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Films:
The Evo: Building The Ultimate Ferrari Dino
Men who have achieved what David Lee has achieved in business are often not what you would call humble. Regarding his cars Lee is certainly what you might call ‘neighborly’. He loves collecting, restoring, historical reconstruction, and resto-moding of rare cars, and he likes sharing the work product of that effort with his public. And it is the cars we are all here to view and discuss, is it not?
Very cool and beautiful car that I’ve seen several times in person—but definitely not the first of its kind, nor the most ambitious. About a decade ago a shop here in LA, Blackhorse Motors, took a pristine, one-owner, Euro spec 1984 308QV GTSi, and the entire rear subframe as it unbolts for service from an F355 (engine, transmission, suspension, etc.), and lined it up with the 308 frame rails so that the 308 now has a removable rear F355 subframe…and a 410 hp, 8500 RPM, 5 valve per cylinder (this Dino has four valves), 355 drivetrain, six speed transverse transaxle (this Dino has a 5 speed), making this “358GTSi” an ideal set up, engineering wise…which is why all Ferraris use this set up with the engine mounted in front of the gearbox, not on top of it (much lower center of gravity). Measured on LongAcre corner balancing scales the “358” weighed 2,738, giving the 358GTSi a better power to weight ratio than a 430 spider. The Dino is using the old five-speed transmission from the 328 which puts the engine high up in the chassis as it sits on top of the gearbox. Another important consideration: That gearbox, a five speed, was designed, gear ratio wise, for the 308 and 328…cars that in top form only put out around a maximum of 270hp, so the gearing is going to be off because it was made for a heavier car with a less torque and horsepower. It also only does only about 20 mph for every 1000 RPMs on the motorway. Speaking of giving credit where credit is due, a decade or so ago, Nick Forza was one of the pioneers in taking the Ferrari 360 crank and machining the 308 block (which is not much different than an F40 block) and making these big displacement 308/328/F40 motors. Nick was creating these high performance modifications for the 308/328/F40 block when no one else was.
Allegedly David Lee invested over $1M in this car, and had Moto Technique lavish around 4,000 hours of time on development. After that kind of engagement with them it is somewhat bizarre that Lee doesn’t mention the engineers and artisans who did the work. Having had the job of writing the invoices at a higher-end restoration garage myself, I remember customers who were apoplectic when they found out what their hopes and dreams had cost them. These tasks often double and triple in scope as the work proceeds. The course of the work is often joyous. The end game is more challenging. If David Lee wants to continue with Moto Technique, he is showing the wrong instincts. Lee’s alleged interest in doing a low volume production run of the conversions may be influenced by local tax law. Prototypes are exempt from sales tax in the State of California. So if the State of Board of Equalization can be persuaded that Mr. Lee is in the car business and this is a prototype for low volume production then no sales tax falls due. My own accountant would not sign off on this, but the argument has tempted others. Were he able to sell one or two of the conversions that would strength his hand with the tax office, and he could file an amended return. Discussion of Lee’s relationship with Moto Technique is here. https://www.scmp.com/magazines/style/tech-design/article/2144282/millionaire-car-enthusiast-spends-us1-million-modify
I think Lee takes credit because he supposedly conjured the car and commissioned Moto Technique to build his vision. I saw this car in person at the San Marino Motor Classic car show in June 2018. My understanding is that Lee wants to build about 25 of these Frankenrarris, and I would bet that the pricing will be over $1M a pop. And @Robert, I doubt there will be any “economy of scale” built into the pricing, as Lee is a businessman, first and foremost, and thinks he sees an opening to be the “Singer” of Dinos.
Understood Daniel, that David Lee came along and was ready to place money on a set of observations that are long standing and that no body else is moving on. The first of these is that there is some pent up demand for elite Ferrari’s in special editions, because you have to be well known to Ferrari before they will sell you one. The second observation is that the Dino is considered by people like John Pogson of Italia Motorsport to be under powered. And the third is the the electrics are considered to be truly substandard for the car (Pogson calls them ‘ridiculous’ and ‘a nightmare’). The use of Russian steel with poor corrosion resistance is a concern as well. And so in this sense the ‘concept’ of a car that fixes all these things belongs to Lee, much like the ‘idea’ for the Miata is attributed to Bob Hall, who was an automotive journalist at the time. Mark Lee is nothing if not expert at marketing elite luxury goods. And he knows cars. This said the role of a company like Moto Technique in this is not to be under estimated. They are a relatively small shop, but they are also a couple of generations into this work. Not just any shop can do this. Having done the first one, Moto Technique ought to be able to take 20% off the cost of the next one. Just my thoughts . . . .
