Are you maintaining your Mondial for yourself, the next owner or the one after that?

It is what you call "Pride of Ownership". It reflects what kind of a person you are. We do these things for our self satisfaction, no more, no less.

 

I know a lot of people refer to themselves as caretakers in that the car takes on it's own life and will outlive the owner. I'm a bit more selfish. I consider myself an end user. If I cared more about the car than my own pleasure I would not be able to drive it cross country and on dirt roads. I get a tremendous amount of joy out of my car but recognize that it does require a fair amount in return. The maintenance I perform is only so I can have uninterupted experiences with the car. I want to use it as a car and I have an expectation that it will start every time I turn the key. That creates a heavy burden for the car and that burden is ultimately carried by myself. If not taken car of properly I can't get out of it what I want. Now as to keeping the underside of the car clean, it's a Ferrari. We own them. To want to drive them and spend time with them and bask in their glow, that requires no justification. I actually treat my 04 pickup and 93 motorcycle the same way. Spending time with the car and looking at it from different angles is a form of maintenance in that you'll be more likely to find problems before they become problems. Every time I go to my Dads house I put it on his drive on lift and just look under it for a while. On a car of this vintage you never know what part will start to weep a fluid. Better to catch early than to have a failure. You can call it preventative maintenance. If not kept clean it will go bad.

 

As an owner, I am well aware that I own something far bigger than me. Watching people photograph the car as I drive by, or point and tell their friends, reminds me that these vehicles represent an escape, a fantasy to so many people who, unfortunately, may never have the privilege to own one.

I look at Ferrari ownership as a privileged custodianship. We have a duty to share these cars with others and maintain them to such a high standard to insure that future generations can enjoy them. Ferraris of all kinds represent the dreams of a generation of car obsessed youth...they shouldn't perish with us.

Whenever I get jaded about what it is to have a prancing horse in my garage, I remind myself of what is was like to be a boy dreaming of the future. It makes it a lot easier to spend the cost of a compact car to keep her right.

Viva Ferrari.
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I like to have my vehicles clean. Not ultra clean but to look decent and well maintained. Like PV Dirk said I also want them to be safe and usable. I also think that if a car looks clean and well maintained it will sell easier when time to sell. Maybe not worth more but will sell faster compared to another one just average. I'm not fussy on preventive maintenance but repair everything my cars need before they breaks. A collector car is something special and a Ferrari is for many the top brand, they deserve being well cared for. So maintenance is for me but also for the future owners and the lookers. It's a pride!

 

My Ferrari is for me, and then for my kids to fight over when I'm gone. Already know my wife doesn't want it. I keep it IMHO in excellent mechanical condition so that it starts the first try every morning, and then gets me home without calling a flatbed. That is my goal of happy Ferrari ownership.

 

+1!


I love the fact that you included both your babies!

 

Joe, beautiful cars! Love the flying mirror, she's gorgeous!

cheers!

 

I maintain my cars and other tools for me to drive and enjoy--I rarely sell so next owner is not my problem.
Once I am gone, my wife or kids can have the big auction of cars, parts, tools, tractors etc.

 

Well Frank, I'm sure that I'm not alone in wishing you S---loads of years of enjoyment of all your toys.

Cheers, and be well,

Hank

 

I'm the 6th owner of my Mondial and it is evident that they all took very good care of it so if I let it go during my ownership I feel I that would make me one of the worlds biggest a#**oles. I don't know if I will be keeping my Mondial forever but while I own it I will give it the best care I can and like others have said this benefits us most, if you keep it clean its enjoyable to look at and if you maintain it properly it will be more reliable to drive and will have the most value if you sell it in the future.

 

All good and insightful comments... this thread is a good read.

For me: definitely work for myself -- I can't imagine selling my first Ferrari; I've sold too many wonderful cars before and regretted it much later. At this stage of my life this is more easily managed and not a concern. I already have friends who I'd like to see getting this car when I my bucket list is finally tallied, but hopefully we will all grow old together and this will not be a concern for some time. I guess in a sense, you could say I do it for the next owner, because I have specific people in mind for all my junk and I want them to enjoy it. I certainly have no interest in this as a financial investment.

After a long day at the office I find it really easy to turn a wrench... it is 1/2 the fun and a great stress reliever. (Funny, I work on my DD cars as well, and they're not so much fun.)

 

I consider my car to be a survivor. It escaped death and destruction during the Gulf War just as I did (it's quite possible we were both in Saudi Arabia during the Storm).

I'm sure it has a sordid past but now it's mine... for me.

Although, it may have been his

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhlQOg9abRk[/ame]

http://www.thedevilsdoublefilm.com/index2.html
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Ah, right, I remember: we figured out that speed buzzer thing under the dashboard, put there per some Saudi regulatory requirement and probably disconnected the day it was sold. Do you know its provenance before you got it? Date and location of original sale? (I think Ferrari can provide the latter.)

Doubt it was one of Saddam's kids... that would be creepy.

 

So far I have 5 names of previous owners going back to 1998. Documents include:

DOT Certification Document - Undated (owner address in Fort Myers, FL)
Georgia Vehicle Emission Inspection Report (Passed) - 2/18/1998
State of Georgia Application for Registration - 3/17/1998
State of Georgia Registration - 8/03/1999
Tennessee Application for Title and Registration - 11/21/2003
----
Then I bought the car from a Georgia registered owner on 2/08/2009
Application for Florida Registration - 2/12/2009

Regarding Uday... yeah, it could be worse, like owning David Carradine's or Nicole Brown Simpson's Mondials.

But I'm with you, pretty unlikely that my car was part of Uday's 2000 car collection.