FERRARI

Testarossa

The Ferrari Testarossa was unveiled at the 1984 Paris Motor Show as the successor to the Berlinetta Boxer, and it instantly became the poster car of the decade. Its name, meaning "redhead" in Italian, revived a famous racing badge from the 1950s and referred to the red-painted cam covers of its engine. Styled by Pininfarina under Leonardo Fioravanti, the Ferrari Testarossa was defined by its dramatic side strakes, the deep horizontal slats feeding air to the side-mounted radiators that gave the car its enormous width. Behind the cabin sat a flat-12 engine, a 4.9-litre 180-degree V12 producing around 390 horsepower and driving the rear wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox, enough to push the Ferrari Testarossa beyond 290 km/h. With its mid-rear layout the weight balance favoured the rear axle, giving the car its distinctive high-speed stability and cornering character. The Ferrari Testarossa became a global cultural symbol, starring in Miami Vice and countless video games and pinning itself to bedroom walls across the world. In 1991 it was revised into the 512 TR, and later the F512 M, sharper and more powerful evolutions of the same theme. With 7,177 examples built of the original, the Ferrari Testarossa was one of the most-produced Ferraris of its era, and is today a celebrated and increasingly collectible classic.