Anyone know the origins of the 'Mondial' name?

Yesterday out of the blue I wondered the origins of the 'Mondial' naming of the car. Can anyone give me a definative answer. The best I could assume is that 'Mondial' is a stylized form of the Italian word 'Mondiale' which directly translates to 'worldwide' (put the online translators away guys). It is also the term that denotes the F1 World Championship and one who as won it has won 'Il Mondiale'. Given that the Mondial was released in 1980 could it be that this name was given to commemorate the 1979 F1 world championship? I have looked but cannot find a definative answer.

 

I believe it was in homage to the 500 Mondial race cars of the 1950s.

 

I think it means 'Not very popular'.

 

No, no. It means "slow Ferrari" in Italian

 

You guys are unkind! LOL My first Ferrari will be a 3.2 and if anyone wants to call my car ugly, that's fine with me!

Ken

 

Yeah.... This thing's hideous:
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Mondial is Italian for "the kids go back here"

 

Revise that. It's Italian for "just as fast as a GTB or GTS"

 

Well then...

"Mondial t" must mean: Much quicker than 308 or 328.

I am still working on the popular thing...

 

Who wants a "popular" car anyway? 4 seats, open air and a yellow horsie. Under $30k; well slightly over for a nice 3.2. That's a steal.

Ken

 

To quote the standard catalog of Ferrari:

"Mondial, which means "world", was named to honor Ferrari's four-cylinder sports racers of the early 1950's"

 

Somewhere it seems we read that the name Mondial was to commerate Jody Scheckter winning the world championship in 1979, as in your statement above.

Carol

 

Think the original name was the "308 ugly" but USA marketing dept did not go for it--

 

That's what my books say as well.

And.....to all you Mondial-bashers...I can fit three supermodels in my car...how many can you fit?

"Stop pushing girls. There's room for everybody."

Tom

 

How many 4'6" supermodels are there in the world?

 

Good things come in small packages.

 

It does not matter how many there are, we can still get more in our Mondials !!!!

 

Mondial means "You can drive your Ferrari a lot more often if the wife and kids fit in it."

But it never hurts to have a 2 seater for the rest of the time as well.



Birdman

 

It's amazing: out of all these replies, you and DonV are the only people who attempted to answer the question of the original poster.

I'm curious to know why the name "Mondial," which certainly has some meaning that has to do with the word "world," was chosen for the 1950s cars.

The Mondial-bashing may have been funny the first few times, but beating it to death not only is poor humor; it also might offend some Mondial owners.

 

We have very thick skin.

 

I wasn't bashing...I own one. Please re-read my post.

I think most Ferraristi are aware that the "new" Mondial is named in honor of the original Mondial of the 1950s. I know Nuvolari, who started this thread, is well aware of that fact. I think he is asking how the original Mondial came to be known as the Ferrari named "World." I would like to know as well. Since I don't, I thought the Mondial needed defending! Hey, it's a better name than "Aztek"

Mondials rock!

Birdman

 

The first car to be called "500 Mondial" appeared at a race, Casablanca, I believe, in December '53. The appelation "Mondial" was given to these 2-liter, 4 cylinder sports racers by Ferrari in recognition of Ferrari's back-to-back World Championships in '52 and '53 by Ascari in 2-liter Formula 2 cars.

There were approximately 23 Series I 500 Mondials made with bodies by both Pininfarina and Scaglietti. There were between 8 and 10 Series II 500 Mondials - all Scaglietti-bodied. Among other minute differences, the Series II cars have a wider angle between the cams (entirely different motor tipo #) and have a 5-speed box in comparison to the 4-speed Series I cars. The Series II Scaglietti-bodied Mondials are nearly indistinguishable from their bigger 3-liter brothers, 750 Monzas. You need to look at the size of the Weber throats and the size of the exhaust headers to tell the difference in most cases.

This (and my avatar) is one of the Series II 500 Mondials, 0556(0446)MD owned by my father for the past 45 years. The picture is from 1961.
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Bryan thank you very much for taking the time to post this information. I feel entirely educated.

Now the Mondial bashing may continue.

 

No. They are all correct. Mondials are awful cars. They deserve to continue to be priced SO low.

 

That is until you build up a complete set, right Sam?