Fiat Dino production numbers

All about our Fiat Dino Coupes and Spiders

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Dinoswede
Posts: 109
Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2014 4:22 pm
Dino: Fiat Dino 2.0 Spider

Fiat Dino production numbers

Post by Dinoswede »

I would like to discuss production numbers for Fiat Dino - how many cars were actually made? The reason is, you nowadays can find a handful of
production figures, if reading different articles, books and car dealers´ ads for Fiat Dinos.
Wikipedia, for instance, claims a production total of 7803 cars, divided on 1163 Spiders and 3670 Coupes (1987 cc), and 420 Spiders and 2550
Coupes (2418 cc)! Compare with the list below!

I have always considered the production info that Mike Morris got from FIAT in Italy in February 1980, to be the most safe source in this matter.
Mike has included all that info in his "Fiat Dino Bible", so it´s well known. But - the only problem with that info is, there is at least one, possibly
two faults in it.
First, the last Spider manufactured year 1970 is said to be s/n 1371. The first s/n listed for year 1971 is s/n 1378! Six cars are missing, but I am
convinced, this is just a printing error of a tired secretary, who was ordered to answer Mike´s letter, though she had a headache and really
wanted to go home...
Mike choose to follow the list as printed, which of course had direct influence at the production figures in his book. But - why should a rolling
production line at the Pininfarina plant just skip six chassis numbers? Just for fun? I doubt it.

Second, an another error is shown in FIAT´s list, as the last 2 litre Coupe is said to be s/n 3654. The 2 litre Coupe production must have run up
to s/n 3670, at least! How do I know that? Well, it´s very easy - s/n 3670 is a 2 litre Coupe, sold new in Sweden, and still running, as a more or
less unrestored original Dino. I have seen this car many times, and it is a genuine 2 litre Coupe, with a well documented line of owners.

Please note that the FIAT list of February 1980 shows that the 25 first s/n of each of the 2 litre production series were reserved for prototypes
and show cars.
In my opinion, the (so far) most reliable production list showing the main four different Fiat Dino versions should look like this:

2 litre Spider = s/n 135 AS 000 0026 - 135 AS 000 1158 = total of 1133 cars
2 litre Coupe = s/n 135 AC 000 0026 - 135 AC 000 3670 = total of 3645 cars
2,4 litre Spider = s/n 135 BS 000 1159 - 135 BS 000 1583 = total of 425 cars
2,4 litre Coupe = s/n 135 BC 000 3671 - 135 BC 000 6068 = total of 2398 cars

In total, 7601 Fiat Dinos, divided on 1558 Spiders and 6043 Coupes!
Please note, that if you (e.g.) do the math like 1158 - 26 = 1132, you will forget the first car (s/n 0026), as 1132 is the difference between
these two figures!

So - is there any alternative production info from FIAT or elsewhere, which could establish a definite production list over our Dinos, or is this
the closest we will get?

Dinoswede
patrizio
Posts: 171
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2013 2:04 am
Dino: Fiat Dino 2.0 Coupe
Location: Pistoia - Italia

Re: Fiat Dino production numbers

Post by patrizio »

As I wrote in other posts, the book of Mike Morris, just like the "Bible", from the deck of view "historic" is a secondary source.
It is a document created in a different period than the production car, by an enthusiast who had no internet available and even, I suppose, the possibility to access directly the existing official documents in Fiat or Bertone archives.
Mike, be passionate, he took indirect information, and with the possibility that he had at the time, I personally did a great job, but his book contains several inaccuracies.
I understand that for those who do not live in Italy is convenient to have a text so complete to refer to, but this book can not be considered a manual of restoration or even less a primary source to trust blindly.
One example is already clear the list of Coupé colours published on the Mike's book, that includes both versions 2000 cc and 2400 cc and instead is valid only for the 2400 version.
So I believe that your concerns regarding the real production numbers, can be solved only if someone will do a "historic" search on primary sources, if still existing, to clarify the matter.

