Keith Richards’ Ferrari 246 GT Heading to Auction

Posted by Zach Doell  

@ BOLD RIDE                         

Go in search of a Ferrari and you’ll need to take a good look at your financials. Go in search of Keith Richards’ Ferrari and you might as well empty the bank accounts. A classic Dino 246 GT once owned by the famous Rolling Stones’ guitarist will cross the auction block later this week.

Richards purchased the car new in Beverly Hills, California, in 1972 and shipped it back to his home in London, where he kept it until 1986. The car will be put up for sale by its second owner, who has covered a staggeringly low 3,000 miles of the car’s 28,000 original miles.

The 246 GT wasn’t initially classified as a Ferrari, but instead as a “Dino” in remembrance of Enzo Ferrari’s late son. Ferrari wished to keep his front-engine V12 cars separate from his newly
developed V6 and V8 mid-engine sports cars, which spawned the Dino nameplate from 1968 to 1976.

Within the Ferrari community, Dinos aren’t typically accorded the prestige of a full-fledged Prancing Horse of the same year, but few can put a damper on this particular model.

 Pininfarina designed the body, which has been hailed as one of the prettiest cars to come out of the late ’60s and early ’70s.

The 246 GT comes fitted with a Fiat-built 2.4L V6 engine mated to a five-speed manual transmission, sending 175-horsepower to the rear wheels in North American versions.

Comparable cars usually sell in the $338,000 to $380,000 price range, though the auctioneer expects Richards’ celebrity status to jump the price by at least 10 percent.