[iainuk]

After 5 months the car is finished and looking great.

[Jimmy Chen Shiba DDS]

Woderful season ahead to enjoy the beauty. Congrats. She looks divine. w/ smiles Jimmy

[Barry]

Looks fantastic Iain. Enjoy it. It's a beauty.

[il Capolino]

So beautiful!!

Spring is around the corner and you'll be starting to use your mega-fresh Dino around the same time as I will start using my Dino for real. Let's exchange impressions as we line up the mileage!?

[iainuk]

I can give you my initial impressions as I've now racked up over 400 miles since collecting the car last Thursday. I met the dealer's delivery truck at a motorway service station on the M42. I went over in my 458 to swap cars as I've sold that back to my dealer and will be getting my new one in 7 weeks or so. I wanted a last drive out in the 458 and a decent first journey in the 246 so this gave me the perfect opportunity and saved the delivery driver a couple of hours on his round trip which he was extremely greatful for.

I can only describe the experience of going from the 458 to the 246 as being akin to climbing out of a Eurofighter Typhoon and getting into a Spitfire



It's a complete culture shock and a much more mechanical and involving drive. The brakes require a good shove to start slowing the car down and the gearbox has to be treated with a firm but respectful touch if shifts are to be achieved without stripping teeth off the gears. The steering is comically heavy compared to the new car and took some getting used to. I was simply understeering through a lack of sufficient wheel twirling effort to begin with. Starting the car is also something of an art form and involves a lot more thought than simply turning the ignition on and waiting for the "check OK" warning to flash before pushing a starter button. You have to floor the throttle then turn the key and hold it until the engine catches then back off the throttle slightly to stop it over revving but hold it at precisely the right spot to stop it stalling.


Once the car is warmed up it's great fun. It has a natural sweet spot around 85-90 mph where it just settles into a steady rythm and feels like it would happily purr along at this pace all day. I'd forgotten the limitations of carburetors and their habit of suffering fuel starvation on roundabouts and steep hills. I'd also forgotten what the smell of petrol is like......... it's a constant companion in an old timer like this


The ride quality on the 70 profile tyres and newly rebushed suspension is excellent. It really floats over a lot of surface imperfections. I briefly went out in my Cayenne on Monday and nearly propelled myself through the windscreen the first time I braked as I was still applying Dino pedal pressure without thinking


I've not taken any decent pics yet - the ones above were taken by my dealer and I forgot to take the camera with me on a trip round the Cotswolds yesterday where there were lots of great backdrops. No doubt I'll be out in it again soon and will take some new shots. In the meantime here is a quick pic from my phone.

[Dermot]

Fantastic Iain,

So why did u change 458's?

[Barry]

Great write up. Enjoy the lengthening of the days and the dry country roads. Next time bring the camera!

Have you restored the Dino to it's original factory spec? Nice to see the absence of the Ferrari badges.

[il Capolino]

Lovely angle on the last photograph. Have you considered lowering the car by 25mm or so and put progressive springs and rebuilding the interior of the shocks for modern performance? They say it works wonders for the already good Dino and it doesn't deprive your car of its veteran tax status.

[Granucci]

show quality: and to have the dash in that good a condition--congrats.

[wetpet]

that is one beautiful car!. remind me not to use those guys though, they put your steering wheel back on the wrong side!

[iainuk]

Originally Posted by Dermot

Fantastic Iain,

So why did u change 458's?

My dealer called me to offer to take my 1st 458 back in and switch me into a new car at no cost on a like for like spec so I decided to go for it to get a factory car with all the latest upgrades done to it. I've also added a couple of items to the spec which weren't available when I ordered first time around.

Originally Posted by Barry

Great write up. Enjoy the lengthening of the days and the dry country roads. Next time bring the camera!

Have you restored the Dino to it's original factory spec? Nice to see the absence of the Ferrari badges.

No I have to confess that I haven't. The car was originally supplied in Bianco Polo Park but was changed to Rosso in the 80's and has therefore spent most of it's life in red so I left it in Rosso as I only did an exterior repaint plus I'm personally not keen on the Dino in white. The original interior was black vinyl which I've kept but I changed the carpet from black to red. I also took off the original Cromodora wheels and put on a set of Campagnolos. I've kept the original wheels so I can swap over again in the future if I want to change the look.

Originally Posted by il Capolino

Lovely angle on the last photograph. Have you considered lowering the car by 25mm or so and put progressive springs and rebuilding the interior of the shocks for modern performance? They say it works wonders for the already good Dino and it doesn't deprive your car of its veteran tax status.

