Background – 04054
Ordered through Maranello Concessionaires of Egham, Surrey by H R Owen Ltd, 33 Sloane Street London on the 2nd March, 1972 for the right hand drive UK market in Rosso Dino 20-R-350 with the optional Black Hide VM8500 Connolly Vaumol upholstery and electric windows, 04054 was built in May 1972, making this particular Dino an early E Series car.
The choice of colour scheme may well have been inspired by the popular ITC Entertainment show “The Persuaders” in which the character Danny Wilde – played by Tony Curtis – drove a Dino 246 GT L series resplendent in Rosso Dino.
The car was originally ordered for a Mr Heath by H R Owen and arrived with Maranello Concessionaires in early June. Mr Heath had intended to use the car for ski trips to the Alps and took a set of his skis to the showroom to test fit them in the car only to discover there was no way they would fit in the cabin. He promptly cancelled the order. The car was sold to its first owner a matter of a week or so later – Mr Johnson of Chigwell Essex – and registered on the 13th June, 1972 on the registration number LYX 446K. Mr Johnson then placed his cherished number YNY 1 on the car a week later.
Mr Johnson kept and highly cherished the car for the next 23 years and covered 24,000 miles in it. He advertised the car in the Exchange and Mart on Thursday 15th June, 1995 (page of the E and M contained in the history file) where it was spotted by it’s next owner. Mr Johnson had looked after the car extremely well and photo’s in the history file on the day of the sale show it was his pride and joy as he can be seen cleaning it prior to letting it go for the last time.
The second owner used it sparingly over the next 16 and a half years adding a further 9,237 miles to the odometer.
When the current owner went to view the car in January 2012 he found it to be in remarkably untouched and fully original condition, something that is extremely rare on a Dino. By this point in it’s life the car was suffering from the usual corrosion that affects these models as they were not well protected from new. To the untrained eye the car looked to be in poor condition but he realised he was looking at an extremely low mileage, two owner, untouched and original example that would make a superb car once correctly restored. It had all of it’s original factory accessory items including it’s tool kit, wheel jack kit, wheel chock, owners handbook pack in the original leather wallet, warranty card, battery guarantee certificate, Veglia dash clock instruction tag and the original Bellux emergency warning triangle. These items were missing on most Dinos as owners placed no value upon them and often forgot to pass them on when the cars changed owners. A deal to buy the car was agreed and arrangements made for Carrs Ferrari in Exeter to collect it and return it to their workshop for restoration.
An extensive ground up restoration plan for the car was devised with the goal of sympathetically returning it to its original delivered specification with the mechanical restoration being undertaken by Carrs Ferrari in Exeter and the body restoration by the highly experienced marque specialist, Stallion Motor Body Specialists in Nottingham. The interior retrim was handled by Tappezzeria Luppi in Campagnola Emilia, Italy, a company used by Ferrari for their Classiche restoration service.
The attention to detail with this Dino is nothing short of staggering. Considerable effort, hard work, extensive research and dedication was expended in finding out the specific details for this car not only in terms of its original specification, but also in terms of the detail entered into in ensuring absolutely the correct parts are used throughout. Wherever possible the original parts were stripped, cleaned and restored. Where items were either missing or beyond restoration, correct parts were sourced from all over the world to ensure every minor detail is correct.
The finished result is nothing short of sensational.
Yes, there are cheaper cars out there, but I can assure you if you are looking for a Dino that is absolutely correct down to every last detail, then this is the one, and in its original rare colour of Rosso Dino (one of only twelve 246 models delivered new in the UK in this colour – eight GT versions and four GTS models) it also makes it interesting and unusual. The fact this a three owner car also makes it an extremely rare find in the Ferrari world considering it is now over 49 years old.
Presented in as restored condition, this example really must be seen to be appreciated, every detail is correct, the panel fit is exceptional and certainly much better than when it was originally built, the paintwork is faultless.
Since the restoration was completed in 2012, the routine servicing work on the car has been carried out by Carrs Ferrari in Exeter with a total of six stamps in it’s post restoration service book. Last service by Carrs in October 2020.
The Dino is a very usable ‘modern’ classic, thankfully there is now plentiful parts supply to make running one a fairly easy proposition versus the likes of the V12 engined 365 or 512 models.
In terms of the driving experience, the lightness of the car and it’s mid engined layout give it a much more modern feel on the road and the non-assisted steering gives lots of surface feedback whilst the double wishbone suspension layout front and rear gives a ride quality that is perfectly suited to our crumbling roads. The narrow width of the car means it is far easier to enjoy on backroad blasts than any modern, wide mid engined exotic.
04054 comes with all of it’s original factory accessories including tool kit, jack kit, Bellux warning triangle, wheel chock, owners manual leather wallet containing owners manual, parts manual, dealer service directory for 1972, Warranty Card, Fiamm battery guarantee booklet, Veglia clock tag plus other period items including the original green card registration document, a petrol ration coupon booklet issued to the first owner during the oil crises in 1973, a Maranello Concessionaires Egham location map booklet, some original photographs during the first two owners periods of ownership, and a book photographic record of the complete restoration in 2012.
Viewings are by Appointment Only, please contact us to arrange