension, electrics and brakes repaired to enable a fresh MOT; this was vital in order to obtain the road tax to make the car street legal. I was then in a position to undertake rolling repairs, which is what I am doing right now. The gearbox is very graunchy, so I’ve obtained a spare, which will be rebuilt and fitted, and the engine smokes pretty heavily (it’s a 40 a day man). It could be that the rings are stuck from 2 years inactivity, and I intend getting 500-1000 miles on the car this summer to see if the smoke subsides to an acceptable level (ever the optimist; something that comes from owning a 40 year old Italian car In June 2009 I purchased, as a non runner BS1562, the 22nd from last chassis number produced (of 1583), and the first of only 22 produced in 1972 (January). Production ceased in that month. The engine was out of the car, and I had it rebuilt at Superformance. I then asked Mark Devaney go make the car roadworthy, which involved much welding, structural repair, and a brake overhaul. I’m looking forward to getting all 3 spiders out and about in 2010, and plans are already in place to take the latest spider (BS1562) to Le Mans in June 2010. Wish me luck!!.

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Darran Crawford Fiat Dino 2000 Spider The car was discovered complete but in pieces in a barn in northern England in 2001 and bought by myself in 2002. The car had been partial dismantled by its now deceased former owner in 1980 for a rebuild following a minor front end prang. The car still had its Milan number plates in the boot and under the bad red paint job traces of the original flat green paint could be seen. The body was in very sound condition. So it appears to have been an Italian market 2000 Spider, finished in flat green with brown vinyl seats and sold in Milan in late 1967 or 68 and brought into the UK in 1977 - hence the “S” suffix numberplate. Sometime between 1977 and 1980 the car was fitted with a 2400 engine and ZF gearbox with no sign of the original engine. Any information on this car’s early life would be appreciated! (adcrawford@gmail.com). Since I rescued it in 2002 it has had a total no-holes-barred restoration that is a few week away from completion. The body was stripped to bare metal, all panels repaired or replaced as required and minor modifications to the front and rear valances to run with no bumpers. The car was then given a very expensive Rosso paint job and the restoration proper started in 2005. Many. many items have had to be scratch made (windscreen frame, headlight surrounds, trim pieces etc). And many so-called pattern parts heavily modified to actually fit (new hood canvas required almost total re stitching!). The 2400 engine has been fully rebuilt with hotter cam profiles and larger carbs to name a few modifications. A new electronic ignition was built inside the existing Dinoplex unit and the whole car rewired. The gearbox only needed a minor overhaul and the car is fitted with heavier front springs to handle the extra weight of the 2400 iron block. All the suspension components have been replaced and custom polybushes made for the car. The car is now trimmed in dark tan leather and vinyl which is a perfect combination with the red! Very much looking forward to actually being able to drive this seven year project!.

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Lorenzo Ferrari (Italy) Fiat Dino 2400 Spider Have had the car since 2001 and had extensive restoration work done mainly to the bodywork. It is fitted with 7½" x 14 wheels sporting Pirelli P4000 205/70 tyres (no longer available) and a deeper dish steering wheel..

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Craig Goodfellow Fiat Dino 2400 Coupe The car was imported from Italy in 1979 and subsequently converted to RHD in around 1980. From what I can gather it spent it's time in Essex for about 20 years, garaged and dry use only during this time. So the bodywork is very sound. The RHD conversion was worked on by Superformance at some stage (Mike Elliott remembered the car), but I think a lot was done by the previous owner. A 2L pedal box and hydraulic clutch are used. The brake servo is replaced by twin remote servos mounted one under each front wing behind fabricated splash shields The loom had been pretty much cut in half and turned over under the dash so I have rewired all of this, and now all electrics work The car has had a bare metal respray back to original silver (it was painted red when I bought it off of a chap in Ovingdean about 7 years ago) Interior retrimmed in leather by Mark Thomas Coachtrimming in Lancing.

