Replica/Kit Makes : FERRARI DINO

My 1972 FERRARI DINO GT LM race replica is up for bid:

It is based on a Kelmark GT and is professionally built to plans furnished by Kelmark Engineering and Mid-Engineering and is built on a custom tubular frame that surrounds a VW platform / floor section which is welded to the bottom of the outer edge of the VW pan. A custom roll cage is welded into the bottom frame and includes a roll bar behind the seats and is triangulated down through the A-pillars to the front shock towers. At the rear. it is triangulated like the original Ferrari's to the engine sub-frame section. In this case. the mid-engine sub-frame is essentially the front clip of a 1970 Olds Toronado complete with the GM wish-bone independent suspension. Turbo Hydramatic automatic transmission. 4 wheel disc brakes and a Oldsmobile big-block Rocket 455 cubic inch (7. 5 liters) engine with four barrel carb. roller rockers and mild race cam. It puts out 470 hp.

This layout was designed by Jack Bakerfield who was the famous Olds engineer who was involved in the Olds CAN-AM race cars and the Olds 442 Hurst cars. Later he used this same concept; although. somewhat down sized. nbsp;when he designed the Pontiac Fiero for GM in the 80's. His idea to take the small light weight Kelmark Dino inspired body and combine it with GM big block power produced the world's fastest street legal sports car as tested by Car and Driver Magazine in 1977.

At that time. nbsp;Don Sherman broke 200 mph which Ferrari could not accomplish until it introduced the F40 a decade later. Keep in mind that the 512 boxer and Testarosa was only good for around 175 mph. And the small block GT40's and Pantera's could not break 200. It is a great car and every one loves it. The sound it makes turns heads with the low rumble that only a big block can produce. It has Centerline Alloy wheels with new Goodyear Eagle GT tires.

Rebuilt and loved by myself who is a certified aircraft turbine engine mechanic. The Ferrari livery is a tribute to the famous Ferrari Dino lemans cars that raced in 1972 and placed 7th in the index of performance that year. This car has the speed and power to match and exceed the Dino racing cars. I built it since I wanted a vintage sports racing Ferrari but somehow fell short of being able to spend a million dollars for a real one. Race replica's are becoming very collectable and can be very expensive. This one is very rare with only 25 big-block Kelmark GT's ever built.

Before you bid make sure your health and flexibility will allow you to get in and out of this car. The car measures only 42 inches to the top of the windshield so is only two inches higher that an original GT40. Even still it has headroom to accommodate a six foot driver as the floor is recessed below the seats. Here is your chance to own a historic sports racing car. When I take it to cruise night the Hot Rod crowd just loves this car. From the moment people hear the rumble and then see the Rosso Red paint and Ferrari emblems they know it is something very special most believe it's a real Ferrari racing model as not many cars make this kind of wonderful sound. Happy Bidding!

For our American friends the title is from the original VW pan that was used in the construction of this car and is therefore titled as a 1973 Type 1 VW. Since. the doner vehicle was original imported to Canada from WI. USA it should not be a problem to register the car in the US. I can transport the car to Grand Portage for pick-up. It is currently plated. registered. insured by Hagerty as a modified VW replica vehicle and is on the road. All ways garaged in a warm dry shop.

Dino – what's in a name?

Alfredo ‘Dino' Ferrari was Enzo Ferrari's elder son. He was born in 1932 but tragically died aged just 24 from muscular dystrophy.

He is credited with being the inspiration for the series of V6 engines that would power Ferrari F1 and sports racing cars such as Mike Hawthorn's 1958 F1 World Championship winner and the exquisite 206SP.

In 1968 Ferrari launched Dino as an entire automotive brand in its own right with the Pininfarina-designed 2-litre. V6 Dino 206GT. The car had a claimed 180bhp but was replaced the following year by the 2. 4-litre. 195bhp 246GT. though much of its potential performance advantage was obviated by the fact the 206's aluminium body was replaced by steel. This one is fiberglass so it is much lighter than steel.

The prospect of the Dino's 2018 return to the Ferrari range after a four-decade-long absence has been spoken up directly by recently-appointed Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne. who told Autocar that the revival of the Dino name was “not a question of if but when”. One of Ferrari's most iconic names. Dino was used on V6 and V8-powered models in the 1960s and 70s as Ferrari sought to make more affordable but no less desirable cars. Between 1969 and 1974 a total of 2487 Dino 246 GT models were produced. with 1274 246 GTS examples being produced between 1972 and 1974.

