FERRARI aficionados have celebrated the 50th anniversary of the launch of the brand’s best-selling model, the Dino, with a 150-car gathering in Ferrari’s hometown of Maranello.

The global meet celebrated the anniversary of the road-going car that was first presented as a prototype at the 1965 Paris motor show, then displayed again in 1966 at the Turin show before its debut as a production model at the Frankfurt motor show in November, 1967.

So why didn’t Ferrari celebrate the 50th anniversary last year? The company said it would have been overshadowed by the Ferrari 70th anniversary celebrations and instead changed the emphasis to reflect the road debut of the first model in March 1968.

The occasion was marked by 150 cars and 300 owners who gathered in the forecourt of the Maranello Museum and then headed to the Fiorano track, where they were paraded.

 

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The Dino was named after Enzo Ferrari’s son Alfredo “Dino” who was heir to the company until his death at age 24 in 1956 from muscular dystrophy.

While the model did not carry a Ferrari prancing horse until 1976 and then through to its demise in 1980, many owners retrofitted the badge. From its inception in 1968 to 1976, it wore Dino badges.

In 2017, at a Shannons auction, a 1972 Dino GTS sold for $850,000. Shannons sold a Dino in 2008 for $100,000.

By Neil Dowling