My first 15 miles

I purchased my first Ferrari Saturday, two days ago. I was excited and scared! I’d had a Fiat 850 many years ago and when I sold it I said thank goodness I’ll never have to see those pointy fuses or cable drawn windows again. Oops. This car is a very nice driver but during the test drive the “slow down” light came on. I spoke to my Ferrari mentor on the phone and he went over the cat heat issue and relayed that his first purchase was towed half way home when he had a legitimate overheating cat. The owner was also very forthcoming with information about it and stated it had happened in the past, but not for a while. The car is generally in very good shape with only the common known faults that would be expected of a 22 year old Mondial Cabriolet.

After hours of inspection, filling out the paperwork and long goodbyes with some car tales mixed in it was time for me to go. My heart was pounding and palms sweaty, I was about to drive away in MY Ferrari. Just as I sat in the car a light drizzle started. By the time I got to the street from the parking lot it was raining. I entered the highway to what seemed like a torrential downpour and thought to myself, my first mile of Ferrari ownership is driven in a rainstorm. I’m in an Italian convertible in the rain, this can’t be good. I had flashbacks to my brothers Triumph where we determined we stayed dryer if we had the top down in the rain and went 60mph. The Mondials top is in excellent condition, the seals original and showing wear. I was waiting for drops to come down the inside of the windshield, but nothing. The car is tight, great news!

The rain let up and I’m rolling down the highway, I keep checking all the gauges like the concerned new owner I am. Gridlock! Traffic comes to a standstill. (brakes work good) My mind is going again. I’m sitting in a type of car that is rumored to have cooling issues, this can’t be good. I watched all the gauges, couldn’t take my eyes off of them except to pull forward a few feet each time traffic inched forward. The needle worked up to the 190’s range and stopped. I watched as it then dropped about 4 degrees and then rose and dropped. A huge sigh of relief, this car has a great cooling system, everything is working properly. It felt like an eternity but was probably 10 to 15 minutes in the stop and go traffic until I got past the construction squeeze.

Now I’m cruising. These things could have taken me months if not years to find out, I’m excited. I know at 95 degrees that day that my cooling system is great and the top keeps the water out. I’m in a 70 mph zone now and cruising, coolant temp is still great and I roll the windows down, time to relax in the number two lane and cruise the 190 miles home. Then out of the corner of my eye, the car in the #1 lane kicks something up. 1/2 inch wide, about a foot long, it looks like the shaft of a large screwdriver. Whack!

I’ve covered my first 15 miles in my first Ferrari. Aren’t the bugs suppose to part for the first drive, don’t the angels sing from heaven? I had to ask myself if this was going to be the nature of my entire ownership experience? Maybe the Ferrari gods are testing me, trying to see how I handle the pressure, will I crack, will I overcome? I don’t know. What I do know is that the car doesn’t leak, doesn’t overheat and the gigantic steel shaft that was hurtled at me hit the airdam and did no damage. I dropped it to 4th gear and let the engine sing. It was a good day.

Thanks to ferrarichat.com for all the great info I've gotten. (days of reading) To my neighbor and Ferrari mentor who encouraged me. The gentleman in Tacoma who took 45 minutes to talk to me about his 400i and all the dealers and shops I've spoken to. This is truly a gracious community. Finally thanks to the seller who has allowed me to take over care of this great car.
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I got a jump start on putting miles on it by getting to drive it 190 miles home. My mentor said Ferraris were meant to be driven so I had to drive it home. I'm up to 250 miles in 48 hours, but now I'm back to work and away from home for 3 weeks

 

Thanks for your support everyone. I was in WA for the summer and made some great contacts out there but I live near Baton Rouge and the car came out of Mississippi via Colorado via hollywood. Purchased new in Hollywood. It is a CA emission car. I see my mentor has been here and there are plans for a jaunt involving my Mondial and his 348 in a couple weeks. At the end of Sept there is a FCA local chapter ride involving the folks in New Orleans and Baton Rouge (there is a bunch of us down here in the swamp lands). I've entered the ultimate three step program. Maintenance, driving, repairs as needed. Thanks for the story about the puget sound, I did the 101 loop on my motorcycle a month ago, beautiful part of the country. I'm sure I'll be running the Mondial up the Natches trace soon, but I hope some day to have it out on the west coast. Appreciate you overseas folks as well. Before my purchase I made contact with the gentleman in Tacoma who had lived in the south of France and had a Mondial as his daily. The stories of running that part of the world were wonderful.

I've learned a lot in my two days. I think I've probably not scratched the surface of what the car has to offer, but I'm smitten.
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