The Dino name was first used in 1956 on a Formula Two race car. Its first use on a road car was in 1966 for the Fiat Dino coupe and spyder. It became its own brand in 1967 when the Dino 206 was introduced. The second car in the Dino line-up was introduced in 1973 with the 308 GT4 when it was unveiled. With Dino being its own brand, and a very capable car, I find it a bit odd that the sales brochure noted it was “almost a Ferrari.” An attempt at humor? It probably made more sense in 1967.

So when did Dino become Ferrari?

That answer is simple; Dino was always a Ferrari. The original V6 that was in the race cars, the Fiats, and the 206 and 246 was designed and developed by Ferrari, and the 206 and 246 were assembled in the Ferrari factory. Despite what the brochure notes, it was a Ferrari (not almost), it just lacked some badges. In fact, the Dino 206 was the very beginning of Ferrari’s second generation of road cars—the first generation being that of the V12s. 

For the sake of branding, however, it was always a Dino. The conversation of when it became a Ferrari was really spawned by the unusual history of the 308 GT4, because it later did become a branded Ferrari. Just like the 206 and the 246, the 308 had no Ferrari badging when it was introduced to the world in October 1973. Once production started in 1974 it was still a Dino, although if you opened the engine bay you would see “Ferrari” clear as day on the cylinder heads. It wasn’t until mid 1975 that they became “sort of” Ferraris (as far as badging is concerned), and around summer to perhaps the end of 1976 for them to be officially recognized as a Ferrari. I’ll explain.

In 1975 the Dino 308 GT4 was the only Ferrari you could buy new in America. America was the biggest market for Ferrari and Americans weren’t too keen on paying Ferrari prices for a not-Ferrari car. We needed that horse on the car to stroke our ego! Yes, America is to blame for the fall of the Dino name.

On July 1, 1975, technical information bulletin 266 was issued to dealers with lots of changes for the US version of the 308 GT4. This bulletin included all sorts of changes (such as bumpers, chin spoiler, muffler grill, and even how to execute the proper boxer paint scheme). However, it was section 8 of this bulletin that showed them where and what to replace or add concerning badges… but it seems like dealers may have had their own ideas. This is exactly why discerning what’s “correct” for a 1975 or 1976 Dino 308 GT4 is nearly impossible. Section 8 of the bulletin instructions were to replace the Dino horn button with “Ferrari ‘horse’ badge on steering wheel” (part number 101079), place the Ferrari badge (part number 101579) directly above the existing Dino badge, and add a “Ferrari horse badge” (part number 102402) on the rear to the right of the license plate.

Very few dealers actually executed that bulletin as written. How many of you have seen a 308 GT4 with both the Dino badge and the Ferrari badge on the nose? They are out there, but there aren’t many (and even some of those weren’t done correctly as the Ferrari badge sits below the Dino badge). Instead, most dealers removed the Dino nose badge and filled it in, drilled holes, painted, and affixed the Ferrari badge in its place—or it’s possible they removed that front panel with the inset and replaced it with a smooth panel, drilled holes, painted, and affixed the Ferrari badge. Either one of those two methods required a partial repaint and the result was one Ferrari badge, no Dino badge. Most dealers replaced the horn button and affixed the horse at the rear as noted in the bulletin, although some used an even larger horse badge than what the technical information bulletin called out. And a lot of dealers went further than that.

Technical information bulletin 266 mentions nothing about the “Dino 308gt4” badge on the trunk—that was intended to stay as that was now to become the model name of the car. Some dealers removed it and replaced it with the typical “Ferrari” name badge (like we see on the 308 GTB and GTS models), and some added that “Ferrari” name badge directly above or below the “Dino 308gt4” badge. Some dealers just left it alone. The bulletin also mentions nothing about the wheels or wheel center caps, but again, many dealers replaced the wheels with the typical Ferrari 5-point star wheels and added the Ferrari “horse” center cap. Some dealers left the Dino wheels on and simply replaced the center cap. Others just left it alone altogether.