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Mick Smith (UK) Fiat Dino Coupe 2000 and 2400

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Mike Cooney from Hot Springs, Arkansas, USA Fiat Dino Coupe 2400 ’72 Dino Coupe 135BC 0004352. This car is nearly 100% original, as delivered from the factory; it has not been restored. Currently showing about 85,000 km on the clock. It was purchased new in Italy, and driven there for about five years. A businessman from the San Francisco area on a trip to Italy convinced the owner to sell him the car, and he imported it to the United States about 1978 as a gift for his wife, who hated the car. My sister’s life companion, Philip Waller, of Los Gatos, California decided he couldn’t live without the car, and purchased it in 1982 for about $5000. A minor skirmish with a broken camshaft, and a replacement of the right side door skin are the only major repairs the car has seen. Phil passed away in Olympic Village, California in 2005, leaving his estate to my sister, including the Dino. The car had been in and out of a shop in Reno, Nevada for electrical and starting problems, and a Ferrari Shop near Truckee, California for tune-ups. My sister decided the Dino was not reliable enough for her as a daily driver, and announced it was for sale. I purchased the car in the summer of 2007; one of the attached photos shows how I got it to Hot Springs. The rest of the photos were taken by a vehicle prepurchase inspector; I have no recent photos. I have repaired the brake master cylinder and cleaned some of the accumulated road grime. The only missing part is the “Bertone” badge on the driver side. There is a bit of rust on the left rocker panel. I have not driven the Dino much due to a lengthy assignment in South Africa, so the car is in storage, and will be for some time yet. It certainly turns heads pulling away from a stop; as you know the sound is marvelous. The car is very attractive, with the paint and chrome being in good condition. The interior is a bit rough, but most of the defects are upholstery and are easily repaired. The only thing that does not work is the clock..

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Andrew Morris 2.4 Fiat Dino Coupe Well it all started with me selling up my morgans that I had for over 17years I wanted a change so found this osi 20 m coupe in italy lol good job I did not buy it now go so heres how I have my 2 Fiat Dinos are from the same guy in italy all I know that the cars have not move for over 20 years as in a under ground garage all that time I said to my friend I wanted a osi 20 m coupe & that I found one in italy as my friend gos to italy buying lancia car parts he would go & look at it for me but when there it was a heep a very bad smash down the drivers side but he knew a guy at a saab garage who had lanicas & a Fiat Dino for sale so my friend went & had a look for me & rang me saying oooh you have should buy it now.. so thats my first the Fiat Dino the black one i was so happy knowing i had a Dino & for payment of geting it back to england i said would pay for his trip to switzerland for a week but what i did not know was my friend had fallen in love with it & he like my car so much he had to have one as well so he bought the silver Dino when he was at switzerland but when he bought it back to england his wife was not TOO happy with seeing it so my friend rang me asking if i wanted to buy a Dino body shell as he could sell the rest off on e bay i could have shell for £500 so off i went to look at it body shell eer no i bought the lot i knew i had to best deal i do so think so £1,700 the lot now i am trying to do this silver dino & with some help i will do so in the end i have long way to finsh it but my o my what beautifull car the Fiat Dino is.

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Lincoln Fiat Dino Coupe 2000, Fiat Dino Spider 2000 I found the '68 2 litre coupé on the internet and after I called the owner and he reassured me it was a very good example I took a night train to the south of Italy to see what it was really like. I found a very honest car with unrestored chassis and bodywork, an engine which has been rebuilt with new pistons about 5000km ago and a near perfect interior. After sorting the change of ownership documents out, I started a very long, hot but enjoyable 1000km journey home. We got to know each other a bit better during the trip back, but I'm sure I have a lot to find out. There are a number of issues that need addressing including replacing some door seals, gearbox mount, sorting a petrol leak from the tank area, tappet adjustment, etc but nothing so pressing as to interrput my ever increasing enjoyment of this fabulous car. Early in 2010 I bought a 2 litre Fiat Dino Spider from Brian Boxall and it is currently at TwentyFourHundred being looked after and fettled..