The Ferrari Mondial is enjoying a rebirth lately, and rightfully so: although it was ranked at the bottom of the family totem pole when new, it doesn’t deserve the scorn it received for being the “affordable” Ferrari. And, as you get further into the car’s evolution, it got progressively better and better. The later cars were improved dramatically with a more powerful engine, along with body-colored bumpers and some other cosmetic enhancements. This Mondial is listed here on Hemmings.com with an asking price of $74,995.

This is a seriously good looking car. It’s honestly incredible to me that the Mondial was scorned for so many years. Of course, if you look at the first few years of Mondial production, it’s not hard to see why the initial response was tepid. The bumpers were black and stood out against the red bodywork. The wheels looked small against the body, and the instrument binnacle was encased in a boxy assembly that was seemingly an afterthought in the interior. These are all subjective critiques, but the improvements made in later models made the Mondial look like it deserved to be part of a modern Ferrari lineup.

Of course, beyond the smooth, body-color bumpers, larger wheels, and interior refresh, the mid-engined convertible was seriously improved with a larger quad-cam 3.4-liter F119 V8. 300 horsepower and 238 lb-ft of torque was channeled through a classic gated Ferrari 5-speed manual with a limited-slip differential. With that sonorous powerplant behind your head, and the top that folds away, it’s quite a combination. Of course, you still need to account for the expensive, engine-out maintenance requirements, which was always the biggest strike against the car when Mondials were dirt cheap.

These days, however, it’s far easier to justify investing in the upkeep requirements of a mid-engined Ferrari given prices like what this seller is asking is hardly unusual. The interior is spectacular, with biscuit-colored leather seating surfaces and door panels. I know it’s a small nit to pick, but the rounded instrument cluster binnacle makes the cockpit look so much more modern; however, the gated Ferrari shifter is an aspect of yesteryear that should never have been deleted from the company’s modern-day features list. The Mondial is a smart buy these days but it would’ve even more sense if you were smart enough to have bought one 10 years ago. Thanks to Barn Finds reader PRA4SNW for the find.