This was how rebranding the Dino 308 GT4 to a Ferrari Dino 308 GT4 started, ushering in the ultimate death of the Dino brand. According to Ferrari’s website, the Dino 308 GT4 didn’t start leaving the factory branded as a Ferrari until the end of 1976:

That’s pretty vague, and I have read in other sources that it was in the summer of 1976. For example, in a small booklet titled “A guide to Ferrari 1960-1995” published by Ferrari UK to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Maranello Concessionaires Ltd, it notes the summer of 1976 when the cars started leaving the factories badged as a Ferrari:

That’s still vague, but maybe less vague than Ferrari’s website. Although, I wouldn’t call summer the “end of 1976,” it would definitely be more like the middle. Perhaps if it was the very end of the summer, like Labor Day*, then perhaps you could get away with saying “the end of 1976” and be somewhat correct. Regardless, some time between summer and the end of 1976 the 308 GT4 started leaving the factory in Maranello as a Ferrari. That’s an interesting and unique thing if you think about it—what other car began life as one brand and ended life as a different brand? I can think of none.

Regardless of which source is correct—Ferrari or Ferrari UK—what we have at minimum is a full year from the date technical information bulletin 266 was issued to the date the cars left the factory as Ferraris. Which would mean that dealers were still getting their 1976 model cars as Dinos and would most likely go through the rebadging process on each one. I suspect this was done because the factory wanted to exhaust its existing supply of Dino parts before fully switching over to Ferrari. But one thing is certain, every 1975 model 308 GT4, and I’d say at least half (or more) of every 1976 model 308 GT4 left the factory badged as a Dino.

That’s where some people face a conundrum. I’ve encountered more than one 308 GT4 owner who has a 1975 model car and they claim it was never branded as a Dino. The way this can be verified is to reach your hand under the nose and feel its underside. If the car left the factory as a Dino, there should be a horizontal rectangle shaped inset—this is where the Dino badge would have been. However, the folks I know who face this conundrum have checked that and they have no horizontal inset. This can be baffling for some, for others, they’re simply convinced the car was always branded a Ferrari. The latter is definitely not the case.

I realize what follows next is anecdotal, but this was the experience of a good friend of mine who had a 1975 model 308 GT4 that apparently was never badged as a Dino. For privacy and respect, I won’t mention his name or chassis number, but his was an early model manufactured before technical information bulletin 266 was ever sent to dealers. What made my friend’s case more interesting and valid was that he was only the third owner of the car, and he personally knew the previous two owners. He knew the history of the car. The car was also extraordinarily well documented, even more so than my car (which is one of the best documented 308 GT4s I’ve ever seen). To his knowledge, the car had never been wrecked. In fact, it had never even undergone a repaint—yes, there had been plenty of paintwork done to the car over the years, but it was all touchup and correction work, it never had a full respray. Since there was no horizontal inset on the backside of the nose, then it must have left the factory as a Ferrari, in May 1975. Right?

We spent so much time trying to figure out how and why his car had no horizontal inset, it surely left the factory as a Dino, but there was no evidence that was the case. We tried researching to see if maybe there was a serial number cut-off or something of that nature, but could turn up nothing. We spent months on this, but it wasn’t until he sold the car that the true story emerged. An interested buyer came to see and test drive the car, once there he told my friend he knew the car and its original owner as he lived next door to him when it was bought new. He saw the car regularly, and often got to go for rides in the car with the original owner from the time it was new. He then told my friend of a time in the 1980s when they were in the car and someone backed into them, crushing the nose of the car.

And just like that, the mystery was solved! The car was subsequently repaired, the nose panel was replaced with a flat panel with no horizontal inset, paintwork was done, and no record of that repair was ever kept. No one ever knew the car had been in a minor accident except for those who were there when it happened. Also, that guy ended up buying the car so it went to the right person.

If you believe your 1975 or early-to-mid 1976 car was always badged a Ferrari because you have no horizontal inset on the backside of the nose, I’m sorry to say you’re mistaken. Given my friend’s experience, and what we know is true of the manufacturing of these cars, it’s likely something similar happened with your car—a minor accident with no records before you owned it, or perhaps the dealer replaced the panel when rebadging rather than filling in the horizontal inset. Who knows what happened, but undeniably something happened during its life. Without records (or a chance encounter with someone who was there and can tell the story) you’ll never know which is the case, but one of those is most certainly the case.

The Dino 308 GT4, as well as the 206 and 246, have always been a Ferrari. They all had Ferrari designed and developed engines, and the 308 GT4 even said “Ferrari” on the engine itself. They just didn’t officially start wearing Ferrari badges until some point in 1976. I think we should be proud of our Dino heritage, even though it was never “almost a Ferrari,” it was really always a Ferrari.

*Labor Day is the first Monday of September in the United States, often considered the last day of summer.