This Honda Del Sol Dino 246 Wannabe is almost stunning
Ferrari Dino 246 GTS is a very small car with a very high price. The values may not match the $ 10 million requested for some vintage Ferrari, but you’ll need more than $ 450,000 to get the really good one, so it’s no surprise that people are trying to make their own.
Two of these people were Russ Keller and Randy Markham, who invented the Dino-inspired collection car called the Kelmark GT in 1974, the year Ferrari took its car off the market. Another man who wants to own a Dino but doesn’t have half a million dollars in his pocket is a guy who adapted one of the old Kelmark kits to match his 1993 Honda Civic Del Sol to create his Ferrari prize.
Call us crazy, but the results that are now available on the Bring-a-Trailer auction website are almost amazing. Honda’s wheelbase is only 1.2 inches (30 mm) longer than Ferrari’s, so despite the Honda’s front engine and Ferrari’s 2.4-liter V6 rear seats, the proportions aren’t far from a million miles. Of course, Del Sol has a raised roof panel like the Dino.
Honda’s engine is a little over 1.6 and has a 160 hp that was released in 1994. (162 PS) No DOHC VTEC engine. But I drove the original Dino and it was as sweet as they were. There are only 175 hp in the United States. (177 PS), walking straight will never be the star of the show.
Related: Ferrari replica makers see their Porsche-based 458 next to the original
The great gift of most new cars, made to look old, is the interior, and although this car does not look like Dino, at least it looks old enough to fool someone unfamiliar with the model. It really looks like it came from Saab’s amazing Sonnett sports car and is integrated into the existing Honda line.
In addition to using the Fox-body Mustang’s 15-inch wheels, this interior fashion is another example of the truly meticulous thinking incorporated into this project. But to make such a transformation convincingly, you only need great ideas. It took many hours to get it up and running, but there is still a long way to go for any buyer hoping to complete it.
The hull joints are cracking, there is a lot of body filler that needs to be smoothed out, and even if you fix the rest of the car, you won’t see Dino’s widow and characteristic door and a quarter panel. You can paint them to create the effect, for example, as if tattooing six packs on a weakened body, but it is better to leave the panels in the same condition.
This project is not for the weak, but here is the seed of a great concept. When there are thousands of cheap but solid, stainless 160 horses VTEC Del Sols in commercials, someone wants to come up with the idea of presenting the right set. If you think you can change that, auction Closes May 30.
