Winter V Summer Photos

Mondial is not a snow car. Been there done that today and squirrely on the brakes sort of like a regular car. A bit to much throttle and you may be playing bumper cars. And I grew up in The Snow Belt!

Bottom view is much better!

And PS: The wipers ARE working. I don't know why.
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Everyone loves the color. Its the primary reason I bought the car against all common wisdom: "Never Buy The First One". I not only bought the first one I bought if sight unseen, though from a specialty dealer with a decent record in these things.

It was pretty good car as delivered but has gotten better and better over the last three years and 13,000 miles. Especially the engine. It REALLY likes my aggressive driving and runs like a nuclear sewing machine. Even the wipers are almost working like a normal car.

 

I grew up and lived in the Northern Snow belt much of my life. Including 13 God forsaken years in Chicago. So I have been squirreling about on snow since 1964. And it is my habit to test steering, brakes, accelerator on every unusual surface. So I did the same with the Ferrari just before I took that photo.

Believe me. Do not drive your Mondial on the ski trip. The traction is good being that the engine is over the drive wheels. The brakes are a bit more iffy then other cars but manageable. But when I goosed the throttle at low speed [40mph] and low rpm [below 3,000] ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE.

Got an immediate fish tail to the right. OK. Thats not so bad. But there were three [count them] three recovery slides. Two of which were over the centerline. One of the most harrowing driving experiences I have managed to engineer for myself. So my normal testing protocol worked. I will never ever again drive a mid engine Ferrari on any ice or snow.

In this particular case I got caught out unawares. That little bit of snow you see happened all in about 20 minutes as I was driving home.

 

I bought the Ferrari as a sort of 'bucket list' thing for the specific purpose of driving it as my normal car. Which in all fairness is not all that much, really. But I DO live in the N. Georgia mountains and wore out my first set of tires in 5,000 miles. So THAT was a success! Mechanical work has not been hard to find up here in NASCAR boon docks, and reasonably price labor as well.

However it has not been an inexpensive three years. I abused the clutch and that cost me $3,000 labor plus about $1,500 parts. However, now the entire system is rebuilt. The CV boots were all cracked so I replaced all the CV joints and that cost about $350(?) per joint plus a grand or two in labor. But now the CV joints are good for life. I replaced the front rotors just because they were a bit worn and had the front bearings lubed.

The front bearings might drive a Jesuit mad; according to my mechanic. But now they are good for the rest of my life, perhaps. Me and my buddy replaced the alternator belt and could do the water pump and alternator ourselves if need be. The starter system required special attention. Italian wiring makes Lucus seem like NASA! I am on my second starter. The first one was rebuilt for a reasonable $475, and with an intermediate relay worked perfectly right up to the time it no longer did so. So this time I put in a brand new one and with installation that was $1000.

But the wipers have gotten better on their own!

So what is my final evaluation of this bucket list item? Priceless.