Who has ever put a search for second-hand Ferraris at an online car finder website? Many people have, and when you do you will find the Mondial on top of the list…when sorted by ‘cheapest first’. Yes, the Ferrari Mondial is the entry-level opportunity for Ferrari lovers to join the world of owners of the brand known as the prancing horse.
I too, found a Mondial 8 to be the cheapest Ferrari on sale in The Netherlands in the year 2000, and not long after my search, I was the proud owner of the cheapest Ferrari in The Netherlands. My pride didn’t last very long, since after parking it in my garage, it wouldn’t start anymore. It was the start of a long line of failures during the few years that I owned the car.
Yes, the Ferrari Mondial had plenty of flaws and it is of no wonder that it is the cheapest entry to the world of Maranello’s super cars. Performance was far from extraordinary even at the time of release, it was nowhere as beautiful as the Ferrari 328 which was also available at the time of the Mondial 8, and built quality was…well…let’s call it ‘Italian 80s cars quality’. There was a reason why the Mondial was a contender in Top Gear’s Worst Car in the History or the World video.
One should never buy a Ferrari simply to own a Ferrari, I believe. It should be bought to ‘enjoy’ such as enjoying tours with friends or doing races. So it didn’t take too long until I got bored with it and sold it. But despite the wrong motivation, despite the pride and the car’s flaws, there was a significance to this buy: it was one of my very first “personal achievements”. Ten years before this buy I read an article about an Austrian woman who after many years of saving money, bought a Ferrari. She become a role model for me and immediately I set out a plan to save money on a monthly basis to achieve my goal: buying a Ferrari before I turned 30 years old. While the plan went horribly wrong, and only the formation of my company and first deal with ESA funded the goal, I DID achieve the goal that I set out, and on time. More importantly: I realised that with a strong will, a good plan and maybe a bit of luck one can achieve many desires in life. In the years to come, I achieved my goals to run a half marathon, participate to a Ferrari race, bungee jump in New Zealand, see Antarctica, tigers, the pyramids and spend some time alone in Tutankhamun’s tomb with him lying next me, dive in the Coral Reef, see rocket launches and help preparing their launch campaigns, and spend nights in the middle of the amazon forests. The bucket list is still long (and ever growing!) but the first buy of that Mondial 8, marked the start of me setting goals and pursuing them.
So the Ferrari Mondial will always have a special place in my heart. I will never forget the many times I drove to work with it, enjoying the V8 sound. And looking back, 20 years later now, I see that this car is aging well; it actually looks quite good compared to other 2+2 seater cars, and even better than some modern 2+2 Ferraris. Its power was shortcoming, but its handling wasn’t bad at all, and it really did sound well. In that respect, being still the cheapest Ferrari model on the second-hand market, it is actually a bit of a bargain and a great entry to the Prancing Horse brand. But some do-it-your-self mechanics expertise would help…
Ciao!
Robin
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