Of course the same is true as we read on Wikipedia or any other document that are not original from production period of the car (for example, price lists, brochures, leaflets, color table IVI, original photos of the time, etc.) ;)
Dinoswede
Posts: 109
Joined: Sat Apr 05, 2014 4:22 pm
Dino: Fiat Dino 2.0 Spider

Re: Fiat Dino production numbers

Post by Dinoswede »

When I mentioned Wikipedia´s different production figures, I did this to point out an typical example of how easy that "established info" is
distorted. When claiming the 2 litre Coupe production run ended with 3670 cars made, it tells us that the author probably somewhere has
seen the info that s/n 3670 is the last 2 litre Coupe, but the author obviously hadn´t a clue, the first 25 serial numbers were not used for
the production cars.
Patrizio is of course right in pointing out possible problems when looking for correct info, and having no access to old archives. But, in this
case, remember that when Mike Morris wrote to FIAT in Italy searching for production info, it was only 8 years after the last 2,4 litre Dinos
were manufactured.
Mike was kind enough sending me a copy of FIAT´s letter then, and it is printed on Centro Storico´s official paper! If this information was the
best Centro Storico could find at the time - February 1980 - I am not too optimistic over what else could be found at FIAT today - 35 years later.
The question still seem to be if the info Mike got was all correct. Unfortenately, we nowadays know it wasn´t.

(The following is a little of topic, but hoping it can be of interest, nevertheless!)

For the Dino owner who wasn´t involved with Fiat Dinos back in the seventies´and the eighties´, I must take the opportunity to tell you how
important Mike Morris´giant work to find any information about Fiat Dino has been for all of us - still today!
When Mike bought his 2,4 Spider, he could not find any technical info at all, so he started a world-wide search for it. Nearly all the Manuals
and Spare Parts Catalogues that we now are able to download from the Forum´s Library, are found by him. If you owned a Fiat Dino during
the eighties´ and contacted your local Fiat Dealership, they could not help you with the most simple questions re the Dino, like which spark
plug you should use - they just did not know!
Mike was extremely helpful to any Dino owner he got in contact with, and has helped me and many, many others to find parts and technical
info, when needed.
Mike´s book is not perfect, but when he wrote it, it was certainly both the only and the best info collection of it´s kind, based on availible
information at the time.

Dinoswede
hanskristianjepsen
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2014 8:27 pm
Dino: Fiat Dino 2.4 Coupe

Re: Fiat Dino production numbers

Post by hanskristianjepsen »

Reply to Dinoswede:

I agree with you about the spider 2400 figures, and that we need to add the chassis nos. from 1372 to 1377 as well (I have proof that these cars were actually produced, and there are present owners as well). Therefore I get the following production figures:

Spider 2000: 000 00 26 - 000 00 1158: 1.133
Coupe 2000: 000 00 26 - 000 00 3654: 3.629
Spider 2400: 000 00 1159 - 000 00 1583: 425 (and not 424, as mentioned in Dino Italia)
Coupe 2400: 000 00 3655 - 000 00 6068: 2.414

Kind regards,
Hans Kristian Jepsen
hanskristianjepsen
Posts: 30
Joined: Fri Jun 06, 2014 8:27 pm
Dino: Fiat Dino 2.4 Coupe

Re: Fiat Dino production numbers

Post by hanskristianjepsen »

About chassis no. 3670 from Sweden. It looks (from the outside) that this is a coupe 2000, but according to the production figures, this should be a 2400 instead. Perhaps we could have a picture of the VIN plate?

