Owning an 80's Ferrari
Discussion
With the impending arrival of Jones Junior sadly it's time to say goodbye to the Mondial.
It's been a great experience and we've only had positive experiences from other drivers and passers buy who've stopped for a chat.
This being my first Ferrari I had a lot of preconceived ideas about the Mondial, most of which were negative and none of which turned out to be true.
These are some of the things that surprised me most. Just how comfortable it was whilst still cornering flat and feeling like a sports car. You could drive on the motorway with the roof down at 120kph with virtually no wind buffeting for hours. We did a few day trips to the Hunter Valley with four adults and came back with a boot stuffed full of boxes of wine and no one complaining, there really is a lot of space inside.
I love the fact it feels like a sports car as I had imagined it would be a slightly mushy cruiser but point it down the Putty Road and it is huge fun. The non assisted steering gives a level of feedback you just don't get in modern sports cars and the manual gearbox that feels super stiff around town suddenly feels really positive when driving with a bit of intent and the brakes are similar, at town speeds they feel a touch dead but pushing on they have lots of feel.
It hasn't been too expensive to run although the 3.2 V8 likes a drink if you take it up to it's 8500rpm redline!!! And you will, because at below 5000rpm it's a bit of a non event in terms of power and sound but keep your toe in and the engine really comes alive and sounds like a ferrari V8 should. I had been told the cam belts service was a huge expense but the 3.2 can be done with the engine in situ and came in around $700 from one of the specialists. The Dealers charge a fortune for parts, in many cases two or three times the specialists price but to be fair to them the local one in Sydney only charges $99 an hour labour for cars older than 10 years and I found them willing to reduce their parts prices if pushed. It was also nice for the ego to have all the Service guys come and tell me how great it was to see a classic in the workshop but they had all refused to move the car because they were worried about driving a manual with no power steering! The only other item I've had to address was a new set of plugs and a leaking clutch slave cylinder. This was interesting because it turned out to be the same part as used by Alfa Romeo, the Ferrari part was $550, the Alfa part was $75 and it takes about 2 hours to replace.
Some interesting Italian quirkiness means it has the biggest panel gaps you will see this side of an F40 and if you want to open the fuel filler you have to first open the boot, then pull a lever in the boot that opens the engine compartment then pull another lever that opens the fuel filler cap! Mind you that's only because the solenoid for opening the fuel filler cap is broken and at $500 for a new one (it must cost about 30 cents to make) I'll put up with the routine. Actually, I love the fact that Ferrari had so little confidence in their own electrics that they put such a massive amount of effort into building a manual work around. It also means you fill up with the engine lid open and can look at the gorgeous V8 with it's red crackle cam covers.
The overall ownership experience has been fun. The Ferrari Chat website is a mind of useful info although the US and UK sections are the most helpful. I found the Aus section a bit of a clique but useful if you can get past that.
Anyway, here's some pics and if you know anyone interested in taking up the challenge point them in my direction - there's a beer in it for you
It's been a great experience and we've only had positive experiences from other drivers and passers buy who've stopped for a chat.
This being my first Ferrari I had a lot of preconceived ideas about the Mondial, most of which were negative and none of which turned out to be true.
These are some of the things that surprised me most. Just how comfortable it was whilst still cornering flat and feeling like a sports car. You could drive on the motorway with the roof down at 120kph with virtually no wind buffeting for hours. We did a few day trips to the Hunter Valley with four adults and came back with a boot stuffed full of boxes of wine and no one complaining, there really is a lot of space inside.
I love the fact it feels like a sports car as I had imagined it would be a slightly mushy cruiser but point it down the Putty Road and it is huge fun. The non assisted steering gives a level of feedback you just don't get in modern sports cars and the manual gearbox that feels super stiff around town suddenly feels really positive when driving with a bit of intent and the brakes are similar, at town speeds they feel a touch dead but pushing on they have lots of feel.
It hasn't been too expensive to run although the 3.2 V8 likes a drink if you take it up to it's 8500rpm redline!!! And you will, because at below 5000rpm it's a bit of a non event in terms of power and sound but keep your toe in and the engine really comes alive and sounds like a ferrari V8 should. I had been told the cam belts service was a huge expense but the 3.2 can be done with the engine in situ and came in around $700 from one of the specialists. The Dealers charge a fortune for parts, in many cases two or three times the specialists price but to be fair to them the local one in Sydney only charges $99 an hour labour for cars older than 10 years and I found them willing to reduce their parts prices if pushed. It was also nice for the ego to have all the Service guys come and tell me how great it was to see a classic in the workshop but they had all refused to move the car because they were worried about driving a manual with no power steering! The only other item I've had to address was a new set of plugs and a leaking clutch slave cylinder. This was interesting because it turned out to be the same part as used by Alfa Romeo, the Ferrari part was $550, the Alfa part was $75 and it takes about 2 hours to replace.
Some interesting Italian quirkiness means it has the biggest panel gaps you will see this side of an F40 and if you want to open the fuel filler you have to first open the boot, then pull a lever in the boot that opens the engine compartment then pull another lever that opens the fuel filler cap! Mind you that's only because the solenoid for opening the fuel filler cap is broken and at $500 for a new one (it must cost about 30 cents to make) I'll put up with the routine. Actually, I love the fact that Ferrari had so little confidence in their own electrics that they put such a massive amount of effort into building a manual work around. It also means you fill up with the engine lid open and can look at the gorgeous V8 with it's red crackle cam covers.
The overall ownership experience has been fun. The Ferrari Chat website is a mind of useful info although the US and UK sections are the most helpful. I found the Aus section a bit of a clique but useful if you can get past that.
Anyway, here's some pics and if you know anyone interested in taking up the challenge point them in my direction - there's a beer in it for you
Hasbeen said:
I've only driven a couple of Ferraris.
I raced the old LM250 a couple of times, but mostly it was a fish out of water here. Designed for LeMans, & endurance racing, it was racing hot rod V8 powered cars in 10 lap sprints.
The other was a GT B in the Surfers paradise endurance race in 68, as part of the Scuderia Veloce 3 Ferrari team. The P4 just from Le Mans the LM250, & the GT B. It really was not suitable for racing, but still easily won it's class, & the old LM showed it's class winning outright easily, after the P4 was damaged.
The GT B was not really suitable for the road in Oz in those days either. The owner got rid of it not much later. It was sideswiped for the third time, by some driver staring so hard, they drifted over into it.
It sounds like your experience was much more pleasant.
Love to hear this sort of stuff. Can only dream of driving an LM250 although I saw one at the Australia Day car parade in Centennial Park a coule of years ago I raced the old LM250 a couple of times, but mostly it was a fish out of water here. Designed for LeMans, & endurance racing, it was racing hot rod V8 powered cars in 10 lap sprints.
The other was a GT B in the Surfers paradise endurance race in 68, as part of the Scuderia Veloce 3 Ferrari team. The P4 just from Le Mans the LM250, & the GT B. It really was not suitable for racing, but still easily won it's class, & the old LM showed it's class winning outright easily, after the P4 was damaged.
The GT B was not really suitable for the road in Oz in those days either. The owner got rid of it not much later. It was sideswiped for the third time, by some driver staring so hard, they drifted over into it.
It sounds like your experience was much more pleasant.
BTW, did you know Keith Ahlers? I occassionaly raced against him in his beast of a Morgan and I know he raced at Bathurst.
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