The Ferrari Dino Competizione Is Different And That’s Good

Photography by Gil Folk for Petrolicious

Surrounded by morning fog, an ocean of neutral-colored vintage cars occupies the green at the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. “Black, black, silver, grey, black, brown, black…,” I name each cars’ colors I pass on the lawn, “white, black, silver…yellow.” Did I just say yellow? A vibrant, short, and squat shape surrounded by waves of beastly, monochromatic saloons and carriages of the 1900s captures my attention like a dead pixel on a computer monitor. A refreshing sight to see, this lemon-drop of a car belongs to the world-renown collector and race team owner, Mr. Jim Glickenhaus. It’s called the Ferrari 206 Dino Competizione and the story behind it is even more unique than its duck-beak front wing.

Jim Glickenhaus is famous for having one-off cars; the most widely known being his P4/5 by Pininfarina–a one-off based on the legendary Ferrari Enzo that Jim helped develop. He later went on to construct a racing version called the P4/5C based off a Ferrari 430 Scuderia and an F430 GT2 car. For the 2014 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, Jim brought along his impeccable, all original 1967 Ferrari 206 Dino Competizione Pininfarina Coupe; a car that he had to beg to purchase.

The Dino Competizione is a prototype developed by Ferrari and Pininfarina as an experimental car. Despite never being put into production, it sat in the Pininfarina museum in Italy for years. After numerous failed attempts trying to purchase the car, Glickenhaus finally persuaded the design house to let it go in 2007, at which point he took delivery and shipped it to his home in the United States.

Jim is known for many things, but one thing he is not known for is letting cars sit and collect dust; Jim drives all of his cars on a regular basis and the Dino Competizione is no exception. Despite not having an odometer in the car, Jim estimates that he has logged about 20,000 miles in the Dino. He drove it in the Targa Florio and enjoys driving it in his home state of New York. As Jim says, “Not putting miles on your Ferrari is like not having sex with your girlfriend so she’ll be more desirable to her next boyfriend.”

“It’s a very solid car,” Glickenhaus says, “it has a twelve-spark, six-cylinder, longitudinal mid-mounted engine and runs great. The car is very reliable.” Jim has kept the car completely original; he even has the original wheels and tires that he puts on for shows, while he has a spare set of wheels and tires for when he drives the car. The Dino Competizione is very different from the Dino that Ferrari actually produced. The Dino Competizione features a fishbowl-style cockpit, gullwing doors, and a rear spoiler. And the cobalt-blue racing harnesses give the car just that much more character.

So while the Dino Competizione may not have won “Best in Show” at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, it did win my appreciation and I know it impressed nearly every spectator that walked by. It just goes to show you that sometimes, it’s good to be different.