Classic Car: Ferrari Testarossa

Growing up there was one Ferrari that I had a scale model of. It was a red Ferrari Testarossa. It was one of my favorite cars growing up. The Testarossa was produced from 1984 to 1991, with 7,177 produced. It succeeded the 512BB and was succeeded by the 512 TR and later the 512 M. It was the third to last Ferrari with a flat-12 engine.

I saw the Ferrari Testarossa for the first time at the September 201 edition of Houston Cars and Coffee. It is nice to see one of my favorite cars growing up in person. It is a little wide, but still a stunning car with its side intakes.

The Testarossa is powered by a 4.9L flat-12 engine mounted in the middle, which is paired with five-speed manual transmission. The engine produced 390 hp and 361 lb-ft of torque. The Testarossa goes from 0 to 60 mph in 5.2 seconds and reaches a top speed of 180 mph. It was one of the fastest cars of the 80s. It cost $181,000 when it was brand new in 1989.

The Ferrari Testarossa was featured in Miami Vice. It is playable in Top Gear, Outrun series, Test Drive, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, London Racer series, Super Stock Cars, Project Gotham Racing 2, Smash Up Derby, Die Hard Trilogy, and several other games. To see all the games featuring the Testarossa, check out www.igcd.net. Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear says this car is too wide, but I disagree.

Final thoughts: It was a childhood favorite and is still one of my favorite cars. There are better looking Ferraris than the Testarossa. At the time I wrote this article, a Testarossa is on sale for as low $37,500 on autotraderclassic.com. It is one of the cheaper classic Ferraris and makes a great addition to any car collection in need of a classic Ferrari.

CarJunkie
Photo taken by a camera phone