Still haven't found the right Mondial. I am limiting my search to US and Canada
I could be tempted out of my 1986 3.2 Prugna Metalica Coupe but it would not be cheap, and it would not be a show car [got two dimples this year]. Just to explain my attachment to this car I would not sell it for less then $50,000. And believe me, that is WAY above market. It has been my daily driver the last two years and in 10,000 miles was never towed in. It has some advantages. For instance the entire clutch system has been rebuilt. Both hydraulic cylinders, clutch plate and pressure plate and resurfaced flywheel. And a new Bosch starter that still needs the $15 low voltage intermediate relay I have on hand but not installed. On the other hand, the windshield wipers only work when it is raining, but work good enough when it does but the washers are hopeless. The passenger side window lift has been dead for two years but has yet to get the message. It has been reliably dead for two years and seems entirely reluctant to give up the ghost. I removed the horn compressor and windshield washer last year to replace the battery from above and still have not re-installed them. On the plus side, the car runs WAY better then it did when I got it at 44,000 miles. I mean WAY better. It is now the best running car I have ever owned. But the brake rotors are only adequate below 70mph. From 90mph they have some shimmy. They cost about $500 each and I intend to replace them but don't need to since I live in the mountains and never see such speeds. The right front wheel bearing has a 'tick tick tick' in it if you are up on blocks and move the rotor back and forth. I have the replacements but have not replace them. I have also driven 4,000 miles without any change. My supposition is it will never give actual trouble. The engine started to leak oil last year to the extent the car started smoking from oil on the exhaust. Either main bearing or cam seals. I put one of each stop leak available from the Autozone and the car has simply stopped using oil. Not sure if it drips much. Both the sump pan and gear pan gaskets are new. But one of the oil hose fittings did a drip and perhaps the shift rod. The wheels need to be repainted. I touched them up with a can of 101 Argento Metallic and they pass for street use. The front louvers have a number of small stone chips. Interior is very good, but not show car. Oh yea. The turn signal switch under the hood needs to be replaced and I have the replacement unit but they are jerry rigged just fine as they are. I can't think of any thing else right now. For two years I have been getting into the car day after day, week after week, month after month turn the key and drive away. I do not expect this to change. You can see the car under my todays post on cowboy hats. Here is another recent photo at the marina. Mostly I am posting this to let you know how thoroughly bewitching is this car can be. And at whatever price you pay you will be taking your chances. For instance my clutch problems. Accordingly, you should be prepared for some bucks. My local mechanic looked at the clutch installation photos from birdman and replaced the clutch for $2,000 labor and I supplied the parts for about $1,500. I replaced the hydraulic cylinders myself with parts about $500 rebuilt. Do NOT ever use Alpha Parts! I did that and regret it. And the master cylinder replacement is a serious *****. I would pay $500 labor just to avoid it a second time. If you find a car that drives and stops good enough it will likely remain that way for a long time, but perhaps not for a lot of miles. So if you plan to drive a lot you just do not know what might develop. One thing I did was take one look at the nuclear reactor capable cooling system and freaked out. So I changed to 60/40 glycol and depressurized the system. Two years and 10,000 miles have not added one once. In any event I hope my little treatise will help inform you on one guys ownership experience! Rapalyea! Image Unavailable, Please Login
Really! Please tell us what your budget is for this purchase. I had been "looking" for a Mondial and a member on this forum for five years when I bought mine. Yes, I bought a Jag in between, but I looked for that one for three years. I can be patient when shopping for "toys." But, about 6 months ago I started to get the feeling that the market for these cars was going to go through the roof, just like some of the older F cars and Lambos, so I decided to really step up my search, get the money in place and buy when I found one that was as close to perfect as I could afford before prices went to the place where I couldn't afford it anymore. I am not wealthy, but wanting an F car for 40 years is long enough IMHO! And within about a month of making that decision, I had my Mondial sitting in my garage. And she is beautiful! Wonderful to drive and a joy to see every morning when I go to the garage to get my DD out for the day. I paid a little more than my budget, but could probably sell the car for much more than I paid, even now. Resale? My Wife will sell it when I am dead, so I am not worried about that. (I have to remember to leave a note in some obscure place for the new owner to find in 20 years or so, lol!) I am a Regional Coordinator for Jaguarfourms.com and I see the same thing happening with guys who are shopping for a specific Jag. The one they "always wanted." They pass on a car that is perfect, but "expensive" in their view and lament that it got away. Some guys end up buying a less than desirable example because "that is what you could buy a great one for" a few years ago. Then they spend thousands bringing it up to reliable and cosmetic standards. Buy the best one you can afford and buy it soon. Alden
+1 I should add that... the "ideal" one is always slightly outside of your budget. Learn from this psychological barrier.
