1988 Ferrari Mondial 3.2

The Mondial saw Ferrari return to Pininfarina as its choice of styling house, and it was sold as a mid-sized coupé and, eventually, a cabriolet. Conceived as a 'more usable' model, offering the practicality of four seats with the performance of a mid-range Ferrari and hopefully attracting a slightly wider audience than their traditionally more focused two-seaters. The car's body was not built as a monocoque in the conventional way, but instead, the steel outer body was produced by the famous Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Scaglietti, just down the road in nearby Modena and clothed a lightweight steel box-section space frame. The Mondial was the first Ferrari where the entire engine/gearbox/rear suspension assembly was mounted on a detachable steel sub-frame, making engine removal for a major rebuild or cylinder head removal much easier than it had been on earlier models.

Like the new 328 GTB, the Mondial's engine grew in both bore and stroke to 3.2 Litres for 1985, and its output was now 280bhp. Available in both Coupé and Cabriolet forms, the look was refreshed with body-coloured bumpers, similar to the 328 with more integrated indicators and driving lamps, and a set of restyled wheels. The 3.2 also boasted a major interior update with a more ergonomic layout and a more rounded instrument binnacle.

Registered on the 10th March 1988 this right-hand drive Mondial, in the classic combination of Rosso and Crema hide, has been used by our vendor as part of his Wedding Car business, by definition ensuring that it was always looking its best. Offered with the original leather tool roll containing all of the tools, its history file confirming the service intervals and the original bill of sale. The thick folder has numerous invoices and every MoT since 1991. The mileage shows the car has been regularly but sparingly used by a succession of owners who have appropriately serviced it, and the mileage today reads 37,806.The service intervals are as follows:

Maranello Concessionaires, Egham - 19/9/1988 714 milesReg Vardy Specialist Car Division Houghton Le Spring - 23/09/1991 1,704 milesReg Vardy Specialist Car Division - 28/01/1994 6,213 milesFerrari and AML - JCT Bradford - 8/02/1996 10,456 milesFerrari and AML - JCT Bradford - 31/02/1997 15,109 milesReg Vardy Specialist Car division - 21/01/1998 19,025 milesReg Vardy Specialist Car division - 17/02/1999 22,107 milesItalia Autosport Meltham, West Yorkshire - 30/01/2001 26,417 milesSpecialist Cars, Marston Business Park, York - 26/11/2003 29,405 milesBob Houghton Ltd, Northleach - 29/11/2006 32,530 milesBob Houghton Ltd, Northleach - 23/02/2009 33,746 milesBob Houghton Ltd, Northleach - 31/05/11 34,997 milesBob Houghton Ltd, Northleach - 20/7/2012 35,576 miles cambelt changedAE Performance Engineering, Knutsford - 15/01/2015 37,019 miles cambelt checked, found to be excellent.

With sales of its contemporary, the 328, regularly reaching £100,000, this Mondial is a great opportunity to join the ranks of Ferrari owners with a much more sensible budget.