This Very Ferrari-ish 1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GTS Once Belonged to Cher

The car rolled off the production line on June 23, 1972, and was immediately delivered to Bill Harrah Modern Classic Motors. That is when Hollywood actress and singer Cher saw it and instantly fell in love with it.

She was 26 and she was a star. It was a time when the Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour TV Show was all the rage, attracting around 30 million viewers each week. They were both car people and even had matching George Barris-built custom 1966 Mustangs.

However, her love for the Ferrari came and went, and in March 1974, which was only two years after she had bought it, she sold it to racing driver Chris Cord. Later, it was acquired by a third owner, who kept it as a precious motorized treasure for the next 39 years, storing it in San Francisco and driving it occasionally.

The Dino 246 GTS is one of the approximately 2,900 E-series examples that saw the light of day between 1969 and 1974 and has just the right spec. There were, in fact, 1,431 Series III GT coupés and 1,274 GTS removable top units that Ferrari built.

The name Dino was chosen as a tribute to Enzo Ferrari's son, Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari, who had been an engineer for the automaker before he died from muscular dystrophy on June 30, 1956. He was only 24 at the time.

As a rival for the Porsche 911, which was powered by a rear-mounted power plant, the Ferrari Dino 246 GTS came with a mid-mounted 2.4-liter V6 engine with triple carbureters, generating 192 horsepower (195 metric horsepower) and 167 pound-feet (187 Newton meters) of torque, steered to the rear axle through a five-speed manual transaxle. It doesn't sound very Ferrari-ish by today's standards, doesn't it?

But, hey, those were the early 1970s, and it was enough. Besides, the Dino 246 GTS only weighed 2,426 pounds (1,100 kilograms), which is around how much an ICE-powered mini weighs today. That same engine operated under the hood of the iconic Lancia Stratos rally car.

The model, with the Scaglietti-built bodywork, is now finished in the head-turning Rosso Chiaro (Clear Red) over a Nero (Black) leather interior, a color combo that is so… Ferrari-ish.

The Ferrari rides on 14-inch Cromodora five-lug alloy wheels with Dino-branded center caps and 205/70 Michelin XWX tires. It rocks an ANSA exhaust system and sports a removable roof panel.

A MOMO steering wheel with a Dino horn button and a gated dogleg shifter are on board. The Veglia Borletti instrumentation includes a tachometer with a 7,750-rpm redline and a 270 kph (168 mph) speedometer, plus an analog clock and auxiliary gauges showing the oil and coolant temperature, oil pressure, fuel level, and amperage.

The odometer shows 65,000 miles, which indicates that the Italian car has never been a garage queen. The current owner added approximately 500 of them. The car is also equipped with power windows and air conditioning.

After starting its life in Cher's company and spending almost four decades with the next owner, the Ferrari was acquired by the selling dealer in April 2013. The dealer put it through a multi-year refurbishment, which involved repaint, an interior retrim, and mechanical service, which made it look and behave as it did when it was new.

The retrimming, which took place in 2018, focused on the fixed-back bucket seats in Nero leather with color-matched upholstery covering the door panels and center console. Meanwhile, the so-called "mouse-fur" covers the dashboard.

To comply with US regulations, it received recessed rectangular front turn signals, side markers, and rear reflectors inboard of the taillights. Typical for the era that it comes from, the Dino has a single side mirror, on the right. It also sports a power antenna. Ventilated disc brakes at all four corners provide the stopping power.

Its independent suspension integrates unequal-length A-arms, coilover shock absorbers, and anti-roll bars. All these and the steering rack were overhauled last year. Furthermore, the spark plugs were replaced, along with the ignition wires and various gaskets.

The model is now auctioned off with no reserve in Houston, Texas. It comes with a Marcel Massini Report, a Dino Compendium book, the manufacturer's literature, service records, and a clean Texas title. The original Becker radio has been removed, but is included in the sale, and so is the tool kit in the trunk, in the company of the spare wheel.

The photo gallery provided by the selling dealer and uploaded to the Bring a Trailer website includes photos of the chassis, engine, transmission, and body numbers.