Funny how the "why are Mondial so unwanted" threads have dissapeared. I always knew the Mondial would quietly escalate. Its the best DD Ferrari sport ever made and we owners quietly know that. Going for a drive in mine today.
They really have disapeared. There use to be some for sale here in Canada and now only two that I found. I miss mine a little more every day. Here are the two in Canada. Ferrari Mondial Cabriolet 1984 pour 30*000 $ à WINDSOR | autoHEBDO.net Ferrari Mondial CABRIOLET Quattrovalvole 1985 pour 49*995 $ à Toronto | autoHEBDO.net BTW Domenic I can confirm the T coupe is sold.
+1000000 From unloved, bastard Ferrari step-child, the Mondial has really started to gather a lot of respect. Took mine to the local Dallas Cars and Coffee this month (huge show, probably over 500 cars, and thousands of people). I had a huge amount of interest in my car. Most people were excited to see something different and unique (when's the last time you ever heard of a mondial being describe that way?). Lots of great discussions on the car. My car is far from a show car - she's a solid 10 Footer, but has many flaws when you get close up. Didn't matter. People wanted to see all three hoods opened up, they wanted to hear the engine run. All this excitement and interest was especially fun - considering that there were probably 10 newer F-cars (430, several 458s and more), 5 to 10 Lambos, P918, Mclaren P1 and even a pristine Dino, all siting on the same row as my 85 Mondial Coupe I didn't buy my Mondial because I thought an F-Car would somehow make me "cool", or to gain adoring fans or as some prop to a sagging ego. I bought her because I had a lifelong dream to own an F-Car - one that I can work on. I zeroed in on the Mondial because it has a back seat and a fairly simplistic mechanical configuration. And personally, I wanted a coupe. The mondial fit the bill perfectly. I also considered a 400 - however the V12 was a little daunting to me. The Mondi's V8, with the ability to drop the engine out the bottom was a plus. Sid
overall it is still at the bottom of the food chain pricewise, which is totally cool with me. Wake me up when the 360 falls below the Mondial ;-) cheers braq
I finally sold my 82 Mondial 8 black/black that I bought back in 92 or 3. I had it for sale for a long time at $22.5K here in the Portland area before it sold for that price to a guy who I thought was an enthusiast but it turns out he is a dealer. I am moving to TX and really don't have the garage space down there, and if I do get an F car again it will have A/C that is up to TX weather. Believe me, the market for Mondials is not exactly red hot, at least not the 8.
I have been tracking Mondi prices in Europe for two years on autoscout24. At this time last year there were 60 or so Mondis for sale at an overall average of 30,000 Euros. At this very time, there are 67 Mondis listed. There are only 3 at less than 30,000 Euros. The cheapest cab is an 83 for US$39,660. The cab in windsor, even if only half what is printed about it is true (I"m being only slightly skeptical), it is an absolute steal. You will never find a decent cab for that price again. If you are serious about buying a Mondi, let alone a cab, do not pass GO, but go directly there and buy it. NOW!
