The Fiat Dino is an exotic front-engined, rear-drive sports car manufactured between 1966 and 1973. It was an intermediate step towards creating Ferrari's "Dino" and the two are often confused. The Fiat Dino allowed Ferrari to achieve the necessary production numbers to homologate Alfredo Ferrari's (better known by his nickname of "Dino") V6 engine for Formula 2 racing. The Fiat Dino Spider was introduced at Turin Motor Show 1966 and Coupe version one year later at the Geneva Motorshow.

Ferrari started its first line of mid-engined cars in 1968 and sold them under the brand name of "Dino" (not Ferrari). The intention originally was to brand all V6 cars as "Dino", as a tribute to Alfredo, Ferrari's son, who had died aged just 24 and is credited with the inspiration for the V6 engine. The 'Dino' brand was rejected however by the US Ferrari dealers as difficult to sell, so the cars were designated 'FIAT' and 'Ferrari' Dinos. The Dino 206 GT and Dino 246 GT & GTS were equipped with engines identical to those used in the Fiats; whereas the later Dino 308 GT4 had an unrelated V8 and was rebranded "Ferrari" in 1976, thus ending the use of the "Dino" trademark.

Fiat S.p.A., (Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino) (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin), is an Italian automobile manufacturer based in Turin. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli. During its more than a century long history, Fiat has also manufactured railway engines and carriages, military vehicles, and aircraft. As of 2009, the Fiat group (not inclusive of its subsidiary Chrysler) was the world's ninth largest carmaker and the largest in Italy.

Fiat-based cars are built around the world. Outside Italy, the largest country of production is Brazil, where the Fiat brand is the market leader. The group also has factories in Argentina and Poland and a long history of licensing production of its products in other countries. It also has numerous alliances and joint ventures around the world, the main ones being located in Italy, France, Turkey, Serbia, India and China.

Agnelli's grandson Gianni Agnelli was Fiat's chairman from 1966 until 1996; he then served as honorary chairman from 1996 until his death on 24 January 2003, during which time Cesare Romiti served as chairman. After their^{[clarification needed]} removal, Paolo Fresco served as chairman and Paolo Cantarella as CEO. Umberto Agnelli then took over as chairman from 2003 to 2004. After Umberto Agnelli's death on 28 May 2004, Luca Cordero di Montezemolo was named chairman, with Agnelli heir John Elkann becoming vice chairman (at the age of 28), and other family members also serving on the board. At this point, CEO Giuseppe Morchio resigned, and Sergio Marchionne was named to replace him on 1 June 2004.