The last of the Mondial series was revealed in 1989. Called Mondial T it was the most heavily revised Mondial, with letter "T" inspired by the F1 312 T single-seater, which had just won the Formula 1 World Championship and also used the longitudinal engine/transverse gearbox layout: the previously-transverse engine was now mounted longitudinally whilst the gearbox remained transverse, thus forming a 't'.

Production last between 1983 to 1993, with 858 units produced in both right and left hand drive configurations, together with various world market specification models.

The new Mondial T was finally worthing the "Ferrari" name and was able to compete with supercars such as the BMW 850i, Chevrolet Corvette, Honda NSX, Lotus Esprit and Porsche 911 Carrera.

Besides using a longitudinal engine/transverse gearbox layout, Mondial T was also offering for the first time: power assisted steering, and had a 3-position electronically controlled suspension for a variable trade off between ride quality and road holding. It also had standard ABS.

1989 - 1993 Ferrari Mondial T

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 1989 - 1993 Ferrari Mondial T
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

Visually, the Mondial T had cleaner air intakes, slightly different rear wings, and rectangular instead of round headlights. The large trapezoidal rear wing air intakes disappeared, being replaced by smaller neat rectangular louvres on the rear wings, which were of a more bulbous profile, providing a more muscular stance to the car. The interior was more luxurious and got a new dash, seats, and door panels. A leather dashboard and headlining was available as an option.

The longitudinally mid mounted V8 engine of 3405cc capacity, was mated to a transverse five speed all synchromesh gearbox. The enlarged engine was provided with dry sump lubrication and was initially fitted with a Bosch M2.5 and then later an M2.7 Motronic combined injection/ignition system, to produce a claimed power output of 300bhp at 7200rpm for the first main European market series, and 295bhp for the later series with the M2.7 Motronic ignition unit and catalytic convertors in the exhaust system. It made the 0 to 60 mph sprint in 6,3 seconds, while top speed went up to 155 mph.

As with other models in the Mondial series, the Mondial t was provided with independent suspension via wishbones, coil springs and hydraulic shock absorbers all round, with front and rear anti roll bars. In addition it was fitted with power steering plus electronically controlled shock absorbers, that gave either hard, medium or soft settings, from a driver actuated switch. Towards the end of the production run a Valeo electronically actuated clutch became available as an option, which gave the facility of normal manual gear changes without using a clutch pedal.