Back two years ago I decided to see what is all this fuss about Ferraris. And I bought a 1986 3.2 coupe for the simple reason I liked the color: Prugna Metallica. Well. Going on 12,000 miles I found out. It is a capable, theatrical, Disney Land 'E' ticket ride that will not kill you. And this is the phantasmagorical part. It has been dead reliable for that entire time. It is true I scattered the clutch at 90F and 8,000 rpms but my local wrench, who never worked on a Ferrari, had fun fixing it at local costs. Wants to do more! Something interesting to do! So I have procured four CV joints, a couple of front discs, a wheel bearing, a rebuilt oil cooler. NONE of which have interfered with me driving the bejeezes out of it in the mean time. It just sits in my carport. I get in. Turn the key and drive away. Briskly. At this very moment I am charging the battery in my 1965 Corvair convertible. I have been neglectful because of the Ferrari. But there is nothing to do. Ferraris are, in fact, DIFFERENT from other cars. Not in any mystical sense. Mine simply wants me to drive it, hear the engine, grapple with the manual steering and truck transmission. Then come back for more. Originally I was skeptical about these cars. No longer. Mine is no super car. Though modern versions are. But back in the 1980's they provided a good comprehensive and entirely accessible driving experience. And they will not kill you.
The classic car market is clearly splitting into those cars which are near new and/or time warp condition, and those that are drivers. Those that are full restoration projects would perhaps be the third category, but tht process is designed to get them into the near new category, so really two categories. Pricing is similarly becoming more polarized. The Mondial market is interesting because there are probably more drivers than near new condition cars, as they have tended to be in enthusiast hands who simply enjoy the total ownership experience from fixing, detailing and driving the cars. Of course some drivers are more cared for cosmetically, while others more so mechanically and so on, so there is still a pretty big spread of condition (or perceived condition eg. high mileage but meticulously maintained) even in this category. So not surprisingly pricing is all over the map, and often very local as well. The present market action (for Mondials and in classics in general) seems to be in the near new condition category, partly because of the auction phenomena that prefer to focus on top condition cars. Basically people who want to have a new car like experience and are willing to pay up for that. Usually this is the first stage of how the value of a car rises, scarcity in top condition being catalyst. The drivers tend to be updrafted, with the economics encouraging for restoration or freshening significantly, adding to the choices. This is the beginning of the phase we are now in. Of course, the Mondial itself of any condition is being updrafted by all things Ferrari as the even broader factor. My sense is the Mondial top condition price spike based on condition is about where it needs to me, maybe another 20% higher, to draw out more supply. But I think all things classic Ferrari factor will prove more durable as a phenomena, the earlier eras and styles are really distinctive. Absent an economic meltdown, which will affect all hard assets, it does appear a Mondial, in driver state, will not be cheaper than they are now. And a top condition one should hold its value. The long term will not see Mondial's worth millions (in todays dollars, with the fed printing we could end up there in nominal dollars!) as they made a decent number of them (quite impressive numbers actually for a largely hand built car), but they will be iconic design statements and driving experiences that will sustain a serious following. I personally enjoy an 88 3.2 Cab (red/black), and have long thought of adding a 3.2 hard top to the fleet, so I have been casually tracking the hard tops for a while, especially in less common colours, some look really striking to me eg. the deep blue and prugnas. Looks like the interest in these hard tops has caught up to the cab's, so I think the boat sailed on me for bargains there. Part of the fun of the whole is experience is the hunt, I kind of prefer to drag it out, its entertaining in its own right. Happy hunting!
. When these cars were new, cabrioles were in higher demand in North America than in Europe. It seems things are shifting a bit... more European collectors want cabs now than before. And I can see the coupe in North America are selling faster, and commanding slightly better money than the cabs.
This is a brilliant write up - I completely agree with the points made. I think it would be foolish to purchase a non time warp car for investment purposes....buy a driver.. and drive it!
+1 absolutely spot on. Especially the money printing stuff. They have even started printing money in Sweden last year in order to lower the currency and pay the social bills. This is inflating housing about 10%-20% per year meaning in real terms, salaries are getting MUCH smaller. The UK (and US) has been doing it for years but it is called "quantitive easing" haha. So if you bought a block of silver, that might also be going "up in value" but in reality it is just paper money value sinking. Therefore dont keep money in a bank and spend it on classic cars because............ (although im sures theres a sad face when there's something serious starts rattling in the engine bay). Image Unavailable, Please Login
