Ferrari Mondial T convertible | The Brave Pill
A ragtop supercar for the whole family...
However hard you try to resist, some itches just need to be scratched. After putting at least one joke about the Mondial into every Ferrari Brave Pill to this point, the inevitable has finally occurred – with Ferrari’s perennial punchline taking centre stage itself. This week’s offering is a summer-friendly Mondial T convertible, the cheapest way for four sun worshippers to work on their tans while simultaneously enjoying the unfiltered wail of a Ferrari V8.
Let’s start by saying that this is definitely a good Mondial. Its condition looks great in the pictures and the selling dealer promises copious history detailing careful care. It has covered just 59,000 miles in the last 33 years, a figure that couldn’t appear scary even in the rarefied world of low-use supercars. Another plus is an MOT history is as green as Dublin on March 17th, with a run of straight passes going all the way back to 2008, when the car earned its only admonition of the digital era, an advisory that “both rear brake hose ferrules slightly corroded.” If it was any other open-topped Ferrari is such clearly loved condition it would doubtless be being offered for much more than the £48,995 that the selling dealer wants for this one.
Bringing us to the case for the prosecution. Which is simpler: it’s a Mondial. Should I pass the black cap, your honour?
Every hierarchy needs a base, every top a bottom. And, for pretty much all of its life, that’s what the Mondial has been – Ferrari’s whipping boy. Italy’s most famous carmaker has produced many celebrated models throughout its long history, and the company’s hit-to-miss ratio is impressively high. But the poor old Mondial has long struggled to find love, and has often been treated with outright ridicule.
Much of this has been unfair, as the criticism aimed at early versions created some major revisions later on. But some has always been justified, with the need to combine room for four with an engine behind the passenger compartment having always given the Mondial a strangely distended look. “There is no exquisite beauty without some strangeness in the proportion,” reckoned Edgar Allen Poe. On that basis the Mondial should be considered very beautiful indeed.
Ferrari had offered an earlier mid-engined four-seater with the Dino 208/ 308 GT4, although they were never offered as cabrios. The GT4 had been designed by Bertone, which did a neat job minimising the visual volumes given by plus two seating. But for the Mondial Ferrari switched back to favoured pencil-wielders Pininfarina, which came up with a less elegant solution. As far back as its doors the Mondial looks athletic and well-proportioned, clearly related to the 208/ 308 GTB of the same era. But from the doors rearward something goes wrong: there’s too much car back there, with the strake-wearing side air inlets somehow emphasising the misbalance. The packaging also meant the driving position was shunted forwards and positioned low, to allow the occupants of the slightly raised rear seats a view. Meaning a Mondial pilot always looks more like a chauffeur than a masterful supercar owner.
Early Mondials were also slow, something which has also damaged the reputation of the quicker iterations that followed. The original Mondial 8 from 1980 made just 214hp from its 3.0-litre transverse-mounted V8 in US spec, with that figure working against what was then a very porky 1,550kg kerbweight. Ferrari claimed an 8.2-second 0-60mph time, but two of the three American magazines to figure it couldn’t get close to that - recording 9.3 and 9.4 seconds for the benchmark respectively. Which, even by the standards of the era, definitely wasn’t Ferrari-fast.
Our Pill is a later car, dating from after the Mondial had been given its most significant mechanical upgrade in 1988. This used a brawnier 3.4-litre 32-valve V8 making a much more potent 296hp, but also changed the powerplant’s orientation with a new longitudinal layout, although with this still driving a transverse gearbox. The new ‘T’ branding referred to the relative positions of motor and transmission. Performance was hugely improved - even the heavier cabriolet could now get from 0-60 in the low 6s - and the lower mounted engine improved handling. It also got power steering, a very earlier use of electronically controlled dampers and standard ABS brakes.
The new powertrain brought a different problem, although one that mostly affected buyers of used versions. While it had been possible to replace the timing belt of the earlier Mondial with the V8 in location, it had to be dropped on its subframe for this to be done in the T. On the plus side the clutch can be easily replaced with the engine in the car, as it is at the rear of the transmission.
Running costs for any Ferrari are high, and although the Mondial enjoys good parts support the fact that survivors have spent much of their lives in the residual doldrums meant that many suffered from a lack of TLC. That definitely doesn’t seem to have been the case with this 1990 cabriolet, but previous owners have still needed to bite the gag occasionally to keep from squealing.
The vendor helpfully details the most recent service, carried out in October last year, and consisting of new cambelts, water pump, fuel pipes, power steering pipes together with a full engine service and aircon overhaul. The total was £8063, a figure that gives a good indication of what non-routine work on an elderly Ferrari can add up to. For what it’s worth I know somebody who traded a less-than-pristine 964-generation Porsche 911 Turbo for an apparently sound Ferrari 328 GTB who reckoned the transition more than doubled his per-mile ownership costs. Brave comes as standard with any Ferrari of this vintage.
The days of cheap Mondials are long since behind us, although values have only risen slowly when compared to the galloping inflation enjoyed by more desirable Ferraris. While they do still get cheaper than this our Pill looks fairly priced considering its condition, and the convertible’s distinction as the only mid-engined supercar to offer four seats seems unlikely to ever be beaten. Yes, people will mock and some will snigger. But even the least desirable Ferrari is still a good place to be.
I’m sure that like many we remember when these were so unwanted it was unreal, but even the current lift in classic car prices couldn’t get me to part with my hard earned.
As a slight aside I was at a petrol station (how long will we continue that phrase?) on the outskirts of Chesterfield last weekend and there was an absolutely stunning Mondrian there being refuelled, stood talking to the old guy who owned it and marvelled at its condition (concourse imho)
Cam belt change:
The low point for Ferrari.
If there ever was a case of rose tinted glasses, this is it.
But then there'll be plenty of people who don't remember (too young, or just not that interested) them be regularly-panned embarrassments - kids-can-come-to machines with an engine mounted a la T-55. To them it's another Ferrari - and all Ferraris are somehow especially deserving
The only people sniggering nowadays will be car geeks. Everyone else will just see the little picture on the front of the pony standing on its hind legs.
I had a long drive in a t coupe 20 years ago when I was in the market. Eventually bought a 328 as didn't need the 4 seats but the Mondial was a wonderful car to drive and in many ways better than the 328 ( which is generally highly regarded ). Great engine and precise steering. Good ride and gearbox far better than 328.
Before you condemn, try one. That said, I would only go for the coupe. Convertible looks nice top down but it's a horrible process to open and close and the car loses a lot of structural integrity.
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