thanks again Paul. Engine service is one, certainly there is a view of many that its not as beautiful as others. but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. performance is another. but again, all subjective. that's what i generally had in mind. thanks for the welcome! hope to join the owners ranks soon!
Awesome cars! Solid. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Agreed 100% Aha - yes, the Mondial is 'such a bad performer..." ROFL. Have you ever heard of the California Corvette? It explains a lot of why the Mondial (French for "World.") got a bad rap when it comes to performance. It reflected its worldwide conformance with 1980 safety and emission standards — as well as the company's prominent motor racing victories. Can you take a guess in 1980 MY Mondial (same year the Cali Vette came out) what was Ferrari's largest market? (hint, it's a state that starts with "C" ends with "A") Yet click bait articles don't mention that the United States variant of the Mondial 8 represents only 147 (or 2%) of the over 6,000 examples produced during the vehicle's lifetime. The only saving grace was all the reviewers at least said it was the best handling Ferrari ever up to that point back in 1980. Take a look at the competition at the time. What do you notice though? Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Surprised? Most folks that only read a click bait article or heard from a friend of a friend about these cars are. - I can't blame them though. There is probably less then 1,000 of these on the roads in America. 99.9% of folks only have click bait articles with a title "Worst/Slowest Ferrari" to base their judgement on. For people that buy Ferrari purely to flex/floss - this may be an issue. For others like me that are secure in facts and truth - I'm grateful for the misconception.
Also while I can understand and even respect folks that think the car below is FUGLY - I just respectfully disagree, and do believe folks that experience a well kept concourse condition car, their view will change. But I get it, I've run into people that say certain actresses are ugly and such and such. It's totally cool. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Ugly? I know we all have some bias, but that is a great angle. Car looks stunning!! Matthew, take your time to decide which version best suits you. When I started looking 10 or 11 years ago, I narrowed it down to 3.2 or t. I debated coupe or cab, and ultimately decided coupe was right for me. Came close a couple of times of pulling the trigger on a 3.2, but held out for t coupe. Took a couple of years (1 of 43) and passed on a semi-local one before finding mine about a year later. Have it 8 1/2 years! As to cost, the engine out service doesn't cost that much more than a comparable engine in service. It takes about 10 hours to pull and reinstall the motor, but once on the ground, all the other service goes much quicker. I posted this before. I put away $200 per month (car doesn't depreciate any more) for repairs and upgrades. I paid cash for the car. In the years I have owned the car, I have probably spend about $10-$12k including last years engine out service and few other things "while I was in there". As you can see, at $200/month, I still have plenty of money left in the "repair and upgrade" account. So if I sell it just what I paid for it, the cost, including depreciation is way smaller than almost anything else I could drive for that kind of money. Major can be done every 5-7 years, depends on how you keep the car and drive it as well as what parts you use (Hill tensioner bearings for example). I don't drive it often (special occasions, or as a reward to myself), but when I do, I get her warmed up and give her a good romp. Keeps her happy that way. As you are finding out, this board has a wealth of knowledge and people willing to share. Good luck in your search. Regards, Jerry
Jerry, thanks so much for the input. I'm leaning towards a QV.... but we'll see what I find. There really aren't that many available, at least not that I am finding right at the moment. I'll pay cash as well, and I like the idea of socking away a couple hundred bucks a month for maintenance upgrades, etc. Excellent thought there. I anticipate keeping it for a significant period of time, but we'll see what the future holds. I'd anticipate driving it 5,000 miles or so a year, perhaps a but more. Thanks again for the thoughts, much appreciated.
Big fan of the QV. It is so much more fun than the 8 I owned. 5000 miles a year will do you well, these cars LOVE to be driven how Enzo built them. Image Unavailable, Please Login
I've owned my 86 Mondial 3.2 Cabriolet for 3 years, and am exceedingly happy. Here are some thoughts: I live in Northern California, where the weather is nice. So I love the cabriolet. I put the car in a garage in September, and bring it out in late February. When the car is not in the garage, the top is always down, and the car gets driven 3-4 times a week. The car always gets looks. People routinely walk up and ask if they can take pictures with it. Today the car was at the tire shop to have all four tires replaced. The tire shop people told me that while the car was on the lift, several people asked to come by and take pictures. I like the 3.2 because I like the body color bumpers, and I like the flared fenders and the slanted side air intakes. I also like the 270 HP engine and the fact that I do not need to take out the engine to do a belt service. Interestingly, the insurance on my Mondial is less than a quarter of what we pay on my wife's MBZ. And the MBZ is depreciating in value, while I expect the Mondial to pretty much preserve its value for the foreseeable future. Did I mention it is a lot of fun to drive? - Sam in Saratoga
If you will tell us where you are we can probably tell you where a QV exists near you. Such info sharing may result in a visit - so you can get better acquainted with that model. SG Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Pouring down with rain and storms. Anyone used my soft top bolts yet or all still sitting in a box. I suppose you are still telling everyone how poor you are, it will be red cross food parcels being delivered next. You can always try using the coin i sent you if things get really bad.
These mondials are reasonably cheap to run if it has been well looked after. I had one for 20 years and the engine had a clutch, flywheel, set of plugs, coil, exhaust, discs, cam belts and aux belts. Never took the engine out as bullet proof. you want expensive costs, get a 430
Hi Jamie, Welcome. You are getting good advice from the gang here. A couple of anecdotal experiences and opinions - As noted, these are old cars and while some of the service costs (like the major service you mention) can be exaggerated, others are real. However, they are mostly on the cheaper side of exotic/classic car ownership (the Mondial is both of those). One issue you can run into is parts being scarce. This is a thing with older exotic cars in general. So try and find a mechanic who is well established in the Ferrari world and knows how to track things down, on top of knowing how to properly service these cars and their specific needs. The other issue is deciding which version of the Mondial you want. I think the earlier cars (the 8 and QV) look more aggressive due to the un-integrated bumpers which give a pointier shark-like nose feel to the front, especially. The QV was a big jump in performance over the 8 (but they're all old cars that will lose a drag race to a Tesla these days, as will a California Spyder, so whatever). The later cars (3.2 and "t") perform even better and I think reliability increased as time went on. I'd summarize them like this - Buy the "t" if performance is paramount to you. Note that these cars cost the most to service. Buy the "3.2" if you want the best combo of newer styling and power but slightly reigning in the service costs. Buy the "QV" if you want the best combo of original body style and power. Buy the "8" if you value originality and a car that represents an unadultered embodiment of a design period/epoch, but power is not your top priority. Happy hunting.