Well I Thought I would share my story with you all since no doubt I will need your advice as time goes on. So Im 21 and decided that I want a Ferrari. Clearly because of college tuition taking most of my money the choices of which Ferrari were limited. After looking around for several weeks an ebay auction came up for a 1982 Mondial coupe. It was listed with a buy it now of 15k(many of you probably know where I am going with this.) Being the impulsive person I am I trusted the seller and bought it sight unseen. When I finally got the car I saw that it was about a step above a project car. It was in terrible condition. I had to get the car from arizona to minnesota. I decided to throw all my chips in and drive this hulk the entire way. Sure enough she made it. the only problem was the door not shutting all the way. Once I got back to MN I put it in the garage and didnt look at it for several months. However, once spring started to show itself I begin to long for a functioning Ferrari. I begin to read and study car repair, especially on Ferraris. Bit by Bit I started restoring her. As of now she is almost done, I am happy to say I went from not knowing how to change oil to actually fixing up a Ferrari in a few months. All that remains is a few new hoses, cleaning up the headliner and a good buff. It has truelly been a blessing to spend time bringing this old neglected car back from eventual parts yard. These cars truelly are magic.... SO please bare with my "Noobie" questions as I am learning......
Wow. What a story!!! Golly I hope you made the right choice... fixing these cars can be expensive beyond your imagination (trust me on that from personal experience!!). I hope that you will have either the personal skills or reasonable bank roll to try to get your prize working the way she should. The F-chat crowd can be VERY helpful - just ask. And good luck to you... sounds like you're well on your way to having her back in the pink Any pictures - before and after? Jedi
Did you go into this knowing the maintenance costs??? I mean, it's really impressive that you got into a Ferrari of any sort at 21, but the maintenance costs are what generally relegates these cars to the "big boys". Good luck with it. I'm envious at 37. lol
Congrats, and what a jump in your learning curve to go from not knowing how to perform an oil change to almost full restoration. The "before and after pics" is a great idea, it will demonstrate how far you've come personally as well as show off all of your hard work.
Ill post a few pics today for you guys to see. Also, I would appreciate any suggestions you may have once you see the pictures. In regards to maintanence costs they were not as bad as I had thought. I am use my Porsche 928 so I am use to inflated costs. Thanks for all your responses....Ill get those pics this weekend.
Cronin, I must admit that you're a braver man than I am. I've been looking at Mondails for some time now and must admit some of the 'horror' stories scared me to the point that I'm still Mondial-less. Cuddos to you. Best Jurgen
Great story! Make sure you stop by the MN Ferrari forum so you'll know when we get together for the monthly "Cars and Coffee" get together. There was one this past weekend but I whimped out since it was raining and my 308 has only seen rain 3 times in its life. Do you live in the twin Cities area where it would be convenient to go to the gathering? I wish you lots of luck with your Mondial and hope you have tons of fun with it. Paul
Yes, definetly a great story. With such a great story, If you want to drive it new jersey. I'll detail it for you. Good Luck.
Paul 308, I made it to the cars and coffee and it was a real treat. The weather was terrible but worth it. Also Easyrider7467 your offer is tempting, I fear shes not ready for the showroom detail yet. Thanks for all your responses.
I did make it to the cars and coffee this past weekend but not with the Mondial. I must admit there were several people far braver than me. I also have a Porsche 928 and recently got rid of a 944S and it was good to see several Porsche drivers at the event as well.
I'm hoping we have better weather for the next Cars and Coffee on July 4th. I was there last month and it was a great turn out. There were so many cool cars that showed up! Paul
