Classic car rescue

I agree on both counts. I thought the first spray lighter blue looked great too.

 

I watched it again last night was wondering why they didn't get wheels from superformance.

 

LOL! I can just hear the conversation with a prospective buyer "Who did the belts?" " Oh some guy Mario who we almost bought a car from"

 

Sad that show and others like it glorify the band-aid fix and quick flip. IMO just encourages any hack with a set of wrenches to try and pull one over on the next unwitting buyer and the half a$$ed work being passed off as "restoration" dilutes peoples notion of a good quality car.

 

Some good commentary here including links to the show online:

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/mondial/423965-looking-uk-based-mondial-8-owners-documentary.html

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/mondial/448876-channel-5-classic-car-rescue-mondial-8-a.html

 

Mario comes across as a poser and drama queen. I'd love to see the full footage of them actually working on the Mondial, they barely showed any details of the fixes they did to the frame or sheet metal, let alone the engine service. Instead all they show on that program is yelling and freaking out and made up "suspense" about the valuation. And I bet the original blue was actually a primer coat and they meant to paint the car it's original color all along.

I like Bernie, he seems like he could depart a lot of technical information if they actually filmed him doing the detailed work.

 

I know Mario, and their new tech Sati. Let's just leave it at that.

 

What do they do with the cars after they get "appraised"? Do they actually sell them? What did they end up getting for the Mondial?

 

It was made available as a prize after the show (text in for £1 and you were entered into a raffle). The winner had it up for a few weeks as a private advert at something north of £20k. Then it came up on eBay (see link below) with a slightly less than concours description given all the work that had been done! It eventually sold for about £5k under the TV valuation.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1981-FERRARI-MONDIAL-3-0-LITRE-V8-BLUE-METALLIC-CREAM-LEATHER-/251636682447?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item3a96b70ecf&nma=true&si=REiE%252FaN%252Fo1hMxxwDps9gg9JGBcQ%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557#ht_102wt_1399

 

$19,776. in today's dollars.

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I love watching classic car rescue with Bernie and Mario. Infact, its their episode of restoring the mondial that gave me an "extra" spark to buy a mondial. Regardless of the script, i love the restoration work. Its entertaining to my satisfaction.

 

Thanks. It's nice to get a closer look, the color is gorgeous and suits the Mondial shape very well. Too bad about the wheels, 360 wheels would have looked great against that blue.

 

It is! I looked at buying a blue QV a few years ago, a beautiful color for this car. It was in Tampa but now with Jeremy Cockrill in TX.
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I think they did a good job. They even had a Ferrari expert do the belts. Though they did not give his name.

 

The experts name was also Mario.

 

Although unverified: Berni Fineman supposedly apprenticed at Thomas and Draper Rolls Royce for 11 years leaving as a member of Institute of the Motor Industry (MIMI), UK’s version of the US National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence (NIASE) along with a Mechanical Technical Engineer qualification.

Not much on Mario Pacione

 

I watched that show and was horrified at how much GOOD work they did to produce a middling priced vehicle. Not only did they blow dry off the plastic coating. They painted it TWICE. And fabricate frame work - I think. So if you want a Mondial 8 this is a good consideration.

But seriously folks. Its a Mondial 8, right? Naturally aspirated three liter two valve. My 3.5 pushrod GM MAXX does 220 hp at a smooth 6500 rpm. These were rental cars. I am sorry. Its one thing to drive an 1600 MGA and another to drive a 308 Ferrari two valve. There is nothing wrong with driving either an MGA or Mondial 8.

But a 3.2 does not cost much more. The 3.4 has more scat, but requires engine out for a water pump. My Prugna inexplicably runs like a scalded hound, and may die a scaleded hound death to boot. But my 3.2 is about at the bottom of my feeder list for mountain runners.

 

I think given the finite number of 308/ 328 and Mondials, all of them deserve to be restored. It isn't about speed. A GM MAXX is a disposable car that no one will remember existed. The slowest Ferrari is still a work of art that is fun to drive.

 

perhaps 20 years from now, but if that's your take there are plenty at low value now just waiting for a. pocket books, b. someone to spend time on them.

good luck

 

My thoughts would be the bodywork gremlins have been sorted, a pretty good job has been done on the paintwork. The original, and probably the most suited for the Mondial, colour has been restored. Brakes and exhaust have been replaced and the interior ‘restored’. While the wheels don’t seem to be to the taste of anybody else out there (not sure if it is just the mutual consent is that only the originals will do, or that they are totally wrong for the Car). For my part, they look a little too modern for the ERA of the car, but given that they come with new tyres what’s wrong with acquiring the car and ‘living’ with the rims until new tyres were needed, unless of course one is flush enough to scrap both wheels and tyres and replace with ones having the ‘right look’.

It is true that, like many supercars of the past, it does not possess as much power as many modern saloons, that it may not have the same Kudos as the other horses in the stable being ‘only’ a ‘Mondial 8’, but it is still a Ferrari and loads of fun to drive and for some entry level to the experience of ownership. My two pence worth

 

I have prepped a 3.5 MAXX it handles very well with nice 3.5 vvt pushrod engine its a fine engine. It has been parked out near the Ferrari just in case I decide to use it. But hasn't been started in months. I have to walk past the Mondial to get to the MAXX. I never get to the MAXX.

The 3.2 is WAY faster then the 3.5 MAXX, and I am confident it would outrun a MAXX 3.9 but have never driven one to find out.

 

I completely agree. If one seeks to truly 'dominate' others in a contest of speed today

Buy a Corvette with Z07 Package

Done.

Unfortunately, based on my limited driving skills - if I even dare try to use 1/2 it's power on the road I took my Mondial in yesterday - I would be talking to you from the grave at the moment!

haha