Tom Walkinshaw (1946-2010)
A talented driver in his own right, Walkinshaw was even more successful as a team boss and became the architect of Benetton’s early F1 success On the Saturday afternoon of…
The 1973 E-series right-hand-drive Dino 246 GT offered on behalf of a customer by Ferrari specialist Foskers in Kent might be described as a ‘time capsule’. What makes the car unusual is that it has never undergone a full body restoration and retains all its original panels.
“It is a nice thing because all the panel gapping is perfect and all the welding is factory original,” says Jeff Fosker, who now runs the business started by his late father Bernard, with brother Colin. “It has been repainted, but there has been only minor bodywork repairs over time. That’s rare because rust was a problem. It also still has the original Nero vinyl interior with a lovely patina – you couldn’t possibly want to change it. But what we are going to do is replace the foam in the seats. Our trimmers have looked at it and have told us that it is possible to re-pad them while keeping the original vinyl.”
The carpets were replaced for the current owner three years ago. They were sourced by Foskers from Tappezzeria Luppi, which manufactured them in period. “So much better than some of the reproductions,” says Jeff Fosker.
There’s clearly a love for this four-owner coupé with just 27,000 miles on the clock. It has been a regular in the firm’s workshops for more than 30 years and was given a full mechanical overhaul in the late 1980s.
Fosker describes the car in ‘Dino Rosso’ red as keenly priced at £285,000.
Foskers, Fawkham, Kent
Tel: 01474 874555, foskers.com