Today’s Nice Price or Crack Pipe contender is a fourteen grand Ferrari. Those words are rarely spoken outside the context of a roadside smoldering heap, or when being quoted the cost of a major tune up, so one has to ask, what’s the catch?
Although also white and V8-powered, yesterday’s 1997 LS1-powered Chevy Blazer did lack the iconic badging of a horse doing the Dougie, and while interesting, its price - which was a buck shy of eight grand - had 62% of you not feeling the love for what was generally considered to be a shit truck base, despite the Corvette mill. In the end, it went down in a Crack Pipe loss.
Ferrari’s Mondial is often itself considered to be the Danny Bonaduce of that Italian brand. Originally introduced in 1980, the V8-powered 2+2 featured vastly different styling from the Scotch on the Rocks sexiness of its 308GTB engine mate, and not necessarily for the better.
Today, it’s frequently lumped in with the 400i automatic as the least desirable of the Maranello marque’s products. Thing of it is, driving the worst Ferrari is going to be a better experience than driving the best - oh I don’t know, just about anything else - because you can keep saying to yourself, I’m driving a freaking FERRARI! BOOH-YEAH!
Actually, I’ve driven a Mondial more than once, and it’s a totally nice ride. Oh sure, the pedal box is cramped if you’ve got hooves larger than a ballerinas, and the whole +2 bit is - like Trix - for kids only. But still, it’s perfectly competent as a tourer for two plus a weekend’s worth of whatever.
And the best thing about owning a Ferrari is that, should you be chasing skirts - or alternatively looking for a little man-tail - then tossing a Ferrari-branded key and fob on the bar is a sure way to raise some eyebrows of interest, and potentially drop some panties. I know mine end up around my ankles whenever I get close to one.
But let’s talk about this one - a white (who the hell paints a Ferrari refrigerator white?) 1982 Mondial 8. That year saw the debut of the Quattrovalvole engine, but this coupe appears to be the earlier in the year 205-horse 2V edition whose engine and platform can be traced back to the original 308GT4 of 1973.
The body looks reasonably clean and the biscuit interior appears. . . well, blurry. That may be an issue as the leather inside ain’t cheap to replace. There is a club mounted to the steering wheel however, so you can at least deduct $36 from your post-purchase expenses on the car.
Speaking of wheels, the car looks to be riding on its stock set of stars, but along with those the ad claims that your get - but wait there’s more! - yet another set. You might also notice that a lot of what Pininfarina originally wanted to be black on the car - bumpers, valances, and whatnot - have been given a coat of body color. Hmmmm.
The ad claims the car only has 14,000 miles on the clock and is priced below a buck a mile at $13,500. Therein however lies the rub. This car has been up and down on Craigslist for a month or more now, and as I noted earlier, is priced in the realm of Ferrari parts, not complete running cars. Is this a scam? Do potential test drivers instead end up in an iced motel bathtub missing a kidney or testicle?
Or, is the seller’s interpretation of “runs good” different from that of every single other person on the planet, and this car evidences some fatal flaw that makes that seemingly deal of a price to be in fact onerous?
Who knows? That of course is not my problem, it’s yours! You now need to decide what is this car’s dealio. What do you think, is this Mondial a steal at $13,500? Or, well, you know.
You decide!
San Francisco Bay Area Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Chris Cheetham for the hookup!
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