Like many great sports cars, the Fiat Dino was created to facilitate racing. In 1965, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the governing body for motor sports including Formula 1 and Formula 2, mandated that 1967 Formula 2 cars be powered by production-based engines of at most six cylinders and 1.5 liters. Ferrari had successfully raced V-6s since the late 1950s, but none had powered any road cars, and thus the “production-based” regulation was problematic since it required at least 500 road cars be produced within 12 months.

Ferrari’s 1966 road car production, all of it V-12-powered, totaled 665 cars; nearly doubling production in a year simply was not possible. Thus, an agreement between Ferrari and Fiat was announced: Fiat would build a new flagship sports car powered by a Ferrari-designed V-6, bringing to bear the industrial might of one of the world’s largest automakers so Ferrari could further Italy’s motor sports glory on the international stage.

The resulting car, the Fiat Dino, bowed in open form at the Torino Motor Show in November 1966. With striking Pininfarina bodywork, five-speed Fiat gearbox, ventilated disc brakes, and the 8,000 rpm 2.0-liter aluminum Ferrari V-6, it was an impossibly exciting Fiat. A closed variant styled by Bertone appeared a few months later, and with the engine duly homologated, Fiat transitioned to improving the model markedly with the 1969 introduction of the 2.4-liter Dino.

The displacement increase came with a switch to a cast-iron engine block, which provided more power and, critically, 26% more torque. This necessitated a larger clutch and a new stronger ZF gearbox with a dogleg shift pattern. The brakes and tires were enlarged, and perhaps most importantly, the live rear axle was replaced by an independent arrangement.

This created the definitive Fiat Dino and just 424 2.4-liter Spiders were built before production ended in 1973. This example was originally supplied in Italy in March 1972, and remained there almost all its life. Period Italian documentation on file, including a carta di circolazione *(registration card) issued in 1977 and showing *revisioni (technical inspections) up through 2021, confirm that this car lived primarily in northeastern Italy before being sold to the consignor in Switzerland in February 2021. A fastidious Swiss collector, he had the globally respected Dino specialist Dinopoint in Bergamo, Italy, extensively restore the car to the highest standards in its original color combination, as confirmed by Pininfarina records.

The resulting car is a stunning concours-level example of the most desirable variant of this quintessentially Italian model. It has never been shown, offering its new keeper the exciting opportunity to debut it, or simply to enjoy one of the finest examples ever offered on the open market.