Fiat Dino

The Fiat Dino (Type 135) is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive sports car produced by Fiat from 1966 to 1973. The Dino name refers to the Ferrari Dino V6 engine, produced by Fiat and installed in the cars to achieve the production numbers sufficient for Ferrari to homologate the engine for Formula 2 racing.

History

Background

The Dino road cars came to be because of Enzo Ferrari's need to homologate a V6 engine for Formula 2 racing cars. In 1965 the Commission Sportive Internationale de la FIA had drawn up new rules, to be enacted for the 1967 season. F2 engines were required to have no more than six cylinders, and to be derived from a production engine, from a road car homologated in the GT class and produced in at least 500 examples within 12 months.[3][4] Since a small manufacturer, like Ferrari was in the mid 60s, did not possess the production capacity to reach such quotas, an agreement was signed with

Fiat Dino 2400 (1969–1973)

In 1969, both Ferrari and Fiat introduced new 2.4-litre Dino models. The Fiat Dino 2400 premiered in October 1969 at the Turin Motor show; besides the larger engine, another notable improvements was independent rear suspension.[8] The V6 now put out 180 PS, and used a cast iron instead of the previous light alloy engine block; the same engine was installed on the Dino 246 GT, Ferrari's evolution of the 206. Whereas the original Dino was equipped with a rigid axle suspended by leaf springs and 4 shock absorbers, 2.4-litre cars used a coil-sprung independent rear suspension with 2 shock absorbers derived from the Fiat 130. Rather than engine power and absolute speed, the most important consequence of the larger displacement was a marked increase in torque, available at lower engine speeds; the Dino 2400 had much better pickup, and it was found more usable, even in city traffic.[9] Other modifications went on to improve the car's drivability and safety: larger diameter clutch, new dogleg ZF gearbox with revised gear ratios, wider section Pirelli Cinturato tyres,[10] and upsized brake discs and callipers.

Cosmetic changes were comparatively minor. Both models were now badged "Dino 2400". On the coupé the previous silver honeycomb grille with the round Fiat logo on its centre had been replaced by a new black grille and a bonnet badge. A host of details were changed from chrome to matte black, namely part of the wheels, the vents on the front wings and the cabin ventilation outlets—the latter moved from next to the side windows to the rear window. At the rear there were different tail lights. The spider also sported a new grille with two horizontal chrome bars, five-bolt instead of knock-off wheels, as well as a new bumpers with rubber strips. Inside only the coupé received an entirely redesigned dashboard and new cloth seats, with optional leather seat upholstery; front seat headrests were standard on the coupé and optional on the spider.[3]

Specifications

The Fiat Dino coupe used an all-steel unibody construction. The Spider had an aluminum trunk lid. The dual-circuit braking system with vacuum servo operated on four wheel disc brakes. The upgraded Girling brakes of the Dino 2400 were shared with sports cars like the De Tomaso Pantera and Lamborghini Miura. Steering was of the worm and roller type by French manufacturer Gemmer.

Suspension

Front suspension was of the double wishbone type. The upper wishbone consisted of a stamped steel control arm, the lower one of a stamped steel link and an adjustable forward radius rod. Coaxial coil springs and hydraulic dampers were attached to the upper wishbone; an anti-roll bar was fitted.

On 2.0-litre cars, the rear suspension consisted of a rigid axle on semi-elliptic springs (single-leaf on the spider, two-leaf on the coupé) and twin hydraulic dampers on each side. It was located by a longitudinal reaction strut on each side, linked to the axle at the front and to the aft leaf spring attachment point at the rear.

On 2.4-litre cars, the independent rear suspension consisted on each side of a long oblique stamped steel link (incorporating the spring seat) and a transverse link, attached to the same crossmember which supported the differential; there were coil springs, single hydraulic dampers and an anti-roll bar.

Engines

A peculiarity of Dino V6 engines was a 65° angle between the cylinder banks, instead of the usual 60°. The valvetrain consisted of 12 poppet valves timed by two chain-driven overhead camshafts. Compression ratio was 9:1 on both engines. Fuel was delivered via three twin-choke downdraught Weber Carburetors, normally 40 DCN 14 on 2.0 cars and 40 DCNF 12 on 2.4 cars.

The 2.0-litre V6 had bore and stroke respectively of 86 mm and 57 mm, for a total displacement of 1,986.6 cc. The engine block was alloy, with inserted special cast iron wet cylinder liners; cylinder heads were aluminium as well, with cast iron valve seats and hemispherical combustion chambers. In 1968 the 2.0-litre Fiat Dino became the first car to have electronic ignition as standard. The Dinoplex C electronic capacitive discharge ignition was developed by Magneti Marelli expressly for the high-revving Dino V6 engine.[12] Performance was impressive, with a 0–60 mph time of less than 8 seconds. Early Dino's were later on equipped with the Dinoplex C ignition. Its primary function was to prevent fouling of the sparkplugs in town use.

The 2.4-litre V6 had bore and stroke respectively of 92.5 mm and 60 mm, for a total displacement of 2,418 cc.

Transmission

Both series cars used an all-synchromesh 5-speed manual transmission, with an hydraulic single-plate dry clutch (up-sized on the 2400), and a limited slip differential. Two-litre Dinos used a transmission of Fiat's own design. This was changed on the 2400 to a ZF-sourced S5-18/3 dog-leg gearbox, the same found on the Fiat 130 as well as on other manufacturers' cars.

manufacturer	Fiat
production	1966–1973
assembly	Italy: Rivalta, Turin (1966–1969) Italy: Maranello, Modena (1969–1973)
designer	Spider: Filippo Sapino at Pininfarina Coupé: Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone (initial design, 1963)‡R1R‡ Marcello Gandini at Bertone (final design)‡R2R‡
class	Sports car (S)
layout	Front-engine, rear-wheel-drive
body style	2-door coupé 2-door spider
related	Dino 206 GT and 246 GT
engine	2.0 L Dino V6 (1966–69) 2.4 L Dino V6 (1969–73)
transmission	5-speed manual
wheelbase	Coupé: 2550 mm Spider: 2280 mm
length	Coupé: 4507 mm Spider: 4109 –
width	Coupé: 1696 mm Spider: 1709 mm
height	Coupé: 1287 – Spider: 1245 –
weight	Coupé: 1270 – Spider: 1150 –
sp	uk

History

Background

Fiat Dino (1966–1969)

Fiat Dino 2400 (1969–1973)

Production

Specifications

Suspension

Engines

Transmission

Motorsport

Concept cars

External links

References