isuk
Active member
My first real encounter with the 246 was back in the summer of 2005 when I was looking to buy a 360. I went along to Nick Cartwright's to look at a 360 he had but my better half had tried to persuade me to buy a newly restored 246 GT he had had instead. Nick kindly let us look around the Dino which was available for around £50k and was immaculate versus the £65-70k being asked for good 4 to 5 year old Modenas at that point. Foolishly I passed on the Dino and bought a 360 from Graypaul. Oh how I wish I had bought that 246 now!
Anyway it took me 5 years to acknowledge the mistake and start looking for a good 246 before prices spiralled out of control. I found the right car at Forza 288 and decided to have it overhauled mechanically and repainted. At that point I was something of a novice regarding the 246 series so made some choices on the restoration that I wouldn't do again - swapping wheels for the optional Campagnolos, wasting a fortune on poor quality reproduction glass side windows that I ended up removing and putting the originals back in etc. Never the less it proved a very useful learning curve as I made good contacts and started to learn a lot about these cars. My first car was finished in Rosso Chiaro when I bought it. It was originally delivered in Bianco Polo Park but I'd never seen one in white so decided red was the safe option if I decided to sell it on in the event I didn't enjoy driving it. I had it repainted as the previous paint was looking tired and starting to crack and craze in places. Once the "restoration" was completed and I got the car back I initially wondered what on earth I'd done when I collected it. The first twenty miles or so went by in state of incomprehension at the heavy slow speed steering, the clatter of the the timing chain behind my ears, the whiff of petrol in the cabin that I thought I'd left behind in the late 80's, the narrowness of the cabin etc. But then a wonderful thing happened and as the miles started to roll by the car became more settled and responsive. It had been laid up for quite some time so everything was needing a good shakedown and that first drive really started to become magical. I found myself turning off my planned route and seeking out unknown B roads to see what the car could do. I ended up having a blast and was smitten.
From that point on I started to do a lot more research into the cars and was always looking how I could improve my own example. It had been retrimmed around 10 years before I bought it and I was never really satisfied with the finish but was unsure what the interior would have looked like when new. I had changed the carpet from black to red as the original set was looking a bit tired and had also had the dash reupholstered using material I was advised was the correct OEM spec but turned out not to be. The car looked "nice" and most people thought it looked great but I always saw the flaws but just didn't know who or where to use to fix them. Anyhow fast forward around 18 months and I was pointed in the direction of a body restoration specialist by a few friends in the high end of the motor trade who used them on their own personal cars. That was good enough recommendation for me so I went along to meet the owner and struck up a good relationship with him. He's restored countless Dinos since the early 90's and knows the bodywork on them inside out. When I found a second 246 (through a very tortuous route) that required a full restoration I knew who to take it to. By this point I'd established good contacts for both remanufactured and NOS spare parts and had found links to the trim shop in Modena that Ferrari Classiche use plus suppliers of the correct original materials for the interior trim. Armed with all of this I embarked upon a proper restoration of my second car involving a full engine stripdown and rebuild, suspension strip down and rebuild, fully bare metal body restoration and chassis repaint, fuel tanks repainted, interior seat dash and door retrim to original spec but retaining the original rear wall, centre console, sill covers, carpets and headliner to retain the patina of a 40 year old car. It turned out beautifully so I took the plunge and had my original example go back and be re-done both inside and out to the original specification it left the factory in of Bianco Polo Park white with the correct artificial leather interior in black and the genuine original dash covering. I have lots of photographs of all of the work that was done to each car but will let the finished results speak for themselves.
Here is my second car.
Anyway it took me 5 years to acknowledge the mistake and start looking for a good 246 before prices spiralled out of control. I found the right car at Forza 288 and decided to have it overhauled mechanically and repainted. At that point I was something of a novice regarding the 246 series so made some choices on the restoration that I wouldn't do again - swapping wheels for the optional Campagnolos, wasting a fortune on poor quality reproduction glass side windows that I ended up removing and putting the originals back in etc. Never the less it proved a very useful learning curve as I made good contacts and started to learn a lot about these cars. My first car was finished in Rosso Chiaro when I bought it. It was originally delivered in Bianco Polo Park but I'd never seen one in white so decided red was the safe option if I decided to sell it on in the event I didn't enjoy driving it. I had it repainted as the previous paint was looking tired and starting to crack and craze in places. Once the "restoration" was completed and I got the car back I initially wondered what on earth I'd done when I collected it. The first twenty miles or so went by in state of incomprehension at the heavy slow speed steering, the clatter of the the timing chain behind my ears, the whiff of petrol in the cabin that I thought I'd left behind in the late 80's, the narrowness of the cabin etc. But then a wonderful thing happened and as the miles started to roll by the car became more settled and responsive. It had been laid up for quite some time so everything was needing a good shakedown and that first drive really started to become magical. I found myself turning off my planned route and seeking out unknown B roads to see what the car could do. I ended up having a blast and was smitten.
From that point on I started to do a lot more research into the cars and was always looking how I could improve my own example. It had been retrimmed around 10 years before I bought it and I was never really satisfied with the finish but was unsure what the interior would have looked like when new. I had changed the carpet from black to red as the original set was looking a bit tired and had also had the dash reupholstered using material I was advised was the correct OEM spec but turned out not to be. The car looked "nice" and most people thought it looked great but I always saw the flaws but just didn't know who or where to use to fix them. Anyhow fast forward around 18 months and I was pointed in the direction of a body restoration specialist by a few friends in the high end of the motor trade who used them on their own personal cars. That was good enough recommendation for me so I went along to meet the owner and struck up a good relationship with him. He's restored countless Dinos since the early 90's and knows the bodywork on them inside out. When I found a second 246 (through a very tortuous route) that required a full restoration I knew who to take it to. By this point I'd established good contacts for both remanufactured and NOS spare parts and had found links to the trim shop in Modena that Ferrari Classiche use plus suppliers of the correct original materials for the interior trim. Armed with all of this I embarked upon a proper restoration of my second car involving a full engine stripdown and rebuild, suspension strip down and rebuild, fully bare metal body restoration and chassis repaint, fuel tanks repainted, interior seat dash and door retrim to original spec but retaining the original rear wall, centre console, sill covers, carpets and headliner to retain the patina of a 40 year old car. It turned out beautifully so I took the plunge and had my original example go back and be re-done both inside and out to the original specification it left the factory in of Bianco Polo Park white with the correct artificial leather interior in black and the genuine original dash covering. I have lots of photographs of all of the work that was done to each car but will let the finished results speak for themselves.
Here is my second car.