WHAT'S IN NAME

The Fiat Dino Spider's humble marque name belies its exotic racebred Ferrari engine and curvaceous body. Richard Heseltine takes the wheel The Fiat Dino Spider's humble marque name belies its exotic racebred Ferrari engine and curvaceous body. Richard Heseltine takes the wheel

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Revs are rising at the sort of rate that could induce a nosebleed and the roads are awake to the sound of a Dino Spider as it flicks two fingers at the fainthearted. It fizzes with energy, the V6 roaring its own fruity language. It’s just you, the sort of backdrop that makes your heart soar, and roads that are twisty, turny and challenging. You’re not about to suffer auditory fatigue any time soon, that’s for sure. The backbeat makes you want to press on, surging towards the sort of speeds fully deserving of a spell in the stocks.

None of which suggests that you’re driving a Fiat: the most mainstream of Italian marques has produced some great cars amid some that are, well, less so. This intriguing curio is something of an anomaly in that it employs a Ferrari engine, and a truly classic one at that. As such, the Dino Spider should naturally be elevated to the elite circle of landmark exotica, but that has never quite been the case. A Fiat with Ferrari firepower suggests a treasure beyond price but also the bargain of a lifetime, and in many ways it is.

It requires an act of will not to listen to the engine note in whimpering incomprehension. How can it sound this good? It demands your attention, as does the rest of the car, yet the narrative behind how Fiat got wrapped up in making the Dino is a little cloudy.

It is widely held that Ferrari was eager to homologate a V6 engine for the 1967 1.6-litre Formula 2 regulations. These rules stipulated that such engines needed to be based on a production car unit (using the same block but not necessarily the same cylinder dimensions). Also, a minimum of 500 engines needed to have been made in a year prior to applying. Given that Ferrari was making around 700 cars per annum, this presented something of an obstacle, even if it had form when it came to homologation chicanery.