MONDO DINO

Enzo Ferrari's exquisite homage to his late son Alfredo, the Dino sports car, now enjoys the status of being an all-time classic

- NICOLAS STECHER

The story of the landmark Dino is one of bloodlines, legacy, triumph and grief. You could start the tale with the shocking debut of the Lamborghini Miura at the Turin Auto Show in 1965, a concept car so revolutionary it stunned the populace dumb and introduced the Raging Bull from Sant'Agata as a legitimate contender to Enzo Ferrari's undisputed heavyweight crown. Widely considered the world's first supercar, the mid-engine layout of the Miura was a warning shot to its neighbors from Maranello who had only produced front-engine street cars until then.

But the story probably more accurately begins a decade earlier with the "Dino V6," Ferrari's first V6 engine envisioned by Enzo's son Alfredo. A promising engineer in his own right, "Dino" Ferrari convened with legendary engineer Vittorio Jano to develop a V6 to deploy in Formula Two in 1955. This engine would evolve into the first V6 ever used in Formula One when it debuted in Ferrari's 246 P race car in 1960-also Ferrari's first prototype with a mid-engine layout.