I appreciate David sharing this car with a wider audience but seeing it is not the same as driving. I wonder if the vintage car culture is turning in to a scene where the rich show off their awesome classics/Resto-mods, the rest of us ogle, gasp, clap and go home in our mini vans because anything worth driving has been hoarded into the warehouses of the wealthy. Look at what’s happening to air cooled 911s. There’s a zillion of them out there but their price just keeps climbing right out of the reach of us regular working schlepps. They’re being driven less and hoarded more.
You might spend some time on Bring a Trailer, and see if there is anything you that you like. The prices on air-cooled Porsches are completely over the top. This said, there are a lot of affordable cars that can be modded, are solid performers and very good fun. When Gordon Murray, the F1 designer and engineer, had a car built for his own use, you know what he chose? A Ford Escort Mk 1. Look around. There is good value to be had. Leave the Porsches to others.
The build videos on Gordon Murray’s car start here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSiG7oNXC6w
@Robert in LA
You’re absolutely right and I already do spend far too much time on BaT! It did help me decide on my most recent car, a ’98 BMW 318ti. So you’re correct, there are (for the time being) a few affordable entertaining cars left. Dino’s and 911s were the “achievable” exotics of my youth. The Dinos quickly appreciated out of my dreams but the 911 remained a remote possibility until the last few years. It’s frustrating because I so desire that unique driving experience of the light weight, air-cooled, rear-engined Porsche. There’s nothing else like it except a few classic Renault Alpines that are equally unobtainium now. Guess I’ll just have to be satisfied with videos of rich guys driving Singers ;^)
I think that you did well with the 318Ti. If you want sharper handling out of it on a budget, and have not already done so, start with 200 UTQG tires one size wider, a set of hotter compound brake pads, adjustable camber plates in front, and heim jointed, fully rigid sway bar links, and a crisper alignment with less toe in in front, and a little more camber. This will sharpen the handling considerably. The rigid end links will bring your existing sway bars into play immediately without wind up. Stage two would be a set of coil overs with adjustable damping. With the 318Ti you have a quite rigid chassis and suspension components that are probably over-built for the car. This is a solid platform for a few tweaks that will bring out the cars potential, be fun to drive either in the mountains or on the occasional track day, and will remain wholly manageable while commuting. While I find builds like this Dino-Evo effort to be very interesting, I do not covet them. There is nothing carefree in the handling and driving of investment grade cars. The least motion is a considered one. And that is the oxymoron. The design of these kinds speaks to a kind of personal liberty. The operation of them tends to be highly constrained.
Apparently David Lee wants to partner with Moto Technique to produce a limited production run of the car of five cars per year, for a multi-year run. Serial replication would bring the price down meaningfully, and would introduce certainty into a process that can be painfully open ended. There enough of the Dinos around that finding donor cars should be manageable.
This is the second video (after the Jay Leno one) on the car where David Lee has not given any credit to the people that actually built it. The work was done my Mototechnique in the UK with the interior by O’Rourke coachtrimmers. The car is an evolution of Mototechnique proprietor Kevin O’Rourke’s own outlaw V8 Dino a car previously featued on Petrolicious. https://petrolicious.com/articles/best-of-both-worlds-a-ferrari-v8-powered-dino
I understand that Lee tried to buy Kevin’s car but was refused which led to the request to build this one.
Thanks for rounding out these elements of the build process. For me personally, knowing who did the work along with how and where it happened, is at least as interesting as the final result. This kind of craft and industrial artisanship is usually decades in the making, and is often multi-generational. I did not know about Moto Technique, outside of London. Apparently when an Italian super-car crashes at speed these are the people who can make it whole again, if the car can be saved at all. This is a formidably skilled shop.
Love Petrolicious but this time Driven did it better https://youtu.be/-ppdTBN7MYw
How would we react to a Singer owner who did not refer to Singer or Rob Dickinson in a video about his car? I realise David Lee may have a business deal to distribute The Evo, but seriously… If you love cars, maybe you also care about the designers, the engineers, the men and women behind the car. Or at least care enough that you don’t appear to take credit where it’s not due.
It’s also really disappointing that this story keeps spreading about this car having an F40 engine… over on FerrariChat forum, it’s been confirmed from the block number that the V8 is actually a modified 328 block. There’s absolutely nothing F40 about it! It’s a fantastic build, and the 328 source (transverse) actually makes a lot more sense than a de-turbo’d F40 (longitudinal) block… I suppose F40 sounds better, but it would be nice if it was true before Mr Lee broadcasts that misinformation in every interview.
When I first heard about this Dino, I was a tad hesitant until I saw it featured on Jay Lenos Garage(video attachment below). After a few minutes of viewing, I was totally smitten. What an amazing car ! Maybe what a Dino should have become. A tip of the hat to David Lee. Also kudos to the Petro production crew for an outstanding vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnt0DNqJYvM