Has Kristian Jepsen
User avatar
Dinofanwim
Posts: 63
Joined: Sat Aug 01, 2015 1:16 am
Dino: Fiat Dino 2.4 Coupe
Location: Helmond (Noord Brabant) The Netherlands
Contact:

Re: Fiat Dino production numbers

Post by Dinofanwim »

I am in possession of following chassis numbers:
135B 000 002376 2.0 l Dino Coupé originating from the USA
135BC 0005921 2.4 l Dino Coupé originating from Switserland

I am still trying to chase a 2.0 l Dino Coupé blue 490 -89 and with dark red seat upholstery and dark blue carpets, delivered to my Father in The Netherlands around 1968-69 and imported by Leonard Lang/ (Only 20 cars were imported in its first year of commercialisation)
This car was initially delivered without the Dinoplex ignition, but an FOC upgrade was done several months afterwards, so it must have been an early Dino!
Any suggestions, as I cannot find any traces, nor pictures of the car?
Last edited by Dinofanwim on Sat Jan 02, 2016 9:15 am, edited 2 times in total.
La passione per tutti creazone!
Alfre"dino", che significa tanto a suo padre Enzo!
Poi ha lanciato suo padre Enzo, il marchio "Dino".

patrizio
Posts: 171
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2013 2:04 am
Dino: Fiat Dino 2.0 Coupe
Location: Pistoia - Italia

Re: Fiat Dino production numbers

Post by patrizio »

Dinoswede wrote: Patrizio is of course right in pointing out possible problems when looking for correct info, and having no access to old archives. But, in this
case, remember that when Mike Morris wrote to FIAT in Italy searching for production info, it was only 8 years after the last 2,4 litre Dinos
were manufactured.
I agree on everything Dinoswede.
Finding information is not easy, and the Centro Storico Fiat have retained little or nothing, but fortunately here in Italy some old mechanic and some documents of the time still stands, and the research work, done properly, can also lead now to the results.
The problem is distinguishing the wrong information (even if they come from documents of the time or by the same Centro Storico FIAT) to be the right ones.
I give you an example:

Image

What you see in the picture is a color chart of MAX MEYER paint factory produced after 1969 and before 1971 (appears FIAT 130 sedan but not the coupe).
Well, although they had already been produced both versions of the Fiat Dino (Dino and Dino 2400).
In the MAX MEYER color chart it does not make any difference, but the colors shown are only those of the 2400 version of Dino !!!
This is to make it clear that even in 1980, when they took to good documents wrong, could be making serious mistakes during the restoration of the car ;)
Asplund
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2015 9:44 am
Dino: Fiat Dino 2.0 Coupe

Re: Fiat Dino production numbers

Post by Asplund »

Hi, everybody!
I am new to the Forum, but I am not new to Fiat Dino ownership. I was contacted
by Dinoswede, who told me about this thread discussing Fiat Dino production
figures.

I am the owner of the last known 2,0 Coupe - 135 AC000 3670 !! I can tell
everybody it definitely is a genuine 2 Litre car. It has been in Sweden since new.

Relying on information from the former Swedish FIAT Dealership Organisation,
eleven Fiat Dinos were sold new here, divided on 8 Coupes and 3 Spiders. These
were all 2 Litre cars. The last one sold of these is my Dino.

The registration documents says it has a 160 HP DIN Engine, 185 x 14 tyre
dimension and a 66 Litre fuel tank, all details specifying a 2,0 Dino Coupe. The serial
number is shown as being 135 AC 000 3670 - not 135 BC 000 3670 !!

The registration date of my car, 17 April 1969, is very interesting information, as
this means the car must have been built not later than very early in 1969. If you
read different historical descriptions of how Fiat and Ferrari switched over to the
2,4 Litre production line, you will most likely get the impression this was not done
until very late 1969 !

With this, I hope to have cleared out any doubts about my Dino´s origin and
history.

/Hans asplund
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patrizio
Posts: 171
Joined: Mon Dec 30, 2013 2:04 am
Dino: Fiat Dino 2.0 Coupe
Location: Pistoia - Italia

Re: Fiat Dino production numbers

Post by patrizio »

Very beautifull, congratulation ;)
Can you post some pictures of interiors ?
Thanks

Patrizio
Asplund
Posts: 2
Joined: Thu Oct 29, 2015 9:44 am
Dino: Fiat Dino 2.0 Coupe

Re: Fiat Dino production numbers

Post by Asplund »

Hello again,

Here comes some more pictures of my Dino 3670 (2,0)

Regards /Asplund
gl_fiat-dino014.jpg
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