I had all the suspension rebushed and the shocks were in good order so were left alone. I'm going to leave it original in this regard as I quite like the "old" feel to the way it rides.

Originally Posted by Granucci

show quality: and to have the dash in that good a condition--congrats.

I had the dash retrimmed in the original mousehair fabric and it looks great. When the suns shines on it in a certain way you can see the grained vinyl underneath the flock coating. The original dash had lost all of this flocking over the years and was looking very scruffy and was a dull grey colour.

I've had certain areas of the vinyl retrimmed in the correct material - door sills, A pillars and centre tunnel. The seats and door cards could do with being redyed and I'm going to experiment with some satin black HVT vinyl dye to see is it will give the correct finish.

[Jimmy Chen Shiba DDS]

Sounds like you are having fun getting acquainted to your "old" car there. That is splendid. I have no doubt that you would enjoy just about everything about it. w/ smiles Jimmy

[Barry]

[QUOTE=iainuk;136109] I decided to go for it to get a factory car with all the latest upgrades done to it. I've also added a couple of items to the spec which weren't available when I ordered first time [QUOTE]

Does that mean you now won't get the thrill of knowing that your 458 could spontaneously combust at any moment?

[Barry]

Originally Posted by iainuk

The car was originally supplied in Bianco Polo Park but was changed to Rosso in the 80's and has therefore spent most of it's life in red so I left it in Rosso as I only did an exterior repaint plus I'm personally not keen on the Dino in white. The original interior was black vinyl which I've kept but I changed the carpet from black to red. I also took off the original Cromodora wheels and put on a set of Campagnolos. I've kept the original wheels so I can swap over again in the future if I want to



I had the dash retrimmed in the original mousehair fabric and it looks great. When the suns shines on it in a certain way you can see the grained vinyl underneath the flock coating. The original dash had lost all of this flocking over the years and was looking very scruffy and was a dull grey colour.

I've had certain areas of the vinyl retrimmed in the correct material - door sills, A pillars and centre tunnel. The seats and door cards could do with being redyed and I'm going to experiment with some satin black HVT vinyl dye to see is it will give the correct finish.

Think I would have done very similar. It looks lovely in it's current colour. Do you still have the Cali?

[iainuk]

Originally Posted by Barry

Does that mean you now won't get the thrill of knowing that your 458 could spontaneously combust at any moment?

The first one seemed to be flame retardant so I'm hoping the next one is even more so

Originally Posted by Barry

Think I would have done very similar. It looks lovely in it's current colour. Do you still have the Cali?

My white Cali has gone back but I've got a rather special one on order which is due to complete build in the last week of May. I'm thinking about doing factory collection on it and having a driving holiday along the soth coast of France on the way home.

[Barry]

Originally Posted by iainuk

My white Cali has gone back but I've got a rather special one on order which is due to complete build in the last week of May. I'm thinking about doing factory collection on it and having a driving holiday along the soth coast of France on the way home.

Definitely a good idea. A pick up from Maranello would be wonderful, and what better way to run it in than a blast along the Cote d'Azur? Early June would be lovely weather and just before the roads get unbearably jammed.

What's the spec on the new Cali (it is a Cali is it? Or are you going to be first Ferrari Life FF owner?!)

[iainuk]

It's another Cali Barry. It's going to be Nero Daytona with a Bicolor roof in Grigio Opaco (same as the 599 GTO option) dual alcantara and leather interior in nero with grigio chiaro special stitch, 458 style race seats with yellow centre stripe, special request alcantara insert across the centre of the dash, carbon fibre LED steering wheel and upper dash (vents and media unit surround), carbon licence plate holder, vintage aluminium grille, shields, yellow callipers and yellow tach.

[Barry]

Originally Posted by iainuk

It's another Cali Barry. It's going to be Nero Daytona with a Bicolor roof in Grigio Opaco (same as the 599 GTO option) dual alcantara and leather interior in nero with grigio chiaro special stitch, 458 style race seats with yellow centre stripe, special request alcantara insert across the centre of the dash, carbon fibre LED steering wheel and upper dash (vents and media unit surround), carbon licence plate holder, vintage aluminium grille, shields, yellow callipers and yellow tach.

Very nice Iain, a fine stable will be in place for the summer. Any temptation to throw a 12 cylinder machine in there for good measure?

[iainuk]

I've no plans to add a 12 at present Barry. I liked the FF after seeing it at the factory but don't really have a need for that type of car.

[Andrew]

Iain, the Dina looks fantastic. Glad to see you have already enjoyed 400 miles in it.