Does Anyone know this Mondial? | FerrariChat

Does Anyone know this Mondial?

Discussion in 'Mondial' started by DesertDawg, May 7, 2010.

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  1. DesertDawg

    DesertDawg Nine Time F1 World Champ Silver Subscribed

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    1985, Red w/Black interior, convertible, VIN# ZFFUC15A1F0057303 - it's located near me, and I'm going to go have a look at it tomorrow. The seller says he bought it from someone in Connecticut. Anyone here know it, or possibly even have owned it? Seller has had it for about a year and he doesn't know when the last time the timing belt was changed, or a major service interval was performed.

    Other descriptive elements: When he bought it he said it came with two sets of wheels - one stock & one chrome, a tonneau cover that encloses the entire interior area while the top is down, and what he thinks may be an upgraded stainless steel exhaust (I'm thinking possibly Tubi???). Any of this sound familiar to anyone??

    Not trying to gain any negative evidence to grind him down - Price seems reasonable, so I'm mainly interested in any known accident history or if I need to instantly change the timing belt if I end up buying it, due to no service records being available (unless someone here knows otherwise!).

    Any info would be appreciated - Thanks!

    DD
     
  2. ferrari 512 tr

    ferrari 512 tr F1 Rookie

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  3. DesertDawg

    DesertDawg Nine Time F1 World Champ Silver Subscribed

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    FWIW, I thought I'd post an update for the benefit of the forum, in case anyone's keeping track of VIN #'s previously unrecorded, etc...

    I did go & have a look at it, and it appeared to be a pretty clean example, no doubt. Interior showed a little bit of patina, and had a small (about 2") tear on the drivers' side seat, but was in really very good shape overall. Exterior looked excellent, with the exception of 2-3 tiny, (and I mean REALLY tiny) chips on the edges of the engine vents on the rear lid, and some equally tiny rock pits on the lower front-end area... pretty much unnoticeable unless you got right down there & looked for 'em.

    I did not ask to drive it, since the owner was expressing some reconsiderations about selling at the time, but I did ask if he would mind if I heard the engine... started-up immediately without hesitation; sounded great, with no misses - and revved strong when he throttled it a couple of times. Mechanically, I cannot attest to anything from the tranny through the wheels, since I did not feel like I should ask to drive it under the circumstances, but I could detect no issues with the engine itself in the time I heard it running.

    I observed no fluid of any kind either underneath the vehicle in the driveway, or in the garage where it normally lived. Undercarriage - from what I could see as far as I could get down under there - looked pretty clean... definitely had a stainless steel exhaust, but I don't know the differences between brands enough to tell if it was a Tubi, or Larini, or???

    Possibly this car has had an engine-out service at some point, since the valve covers have been repainted... owner does not know when the last major service interval was performed, so a timing-belt change just as a safety measure might be in order, unless previous service records verifying a particular service date can be obtained. Owner also stated that the stereo had been disconnected; or perhaps it's simply inop & he is not aware of that(?). Either way, this is a relatively minor issue.

    Partial/Regular Tonneau Cover fits very tight & is in excellent shape. Condition of installed ragtop unknown - owner states he never uses it - never raises the top, it's his sunny-day car (he does have several other driving toys, which I saw, so no reason to either doubt or believe him either way), comes with complete/full tonneau cover that covers the entire interior area with the top down; which I also saw & appears to be in good shape. If the ragtop hasn't been operated in a year or so, I would probably assume there's some kind of issue with it, just to be on the safe side.. at the very least, you're gonna need a couple tubes of lithium grease just to get it ready to move again after that amount of time, I'm sure.

    The car comes with an extra set of stock Mondi wheels, which I've seen & appear to be in very good condition (he's got some chrome Ferrari wheels on it, which he says come from an F-360, but I can't really attest to where they came from - they do have correct logo center caps, and they do look pretty good, actually - they could be authentic Ferrari, or they could be aftermarket, I really can't say). Has an extra set of tires on said stock Mondial wheels, which might be worth keeping just in case, but age is unknown, so I personally wouldn't use them myself at all. Tires on vehicle are pretty minty-fresh in terms of tread life.

    Anyway - this is the condition & status of the vehicle as of mid-May, 2010... frankly, if the owner had stated he was ready to sell at "x-price", when I went to see it, I personally may have been a buyer... as I said, it appears to be a pretty clean example. He's reconsidering a bit, though, so I didn't bother to go there. Overall, this appears to be a pretty well-taken-care-of Mondial that hasn't had the sh*t beat out of it, by any means. Not a concours example, but definitely also does not appear to have ever been owned by anyone less than individuals who have an appreciation for the marque, either.

    I may keep any eye on this one myself, to be sure; but if anyone else sees this VIN # up for sale - and assuming it's still near me - if you would like me to check out anything specific about it on their behalf that I haven't already mentioned, please feel free to PM me & let me know.

    Cheers!

    DD
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2010

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