There is something quietly remarkable about the idea that a single engine, conceived by a young man who never lived to see it race, would go on to power one of the most celebrated chapters in Italy's automotive history across three different brands. The Ferrari Dino V6, born from the mind of Alfredo Ferrari while still a student, found its way into Fiats, Ferraris, and Lancias. From June 18 to June 21, more than 70 of those cars gathered in the Upper Engadine for a meeting as special as the machines themselves. The International Ferrari Dino Meeting returned to Silvaplana for its fourth edition, drawing owners from across Europe and as far as the Americas to a village at more than 1,800 metres above sea level.
The Dino story cannot be told without its shadow. Alfredo Ferrari, known simply as Dino, was the youngest son of Enzo Ferrari. He died in 1956, aged just 24, leaving behind a V6 racing engine conceived alongside engineer Vittorio Jano. Fiat patriarch Giovanni Agnelli later stepped in to help Ferrari meet Formula 2 homologation requirements, and together with Pininfarina and Bertone brought two Fiat Dino variants to market: the elegant Spider and the perfectly proportioned Coupé, produced between 1966 and 1973. Ferrari then put the same engine into the 206 GT, the first mid-engined sports car from Maranello, followed by the 246 GT and the open-top 246 GTS. The Lancia Stratos HF took the V6 to three consecutive World Rally Championships between 1974 and 1976, including a hat-trick at Monte Carlo. Even the V8-powered Ferrari 208/308 GT4, the last model to carry the Dino name, was among the participants.
Organised by Silvaplana Mayor and Dino driver Daniel Bosshard, Dino specialist Matthias Bartz, and Walter Scudeletti of Dinopoint, the four-day programme made full use of the Alpine setting and the great mountain roads of the region. Thursday welcomed participants from more than eight countries into the village. On Friday the convoy set off from the Surlej Bridge, wound through Zernez and the La Schera tunnel to Livigno, and returned via the Bernina Pass before the cars assembled in the Plazza dal Güglia for the Concours d'Elegance, where a jury assessed machines that looked as compelling as the day they left the factory despite being more than fifty years old.
Saturday was the centrepiece: the route crossed the Julier Pass, cut through the dramatic Viamala Gorge, and continued over the Splügen Pass before the field stopped for lunch on the shores of Lake Como in Menaggio, the perfect occasion for car talk between enthusiasts. A ferry carried the cars across to Varenna before the Maloja Pass brought everyone home to an evening of awards and Italian hospitality in the Ferrari Dino Hall. Sunday offered a quieter close, with a funicular ride up to the Muottas Muragl viewpoint and an alphorn playing La Montanara above the entire Upper Engadine.
As usual, this year's International Ferrari Dino Meeting was not a manufacturer tour or a corporate concours. It was a gathering organised by people who love these cars, on roads that do them full justice. Alfredo Ferrari's V6 was a student project, cut short by a life that ended at twenty-four. Who would have thought that its finest products are still being celebrated in such beautiful fashion more than half a century later.
Photos: Alberto Zeni, Javier Procacini, Steivan Schlegel
