My Wife Won A New Jeep But My 12-Year-Old Daughter Totaled It So We Replaced It With A Ferrari Mondial: Members’ Rides

Today’s Member-owned machine is the first vintage Ferrari to be featured as a Member’s Ride, and only the third Ferrari ever from a Member. It belongs to Matt, a fleet coordinator for the city of Seattle. Matt manages over 100 cars and 150 drivers to ensure everyone who needs a vehicle has one and also makes sure all the vehicles are serviced so they can do their jobs reliably. Now let’s talk Mondial, how it makes sense as a Jeep replacement, and the crazy story of how Matt’s Jeep met its end.

Welcome to Members’ Rides, where we share the cars and stories of Autopian Members. The potential to be featured here is a perk for Autopian Members of every level, from the ultra-affordable “Cloth” tier all the way up to “Rich Corinthian Leather.” Click that link and join today!

You may be familiar with the Ferrari Mondial as Adrian’s source of great joy/misery, or perhaps you recall Thomas telling us all how affordable they are. For anyone not up to speed with the Mondial, the short version is that it replaced the 308 and 208 Dino models in 1980 and has the distinction of being Ferrari’s last V8-powered, rear-engine four-seater. The Mondial saw its output increase from 214 horsepower to 300 along its 13-year run, and in convertible guise, it’s among the most practical Ferraris ever (it’s far easier to get into the backseat without a top), and I think it’s a great-looking car in that 80s wedge sort of way – as I’m sure Matt agrees. I’m also confident Matt would agree that most Mondial owners did not purchase their Ferraris as Jeep replacements, but that’s just what Matt did. Let’s start there.

Your wife won a Jeep, which led to the Mondial. Let’s hear that story!

In 2005, my wife worked at a private school. For the whole first semester, a dealer-donated, no-frills 2005 soft-top Wrangler was parked on the campus as the marquee prize for the school’s fundraiser raffle. My wife really wanted it, and joked with everyone that they needn’t bother buying tickets to win “her Jeep.” Come the wintertime event, the winner was picked – but it was not my wife. 

The winning ticket holder was an alum who generously urged the organizers to keep drawing until a faculty member or staff person won. The second name was another alum who said the same thing! The third recipient was a faculty member who, in an admirable fit of self-awareness, said “I have a family, what am I supposed to do with this?” On the fourth draw, my wife won her Jeep. Getting ready to drive off, my wife looked down and asked “What’s the third pedal for?” Needless to say, I drove it home.

And then …

We kept the Jeep as a backup vehicle and it was our summer cruiser. The soft-top was a bit of a wrestling match, so the rule was that we’d open her up only when the ten-day forecast showed clear skies. In June of 2020, my daughter, then twelve, confirmed that the weather was favorable, and asked us to bring it out of the garage and drop the top. We said sure, but then the kid asked if she could be the one to drive it out. While I was talking to the neighbor, my wife said she could try, figuring there was no way she’d be able to get it started, much less into gear.

You can guess what happened next. She did get it started, and into gear, and rocketed directly into the neighbor’s house. [Ed Note: I absolutely did not guess this.] My wife was in the passenger seat and says her knee has never been the same, but there were no other injuries (unless we count the damage to my wife’s pride for not being ready with the e-brake).

How did the Jeep fare?

The bumper and fenders collapsed around the engine and puckered where the front panels met ahead of the doors. It was drivable, but only barely, so we got it up to the shop for assessment. Our insurance, against all probability, covered the costs and we went about patching up the neighbor’s house. The Jeep was another matter. After months at the shop, the service reps reported they’d been unable to track down replacement side panels. At the time, we didn’t want a project car and had zero experience with salvage yards, so we regretfully agreed the Jeep was totaled. Thankfully, because the mileage was so low and it was so well-maintained, the insurance company wrote a great big check. In retrospect, and with the confidence and benefit of the Autopian’s collective wisdom, I wouldn’t make the same decision, but we walked away with a 500-percent return on our raffle ticket investment – almost enough to assuage my disappointment over having to let go of the car my wife won.

And it led to the Mondial!  But first, a little about you. How did you get into cars?

Mine was a family of auto enthusiasts. For me it was cars, but for Dad it was trucks, and for Grandpa it was trains. I grew up around spotters’ guides and model kits and stacks of publications. I always liked cool sports cars and couldn’t wait to drive! I have never gotten over that excitement, even in a ho-hum CR-V. I’ve started teaching my teenager to drive and she seems into it, though the family generational scale progression suggests that after trains/trucks/cars, the logical conclusion would be that she’ll be into motorcycles. I’ve never ridden, so don’t have anything to offer her on that score.

How did you end up with the perfect Mondial?

Once we got our insurance check for the Jeep we had to decide whether and how to replace it. Eventually, we arrived at some basic requirements, and whatever we chose had to:

1. Fit in the garage
2. Have four seatbelts
3. Be a convertible
4. Have enough room for at least a few groceries
5. Be fun or interesting

I poked around Craigslist for a while and eventually found something I hadn’t really known about, much less considered: a Ferrari Mondial. While there were tons of truck publications in my house, and nearly as many car books and calendars, this car simply didn’t exist for me when I was young. So when I laid eyes on the familiar but different Mondial with its side vents, I couldn’t believe it. Plus four seatbelts, a golf-bag compatible trunk, less than 186” long, and the way the look of the hardtop’s buttresses is preserved with the top up? It was too good to be true.

After a couple of weeks, I hadn’t found anything that fired me up like the Mondial. I found myself looking at three separate specimens that were all snapped up in the same week.  When one of those three cars came back on the market, we snapped it up.

How is it owning a classic Ferrari?

I’m still pretty self-conscious about saying “Ferrari,” so it’s not a Ferrari, it’s a 40-year-old used car. When it showed up, it was sluggish as hell! The local Ferrari dealership big-timed us, so I needed to find somebody else. I soon saw a circa-2000 Ferrari parked in front of a nearby shop. I called the garage and they expressed interest, so we brought it in. It’s getting there after a new clutch and a bunch of other stuff, but it’s still got faults we haven’t run down.

I never intended for it to be a concourse/show car, or even a sporty car, but I’d like the seats to slide; it needs new floor mats; the windows are maddeningly slow; and the rear windows, like the wipers, often don’t work. But damn, is it cool! And when you actually get to open it up, it feels like it’ll just keep pulling forever.

I’m looking forward to having it sorted and mostly reliable. Maybe someday I’ll do something wacky! I’m thinking a two-tone black and yellow wrap like a Giallo Fly BB, or rally lamps across the nose for a ridiculous wall-to-wall light look. But that won’t be until we get tired of looking at it as-is.

Is your Mondial superior to Adrian’s?

For fear of antagonizing Uncle Goth, I’ll just say that by virtue of our intent to “replace” a Jeep and its open-air experience, the cabriolet is by definition better – because we never considered the coupe in the first place. That said, I think there’s a case to be made for Adrian having the superior Mondial, since he’s actually been able to put some real miles on his. I’m still sorting out the getting-to-know-you issues. Plus he’s rocking the original metric wheels and tires and I’ve got replica 16s – But they do look boss sticking out just a touch under the flares. So no contest, really, but I’m happy with what I’ve got.

Thanks, Matt!

Members, keep your eyes open in the coming weeks for a link to a new member survey (we’re still working our way through the backlog). And if you’re not a Member – what are you waiting for? Join today!