Classic Ferrari Dino hits the Australian auction market

Mark Eddy was thrilled when he won the 2011 Australian GT Championship in an Audi R8 LMS he brought specially from Europe.

It was the first time Audi had won a national championship anywhere in the world and the first time this particular model had been off the Continent.

For Eddy, it was his second taste of victory in the event – having won the 2008 Australian GT Championship in a Lamborghini GT3 Gallardo.

The 57-year-old former clothing importer began competing in 2000 in the Australian motor racing competition – open to closed, production-based sports cars – essentially as a hobby.

One of his other notable motoring achievements was to finish second (with co-drivers Craig Loundes and Warren Luff) in the 2012 Bathurst 12-hour race in a factory production Audi R8.

These days, Eddy is busy collecting old sedan race stalwarts that were so influential at Bathurst 1000 during the 1980s and 1990s – cars such as the 1998 winner, a Ford EL Falcon driven by Jason Bright and Steven Richards, four-time winner Greg Murphy’s K-Mart Racing team vehicle and Fred Gibson’s Nissan Skyline HR31 driven by factory driver George Fury.

In doing so, he and wife Margaret are selling his fully restored 1972 Ferrari GT 246 Dino and 1972 Citroen SM (complete with Maserati engine) as part of a forthcoming auction of antiques and collectables being conducted by Kim’s Auctions from 11am Sunday November 26 at their home at 40-42 Monomeath Avenue, Canterbury.

The Ferrari GT 246 Dino was named after company founder Enzo Ferrari’s son Alfredino who tragically died in 1956 aged 24.

Enzo credited his son as the inspiration for a series of successful small and medium capacity V6 racing engines Ferrari built between 1956 and 1969.

The GT 246 Dino was one of the most satisfying and successful automobiles Ferrari produced and paved the way for the emerging generation of mid-engine cars.

This particular car was fully restored by Melbourne’s Black Stallion Motors, has 48,000 miles on the clock and carries the registration DINO 1.

In addition to the cars, Eddy is selling a highly sophisticated racing car simulator that can simulate any model vehicle on any racetrack anywhere in the world.

The auction also contains several notable collectables including a rare library floor globe by makers Weber Costello, which closed its doors in the 1960s.

The globe dates from the late 1950s as West New Guinea, which became independent in 1962, is listed as a Dutch colony.

Featuring a gilt metal meridian ring and French Louis XV revival four-legged wooden floor stand, the globe was made to order.

A range of ancient Chinese sculptures and artefacts should attract plenty of auction goers.

These include a Warring States (6^th century BC to 476 BC) halberd-shaped dagger axe known as a “Ge”, which probably belonged to a lord or high-ranking official.

Another is a Tang Dynasty (618AD-906AD) prancing horse ridden by a finely dressed court lady, complete with thermo-luminescence test certificate from Ralf Kortella Laboratories in Germany.

A sterling silver collection should interest collectors including an 1889 three-piece garniture from Joseph and Horace Savory from the Goldsmith Alliance in London.