The Dino 208 GT4 came about when Ferrari decided to fit a 2000cc engine in the body of the Dino 308 GT4.

This version of the  Dino was destined primarily for the Italian market, because in those days taxation was particularly heavy on cars with engines above 2 litres, engine capacity was decreased by reducing the bore of the three litre model, but maintaining the same stroke.

208 Dino was produced specifically for the Italian market and had a mid-mounted 2 litre V8 engine as opposed to the 3 litre unit of the 308 GT4.

The raison d’etre of this being to fall below the Italian government’s 2 litre tax threshold, which was punitive on engine capacities above this level. As this was a specific market model, all were produced in left hand drive configuration. As with other models in the Dino series, the numbers in the model title referred to the engine total cubic capacity, and number of cylinders, in this case two litres and eight cylinders, with the figure 4 relating to the number of seats.

Bodywork was very similar to that of its 308 GT4 sister, a pronounced wedge shape from the pen of Bertone, which was very much in vogue with manufacturers of the period. Apart from the model badge on the boot lid, the easiest ways to distinguish a 208 GT4 from a 308 GT4, is the single exhaust pipe, instead of the latter’s quadruple arrangement, and the plain aluminium finish to the louvres on the front lid and engine cover for the 208 GT4, instead of satin black on the 308 GT4.