1989 Ferrari Testarossa Coupe (LHD)

Description

When the Scuderia showed its gorgeous new Testarossa at the 1984 Paris Salon, the automotive world had left the fuel-scarce decade of the 1970s way back in the rear vision mirror: performance was no longer a dirty word. The 1980s was a decade of glamour and extravagance with power dressing a major theme in the fashion world. In automotive terms could there have been a better illustration of the spirit of the age.  Enzo Ferrari conceived the dramatic Testarossa as the machine to surpass expected new models from Lamborghini, Porsche, Jaguar and other rivals. This power-dressed beauty took its single word ‘Testarossa’ name from the 1957 (two words) Testa Rossa, which simply means redhead (and note, too, the red-painted camshaft covers in both cars!) The 1957 model was a 3.0-litre V12 racer, one of Ferrari’s most successful competition cars ever. As it had done with the new GTO earlier that same year (1984), Ferrari evoked past glories by reviving a famous name. But Enzo Ferrari knew his clients. Where in the 1950s and even into the 1960s many customers might have been more at home in a race suit than an Ermenegildo Zegna, in the 1980s few planned to race their Ferraris – even though any model was only a thought and a set of slicks short of a circuit. Certainly, the Testarossa’s uprated edition of the 1976 512 Berlinetta Boxer’s 180-degree 4943cc V12 – now mounted longitudinally and cooled by radiators mounted behind those extravagant side strakes, just ahead of the 10-inch-wide rear wheels – could propel it to a V-Max of almost 300km/h, but the Testarossa was as much about ultimate automotive fashion and Gran Turismo luxury as it was about sheer urge. With those five trademark side strakes and huge rear haunches, the Testarossa made one of the boldest statements yet seen from Ferrari. It was practical, too, with the relocated radiators liberating more space for luggage in the wide nose when the proud owner was planning a quick trip for two across Europe.