1974 Ferrari 246 GT

A right-hand-drive ‘chairs and flares’ Dino takes pride of place in the collection of Nick Cartwright Specialist Cars & Restorations in Derbyshire. The Ferrari expert undertook a full respray on this 1974 E-series car for the previous owner and subsequently bought it at auction.

“We looked after the car for a good customer in the late 1980s and then tried to buy it about 20 years ago,” explains Ben Cartwright, company founder Nick’s son. “The guy who beat my father to it brought the car back to us in 2015.

The Cartwrights hankered after the car for its rarity and originality. It is one of only a handful of RHD 246s with the bucket seats from the Ferrari Daytona 365 GTB/4 and wider Campagnola alloys, plus the Group 4-style wheel arches to accommodate them.

“It may sound strange, but we consider it to be an unrestored car even though we took it back to bare metal for the respray,” says Cartwright. “We took it to pieces, cleaned it and put it back together. The bodywork was pretty immaculate and only needed little work around the doors and arches.”

The car left Cartwright’s workshops in concours condition and when it came up for auction the company made a successful bid over the phone.

“We buy cars we like and then work on them to make them even better,” says Cartwright. “We aren’t in any rush to sell it, but someone will come along sooner or later.”

Nick Cartwright Specialist Cars & Restorations, Tansley, near Matlock, Derbyshire.
Tel: 01629 56999, nickcartwright.com