Racing Dino's

The production Dino V6 began as a discussion between Vittorio Jano and Enzo and Dino Ferrari about the ideal 1. 5 L engine for use in the 1958 FORMULA 2.

Ferrari designers began work on the first Dino V6 engine in 1956 and the engine was running by the end of the year. The engine displaced 1489 cc. This engine was installed in the Ferrari 156 F2 car and was first raced in the Naples Grand Prix in April 1957. where it finished in third place behind two Lancia-Ferrari V8 Formula One cars.

In 1966. the Dino 206 S was announced as a contender in the 2 litre sports prototype class. with the intention of building fifty examples. which. as was seen. never happened. This series of cars eventually had their own specific “Dino” chassis number sequence. Visually the model was a scaled down version of the 4 litre V12 engine 330 P3 model. with bodywork by Piero Drogo's Carrozzeria Sports cars in Modena. The model used either a triple carburettor set-up or fuel injection. while two three and four valve cylinder heads were also used.

In the seventies. the Dino's only major international race appearance was at the Le Mans 24-Hour Race in 1972. when a much modified 246 GT. chassis no. 02678. was entered by Luigi Chinetti's North American Racing Team. driven by Gilles Doncieux/Pierre Laffeach/Yves Forestier. finishing in 17th position overall and 7th in the Index of Performance category. This 246 GT-LM had a wider stance. nbsp;a longer wheel base and was flared-out around the wheel arches. that is similar to the Kelmark.

The Kelmark GT Dino

The first Kelmark GT was initially constructed as a V8 engine special. The car had exterior styling that was distinctive for its debut in the beginning of 1974. The style of the Kelmark 1 GT Coupe was copied directly from a Dino 206 / 246.

Kelmark Engineering was an automotive specialty shop established in 1969 and based in Okemos. Michigan. It focused on high-performance custom V8 drivetrain swaps. the modification and production of rear and mid-engined cars. and custom-built automobiles (the Kelmark GT). Until 1986. Kelmark Engineering manufactured kits and complete. finished. turn-key vehicles which were either Volkswagen-based or built using tubular race car-type frames. The outfit gained its name from the two co-creators who started the operation. Russ Keller and Randy Markham. Up until at least 1989. the Kelmark GT was still available as a kit albeit the manufacturer was Kelmark Motors in Holt. MI. The cars are all "rare" models. but the VW-powered Kelmark GT was the most popular.

The Kelmark Toronado GT was big-block V8 "Super Car" version utilizing a custom tube frame to accept a GM Oldsmobile Toronado drive unit mounted in the mid-engine position driving the rear wheels. Typically. these rare GT's were powered by the Olds 425 or 455 cubic inch engine. One of these models was outfitted with a highly tuned. Chevrolet big-block 454 cubic inch engine and was tested by Car and Driver and broke the 200 mph barrier. Thus. becoming the worlds fastest street-legal sports car in 1977. Car & Driver reported this as the “Fastest documented speed ever attained by a street machine”. clocked at 202. 7 by Car & Driver at the former Transportation Research Center in Ohio (now a part of Honda's US test facility). This proved the cars advanced aerodynamic and performance capabilities.

Bill Porterfield. a former Olds engineer. was responsible for the record breaking car. Later. he was the design engineer at GM for the Pontiac Fiero. He used a custom tubular frame built by his company Mid-Engineering. This special chassis utilized the Oldsmobile Toronado Turbo-Hydamatic 425 transaxle behind a 700 hp Chevrolet ZL-1. 454 big-block motor. To put this accomplishment into perspective one should consider that it took Ferrari until March 1987 to come out with a 200 mph street legal sports car. the Ferrari F40. The F40 was a low production volume special which was not a mainstream Ferrari. Just a few months later Road and Track tested several specialty sports cars. The Ruf CTR Porsche 911 Yellow Bird and the Koenig RS Porsche 911; which. broke 200 mph. These two ran at 211 and 201 mph. respectively. Again. these were low volume custom sports cars. In these same tests. which were completed by Road and Track. with Le Mans winning Paul Frere and Formula 1 champ Phil Hill driving. the Ferrari Testarossa. Lamborghini Countach 5000S and AMG Hammer and Mercedes Benz 300E all failed to break 200 mph.

A GREAT CAR GOING AT A SMALL PRICE WHEN CONSIDERING WHAT FOLKS ARE PAYING THESE DAYS FOR BIG-BLOCK SPORTS RACING REPLICAS BY SUPERPERFORMANCE AND THE OTHER FERRARI AND GT40 REPLICAR COMPANIES!

Happy Bidding!

Also published at eBay.ca

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