Mike Dresbach is a prominent member of the Association of Handcrafted Automobiles--the club the puts on the Knott's Berry Farm show each year--so when he builds or shows a kit car, he has a responsibility to make sure it is a sharp and classy one.
Dresbach came through with flying colors, and with all the expertise his 40 years of building street rods could muster, when he purchased his yellow, Magnum Ferrari Dino in 1998.
As his second-place finish in his class this year attests, this is some fine automobile.
Dresbach had previously built a Shay Model-A pick-up, a Bradley GT, a Gazelle, and a Sterling before turning his street rod and kit car attention to the Magnum, which had originally been built by Tony Venditto in 1989.
Venditto chose a VW Type-1 for his donor frame, with a 94.5-inch wheelbase, upon which this '72 fiberglass Dino sits well. He removed the floor pans, moved the battery to the left rear fender and set the ring-and-pinion ratio at 3:86; and he installed torsion trailing arm IRS rear springs.
The transaxle is from a '71 Porsche, and he employs a five-speed stick, while his front suspension is VW Type-1 torsion tube, with Kharmann-Ghia spindles, Ghia disk brakes, and a modified pedal assembly.
The car sits on 14x10 wheels in front and 15x12s in rear, and Venditto installed a '78 GM pedal steering column. Dresbach, a perfectionist in his work, accepted Venditto's mods without further alteration, saying, "You don't mess with perfection."
The Dino is powered by an '84 Mazda rotary engine that is stock all the way, but gets him as far as he wants to go, as fast as he wants to get there. He has taken some trips as far as 600 miles from home, and he puts about 3,000 proud miles on his car every year--it is NOT a trailer queen, though some may argue it IS a show car, based on his awards for Best Paint, Best Engine, and a first, second and third in his class at various events.