Can one use a Mondial coupe (any variant) for daily driver?
A past user here did Tom_b i believe was his nic. Suffered a stroke, had some loss of movement with one arm. Had a cheater knob mounted on the wheel to help facilitate. Drove it thru snow, etc... retired it with around 100k on it. Was a 3.2 coupe, so there you go. Now should you, well that all depends. So many variants too as you know. From Mondial 8's that might be worth less, to a valeo equipped t with pwr steering. You already have the edge with fair weather going for you.
You could but you really need to fully rust proof it and be prepared to put up with random electrical issues. Ideally you should be a mechanic who can recognise little warning issues and fix them before they become serious. Engine and gearbox are solid, they are well built cars except for the rust traps that given daily use would be an issue. You would really need to know and understand this car well to run it daily, personally I can't see the point. I ran a Countach daily for about a year and it just wasn't special anymore after all what do you drive at the weekend when your daily driver is a Lamborghini? Regards Bell
Hi Mitchell, Good to see you on the last drive! I personally have tried it, and to me it I can say it can be done. I drove it every day to work, and it was fine. I stopped because I just enjoy the versatility/utility/comfort of my other cars on mundane commutes. Hope this helps!
Would the rust be an issue even in California? Rain, yes. But no salty roads or snow to contend with. Couldn't one just hit the undercarriage with Waxoyl and be ok? My mechanic back east says that's good enough for running cars all winter in snowy road conditions with salt exposure, so I can't imagine it wouldn't stand up in California. FWIW to the OP, if we do relocate to CA as we're considering, my '83 QV coupe will be my daily car, at least for a while. I've considered adding power steering to make parking less painful, but other than that why not? You can always stop and drive something else if you get bored.
In April, 2002 I bought an '88 1/2 Mondial 3.2 coupe and used it as a daily driver for 11 years. Generally speaking, it was fine, and it was always an absolute blast. Every drive was an adventure, every corner was met with a snarling downshift and howl through 2nd gear, and every interstate cloverleaf was a corner at the Targa Florio. (Note to my insurance company: this is not to be taken literally; I mean to say that in my imagination all this was going on.) Do the preventive maintenance, adhere to the schedule for cam belts & bearings, & go over it occasionally. And by all means have those certain weak front suspension pieces changed. (I will try to get some part names and numbers for you.) The biggest trouble I ever had was with the ****ing fuse board. I replaced it but guessed wrong as to the replacement vendor. The one I bought wasn't cheaper; at the time I just didn't have F'Chat to steer me correctly. This caused me 3 years worth of grief, but it's now fixed. Don't do what I did; instead buy the replacement board from Dave Helms at Scuderia Rampante and quit worrying about it. If such an overt endorsement gets me suspended from F'Chat for awhile but circumvents a fellow Mondial owner from similar suffering, then it will have been worth it. Merry Christmas to you, and good luck with your Ferrari!
Commuted in a downtown often grid locked setting for 10 years, still do. I park in an underground reserved spot, so not a problem to park but if you had to hunt for parking or were in a non secure area might be less fun, you don't really want to worry about your car when you go about your day. My 3.2 cab idled in traffic just fine, never overheated or had any reliability issues, hence why I continued to use it regularly. I won't take it out when rain is forecast, so it is a fair weather only ride. I would suggest you need to drive a bit more defensively, in that you are a bit low and invisible to large SUV's and other distracted commuters. Long day at the office, nothing like a commute down the Lakeshore to go home early evening, even if traffic still a bit heavy. Seems to brighten the day for others who give me the thumbs up or ask questions while stopped, so fun all around. My Swiss car was sprayed from new with this hard brownish type undercoat, not pretty under the car, wheelwells, etc. But no corrosion anywhere, so its good stuff whatever it is. I would imagine with such undercoat plus some further corrosion spray in the doors and sills and such you could drive in inclement weather without doing too much harm. So with all that, yes, it can be a fair weather daily driver without any issues, at least not unique to this particular car any moreso than other cars 30 years old. So obviously a vehicle condition dependent decision.
