1972 FERRARI 246GT DINO 42000 MILES DETAILED & INTERESTING HISTORY.

1972 FERRARI 246GT DINO

Chassis no: 04590 was ordered from Maranello Concessionaires by Alan Brown Racing of Bramley Surrey on 9th May 1972 in Giallo Fly with black interior. Confirmed as order no. D/ 250 by the Ferrari factory on 13th June 1972 and invoiced on 18th July in the sum of Lire 4,033,500 "free Italian border".
Alan Brown Racing were invoiced on 13th September in the sum of £5,039.60, after deduction of the 12 1/ 2% distributor discount and registered SPC 46L on 9th October (copies of the Maranello order and Ferrari invoices are on file).

The first owner was Richard Thorp of The Old House, Dookenfield, Farnham, Surrey.  He was a famous actor, best known as the longest serving actor in Emmerdale, in the role of Alan Turner from 1982 to 2013. However, his prior career was also very successful, with television roles including Dr John Rennie in Emergency Ward 10 (1957-1961) and film roles including The Dam Busters and The Barretts of Wimpole Street. I had the pleasure of taking the car back to meet Richard in 2007 and photographs are on file of the occasion, together with a lovely signed copy of a period photo of him in the 1950's.

When the time came to pass on the Dino, Mr Thorp engaged Alan Brown Racing to sell the car on his behalf. It was purchased by Mr Bateman of G. C. Bateman Ltd., the largest independant family owned opticians group in Britain. His son has fond memories of the car and there is correspondence on file about their ownership.
In April 1975, he in turn used Alan Brown Racing to sell the car for him and there is correspondence on file regarding the sale. Geoff Sizzey, joint MD at ABR well remembers the car, having used it extensively whilst with them for sale and regrets not having bought it himself at the time.
The car was spotted outside the showrooms by a Mr Jackie Wilson, whose friend also owned a Giallo Fly Dino which he had much admired. Jackie owned a local garage in Southwater, near Horsham. He was also a Works power boat racer for Mercury and raced for them all over the world.
He would meet up with his friend at Watford Gap Service Station and head south "flat out" for mile after mile, the pair of Giallo Fly Dinos "barrelling down the M1 at over 150mph". What a sight that must have been!
Jackie was, in his own words, "burning the candle at both ends" and had his first heart attack at 44. He drove his cars as enthusiastically as his power boats, much to the terror of his wife, who sold the Dino whilst he was in hospital! Now 89, there is correspondence with Jackie about his memories, together with press reports of his exploits.

By 1984, the car was with a Mr Elichaoff of Finchley, London, with invoices on file from Maranello Concessionaires for various work carried out, followed by further invoices from Moto technique of Chertsey.

In September 1985 the car was sold by Classic Automobiles of London for £16,000, with a mileage reading of 29,605, to Mr R. Cassidy of Felden, Hertfordshire. Invoices are on file for maintenance work from 1985 to 1997.  It was then sold by Car Care Works of Bovingdon on 17th January 1997 for £36,190, with a mileage reading of 31,758, to Mr Douglas Hodson of Knapwell, Cambridge.
Mr Hodson was a very skilled engineer, who as a hobby made large scale working models of locomotive and radial engines, the front room of his house also being employed as a workshop! Photos are on file of his remarkable models, together with numerous invoices for maintenance and parts during his 10 year ownership, until failing health forced the sale of the Dino and the other cars in his collection.

I purchased the car from him in 2007 at 33,000 miles and have taken the mileage up to 41,300 over my 14 years of ownership, with all invoices on file for maintenance, including a "bare metal, glass out" return to its original colour in 2016 (it having been painted red in the 1980's, when having a red Ferrari was considered more desirable than an original one).

In November 2018 it was featured in Auto Italia magazine (copy on file).

In summary, this is a confirmed by Maranello Archives, matching numbers, low mileage car with a lovely history, contained in 2 thick files, with MOT's dating back to the first in 1975. It comes with original Operating, Maintenance and Service Handbook, Spare Parts Catalogue, original Warranty Card made out to Richard Thorp, toolkit, jack and wheel chock. It wears a full matching set of correct Michelin XAS tyres and was fully serviced last October, with few miles since.

Reluctantly for sale as "downsizing" and moving home.

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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