1973 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS

• One of only 235 UK-supplied, right-hand drive 246 GT Spiders
• Delivered new by Dick Lovett Specialist Cars to its first owner in Northampton in June 1973
• Finished in Azzuro Dino Metallico with Beige VM 3218 hide, Beige carpets and electric windows
• This matching numbers example has only covered a documented 18,275 miles from new
• Recent refresh to return the car to its original colour of Blue Met Dino
• Documentation with the car includes copies of the original order and invoice from Ferrari to Dick Lovett, DVLA ownership from new, MOTs and service invoices dating back to 1974. Factory manuals and bespoke Jack
• Rarely do such well-documented cars of this quality come to market and we are proud to offer this beautiful example which is now ready to begin the next chapter of its life

The new Dino 246GT was an absolute delight from all angles, its beauty, handling, engine note, mid-engined layout, unusually good all-round visibility and comparative affordability made it absolutely irresistible. The voluptuous bodywork, which many people regard as the prettiest ever to grace a road-going Ferrari, was designed by Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti and covered a tubular chassis which carried wishbone independent suspension at each corner. The 190bhp engine, with four overhead camshafts, was mounted transversely behind the driver and in front of the rear axle. Power to the wheels was transmitted via drop gears to the transverse 5-speed gearbox, in unit with the differential and engine sump. With rack and pinion steering and a mid-engined configuration, it was a revelation in terms of road holding and stability, nothing had been made like this before and it left its larger V12-engined siblings in its wake.

This was a very modern car and a real step in Ferrari history announcing a new age for Ferrari in concept and design. Sparkling acceleration and a top speed of 145mph combined with a comfortable interior and some usable boot space meant that it was a genuine 'Grand Touring' car. Proving a great sales success, production of the Dino 246 finished in 1974 with 2,487 GTs and 1,274 GTS models.

This fabulous Dino GTS was supplied new in right-hand drive by Dick Lovett Specialist Cars to a William John Blundell of Northampton on the 3rd June 1973 finished in Azzuro Dino Metallico with Beige VM 3218 hide, Beige carpets and electric windows, exactly as the car is presented today. It was first registered EAM 97L and a photocopy of the 'Green' Logbook is with the car. Within this car's super History File are copies of the original telephone order from Dick Lovett to the Factory and the Bills of Sale from Ferrari to Maranello Concessionaires (ú4,902.00) and from Dick Lovett to the first owner (ú5,537.36).

The car was returned to Maranello Concessionaires in late 1979 for work to be carried out and there is a 4-page invoice in the file dated 29th February 1980 detailing those costs (ú4,438.09). At the time, the second-hand value of a Dino was around ú6,000 to put this expenditure into perspective. The speedometer head was also replaced with the original reading 15,445 miles. The MOT dated March 10th 1980 shows an odometer reading of 40 miles covered in the first few days of having the Dino back. At this point, the car had been painted Rosso and appears to have been looked after by Maranello for the next few years.

The Ferrari was used lightly after its 1980 rebuild and by 20/01/1995 it had only covered 1,596 miles. The car's fourth owner, Mr Luay Allawi, instructed renowned Ferrari specialists, DK Engineering, to carry out a complete refresh in February 2001. Naturally, there are detailed invoices on file indicating that over 450 man-hours were spent on this recommission and the total expenditure was just short of ú16,000. The car returned to DK in November of the same year, at 2,364 miles, for minor works and extensive detailing which included removing the engine to clean and paint the engine bay, specialist finishing of the carburettors and other ancillaries, strip and rebuild the driveshafts and supply and fit a 'Tubi-style' stainless silencer. The account, in this case, totalled ú8,410.16 DK continued to look after and service the car until 2018 and there are invoices on file.

This matching numbers example has recently been returned to its original Azzuro Dino Metallico and has still only covered 18,340 miles from new as fully documented in the extensive history file. As well as the aforementioned orders, bill of sale etc, the file also includes DVLA ownership from new, older MOTs from May 1977 through to 07/06/2018 at 2,465 miles, V5s, SORN details, dozens of invoices, correspondence, photos of the recommission and a condition report from GTO Engineering dated 02/08/ 2019. It still retains its original leather wallet with the original Service/Handbook and Parts Catalogue and the bespoke Dino jack.

A superb, UK-supplied, rare original right-hand drive Dino GTS in a truly beautiful colour combination with genuine documented low mileage and literally just serviced by marque expert Bob Houghton.