Someone (Tillman?) in the 308/328 section drives his metallic gray 328 as a daily driver, or at least he used to. Racked up like 100k miles the last time I saw. Can be done. James in Denver
Dave Lind, how many miles do you on her? Like to see exactly needs to be addressed regarding the front suspension. Thanks
Right now I'm at 86,000 miles. The front suspension pieces, which I will photograph shortly-ish, broke while backing up at very low speed and the applying the brakes. They weren't much trouble to replace, but the consequences of them breaking while spiritedly would be awful. When they broke, the front wheel basically leaned in at the top & rubbed the inside upper fender. I could drive the car - SLOOOOOOWLY - back in the garage. Some kind of casting flaw or other piss poor manufacturing process. Ferrari really should have recalled the cars and done it for free, but I wasn't the original owner, so ...
I basically used mine as a DD. It was my sole west coast car for a while. The only caveat I would put in would be to expect it to be as reliable as any 80's car as far as age related problems. If the maintenance is up. I drove mine in every kind of traffic and weather. It was really great in rain and snow. Never a breakdown or issue while on the road over more than 20K miles in a couple years.
David, do you know of any other Mondial 3.2 with a broken front suspension (hub carrier?) casting? When you mention re-call, it would mean a generalised issue, not a single event that may be due to damage done by a previous owner.
+1. If there's a suspension issue that needs addressing on these cars I'd like to know about it so I can have it looked at.
Yes there is especially for a daily driver. It has rained quite a bit this year and these old cars have nooks and crannies that accumulate water like mad....
As a daily driver, I recommend the following changes to early Euro QVs: 1) replace metric rims with Superformance 16" 2) replace original electric board with Guido Theunissen's unit 3) replace York compressor with Sanden-type unit (as per later versions) 4) add window relays 5) add starter motor relay 6) convert from single to double belt (as per later versions) Keep the rest original, it works.
With those km/miles what changes you did, what are the most common problems occured on engine and other mecanics. So we have an idea what to expect... Agree totally with all those points, metric rims 16" or even 17", FUSEBOARD from Guido (I have since 7 years), starter motor relay (not Chinese stuff, have bad experience with those), convert belts havent done that because I have no problems. 7) connect all ground point together with a 4 mm2 wire and then go to negatif battery. 8) put an extra ventilator on the radiator in case you have only 1. Enzo52
Corrosion is a big issue where I live due to all the salt they put on the roads and I had my new daily driver sprayed with a product call corrosion free 3000 late this fall. It seems to stick very well to everything while also not being messy and dripping. www.corrosionfree.com
Good day all, I have a1987 coupe I purchased in Italy (2006). It has no smog crap and is a little faster than the US version. I'm second owner. I have used her for daily driving since Europe. I traveled all over Central Europe and to work for 2 years. Once I returned to the US I continued to drive her any time I want. I do not drive if salt is on the roads. I do get a lot of attention everywhere I go. I always take time to let people take pics or sit in the cockpit. Good press for the brand. I try to encourage people to dream and save up. To the point, I feel that you need to truly fall in love with your Ferrari and forgive her flaws. If you bought your car as an investment garage queen, forget it. These cars need to be driven. If you're an investor, go buy gold or some other silly thing.
+1. Most DD's depreciate as a matter of course and folks happily lose tens of thousands of dollars on nice BMW or Merc. When it comes to F cars, so many owners are concerned about resale value that they never really get to enjoy their dream car. The fact that buyers have decided that a 10 year old car with 30K miles is high mileage is simply crazy and will not survive the ageing of the older ones in the fleet. Imagine that it is not you who is going to be selling your Ferrari, but your widow, that puts it in perspective a bit and is possible, regardless of your age. Also, as someone else said, you never hear anyone on their death bed say, "My greatest regret is that I drove my Ferrari too much." Buy it, drive it, break it, fix it, drive it some more. A Ferrari parked in a garage "shrine" is pretty, we all step out to the garage for a peek every once in a while, but driving is what the car was intended for and that is where the sublime satisfaction in owning a Ferrari resides. Alden
