What is it like to own a 1993 Ferrari Mondial T? (Why I think that the Mondial is a great car despite criticism)

Our garage - Bertha and Monica!

We bought the car on December 2015 to an old man in our village (in France). He is now 80 so he couldn’t drive it anymore and was deeply saddened about that. He was truly passionate about Ferraris and had owned multiple models during his life.
On December 2015, the owner offered my father to sell him the car so we went directly to see it without knowing which model it was.
The car was under a cover in the garage and we were a little bit disappointed when we discovered the Mondial underneath it. True, the Mondial is not the most loved Ferrari of all time, the style was sometimes criticized (particularly the black plastic bumpers on the first generations) and the performance were not as good as the Porsches at that time (964).
But the car in the old man’s garage was not one of the first Mondial (Mondial 8), it was a 1993 Mondial T, the last generation and last year of production of the Mondial coupe. Being a Mondial T, the styling and performance were improved compared to previous models (Mondial 8, QV and 3.2). The T stands for «transversal» because as opposed to previous generations, the Mondial T had a longitudinal engine and a transversal gearbox.
So we looked at the car which was in mint condition, with four seats, a really nice red paint and a great 3.4 V8 at the back (which is exactly the same as the one use in the 348) packing approximately 300 horsepower!
When the old man showed us the interior with the legendary Ferrari gearbox grid and fired up the engine with decat and tubistyle exhaust we were sure we wanted it! We then fell in love with this boxy-so80s-greatsounding machine.

You have to love those Yellow Pop-up headlights!

Two weeks after, we purchased the car and were totally excited to drive it for the first time. My father was like a little child with his new toy and we were so happy to be able to drive and seat in a Ferrari. Surely the most famous car marker of all time, with such a great heritage in motorsport! We owned a 911 for 5 or 6 years now, but even if we love Porsches, being in a Ferrari is really something more special.
I dreamed about 250 GTL and GTOs all my childhood and now I could have the chance to drive a Ferrari with my father! Surely it was not a 250, it was not even a V12 under the hood; but who cares when you drive such a rare car (only 840 Mondial T coupes were produced) with freaking great pop-ups headlights?!
After a few miles driving it, we quickly noticed that the car was not totally healthy. We decided to send the car to a Ferrari-specialist in Lyon to repair the engine completely and have everything checked and restored so that we avoid any other problems. The car was repaired in Lyon during 2 months, where the motor was entirely revised (cam belt change), few things were replaced and the covers gaskets were even repainted in a nice red!

A sunny day and a Ferrari - who needs more?

Now that the car drive perfectly I came up with things I love and «hate» about the car.
To be perfectly clear, I’m obsessed with this car, but no car is perfect. That is why we love them. Flaws of a car are what make its unique charm.
So this is why I think that, despite popular (and also mine before I had experienced the car) preconceptions, the Mondial T is a unique and great car.

1) The sound - so much love
Our car is fitted with a decat tubistyle exhaust system; coupled with the 3.4 V8 it is one of the greatest sounding machine ever in my opinion. The sound is deep at low revs, at middle revs the car produce a more and more high tone and finally scream like hell at 7000 rpm! Yet the sound is really discrete in the cabin, but as soon as you open a window or the sunroof the sound echoes on every wall near you, truly amazing!

2) The drive
Driving a Ferrari from the 80s is unique in many ways (even if our car is from 1993, the conception of the Mondial is clearly from the 80s).
First impressions when you drive the car is that your legs and arms are not aligned, the clutch is quite heavy and the gearbox is quite «virile» to use!
The gearbox needs at least 10km to heat up so it is very difficult to shift into 2nd and 4th until it has warm up. But then the shifts are very precise and the «clics» between the metal shifter and the grid at each shifting are orgasmic!
The ride is not that hard thanks to adjustable Bilstein damping system (the Mondial was the first Ferrari to have those), the seat are very comfortable and the steering is power-assisted which make the car very comfortable on good roads. Moreover the sound is the cabin is really low (to our great regret) which is good for long journey or motorways. So overall the car is quite comfortable to drive.

But clearly, a Ferrari is not made to be comfortable, so what about the fun?
The Mondial is well-balanced, the steering is really precise and communicative and the V8 at the back is smooth and is always ready to go to the 7500rpm redline! Moreover the car is fitted with extremely small tires (Michelin Primacy 225/50 R16 at the back!) so you’d have to be brave to push the car to its limit on wet roads!
In terms of performance the Mondial is not disappointing for such a large and heavy 4-seater car. The 0 to 100kmh (60 MPH) was given in approximately 6 seconds at the time and you always have enough power to undertake in any gear.

In fact the great thing about this car, is the fact that you don’t have to drive it fast to enjoy every bit of it. This car just gives you the fizz at the moment you start the engine, you can enjoy the sound and the sun (in France at least) and cruise for hours on beautiful roads! This, I think, is the most important aspect of those machines. Driving a Ferrari is all about the emotions that are given to you through all your senses.

One of the best thing about this car

3) The running costs
The Mondial is not an extremely expensive car to purchase but you have to be careful with running costs. To change the cam belt a mechanic needs around 35 hours because it requires that the engine come out.
To resume the car will involve high costs each 5 years for the «big revision» but will cost you approximately 1000 € per year for regular service.
No need to say that the gas consumption is quite high with a V8…

4) The style
I know that style is really subjective but I will tell you what I think about the styling of the Mondial T.
For sure the Mondial is not the prettiest Ferrari of all time. Which are for me the Dino 246 or 250 GT Lusso, I love their curves and elegance.
Pininfarina had to design an elegant «Berlinetta» with 4-seater after the «disaster» of the 308 GT4 designed by Bertone before. In my opinion the Mondial is an elegant car with a 80’s styling. I like the fact that it is well proportioned and thin but for me, it lacks a little bit of curb and width.
One thing is sure, we don’t see such unique car so often on roads today. The Mondial is so different from other Ferraris and other cars in general that you cannot love it for that.
Plus, it has pop-up headlights!

6) The attention
This car gets quite a lot of attention but unlike modern Ferraris it is what I call «good attention». People enjoy the car and the sound without any jealousy because it is an old Ferrari. More importantly, you don’t give bad impression to the «Gendarmes»!
Kids are really happy to see a red Ferrari and their parents are throw back into the 80’s when they see pop-ups headlights and hear the sound of this great V8. That’s why we can really enjoy driving this car as much as we can.

To sum up, we love our car (called «Monica» btw) and will continue to love it for years to come. Above all, we will drive it as much as we can!

Looks as good as it sound!