Ruben van Praagh's Ferrari Testarossa Page

Ruben van Praagh's Ferrari Testarossa Page

Ferrari Testarossa: Pininfarina never exceeded this!

ABOUT THE TESTAROSSA

What I think of the Ferrari Testarossa is probably beginning to become clear in your mind, but I'll explain further anyway. The Testarossa Link will give you all the information you need on the technical side of it. However, it does not explain my fascination with the car.
Why the Testarossa?
Four design factors that make the Testarossa so beautiful
Facts about the Testarossa that you may be unaware of

The Testarossa to me is the most beautiful car in the world. I don't consider it the best, because there are many BMW's and Mercedeses that are built much better. It's not horsepower either- I would go for a McLaren or an XJ220 then. Nor is it Ferrari, for I could then have better picked one of the GTO's, the F40 or the Daytona. No, it's the shape, combined with the superb engine in the mid-section. The essence is in four design factors and many on other levels.

The essential design factors are, of course, the 'cheese-scrapers' on the sides, the long nose vs. the short-yet long!- tail, the delicate widening of the body from the front to the rear and then of course the B- and C-bars, with the move from roof to bonnet, so spoiled in the 512TR, leading to a tiny dent in the top of that bonnet.
Of seemingly lesser importance are the huge front window and the covering plate on the bonnet, with the PERFECT third-brakinglight integrated in the American version.

On popular (yet singular) demand, here are some Testarossa-facts:

testarossa comes from the 1957 Ferrari Testa Rossa, a racing model that saw several versions with differing degrees of transparency in the bodywork (sometimes you could see the engine, in others you couldn't) as well as differing degrees of aerodynamics.
Like the original Testa Rossa (litterally: Red Head, Italians put adjectives after the subject), the Testarossa features cylinderheads painted bright red, something which makes the engine look better and has therefore been featured more often again since 1984.
The above implies the obvious: a black Testarossa is NOT a Testanera!
The Testarossa was the actual beginning of what took Pininfarina's Ferrari's through the eighties: those 'cheese-scrapers' can be found on the Mondial and the 348 as well.
As late as 1994, the 512 TR, which almost fully shares its interior with the Testarossa, was praised for being one of the most practical supercars. It was more spacious than any competitor of the time, which included the Diablo and the EB110, as well as the XJ220.
Many people regard the Testarossa as the car of the decade for the 1980's, in good but also in bad senses. It is considered a true icon of its time, unfortunately mainly in the sense that is found to be too extravagant and a toy for the rich boys. Differences of opinion exist between those people and myself, obviously.
The Testarossa was made in different versions. The USA got a different version to the rest of the world, as did Japan and Switzerland. Of course, Japan, Great Britain and several other countries got right-hand drive Testarossas.

The USA and Japanese version had different indicator lights compared to the home-market version.
Testarossas that went to the USA and Japan had a different rear bumper, with larger black rubber bumpers attached to it for legal reasons.
USA, Swiss and Japanese Testarossas are fitted with a slightly different engine.
The USA got cars with different indicators at the sides, including ones at the back.
The decision to change the successful 512 BBi-style was a conscious one: Ferrari anticipated how the Testarossa would be a car that redifined their market position and added a new segment to their line-up.

Also, check out this site with a little more on the car: home.att.net/~ferrari/testaros.htm.
Or try http://195.153.26.160/maranello/models/testa.html for more info on the testarossa, including some technical extra's.

This is probably a 1988 testarossa, as it already boasts the twin mirrors, but still has the single-nut wheels.

This is clearly an early testarossa, with the original mirror and wheels. If a rainy day could give ME two testarossa's, I hereby would call for eternal rain. Too bad reflections don't live up to your expectations. Instead, they just riple when you touch them.

I hope you're not admiring the landscape here, because that just doesn't count.

Now here you can see the spoiler-shape at its best. It looks even closer to the ground than it is. Perhaps, you might think, I could iron my shirt with this car?

Just to put things in perspective, this picture emphasises that the testarossa does understand the concept of 'ground clearance', although Pininfarina did not exaggerate the 'uppy-inny-the-airy' looks of the rear.

The Flash is back! If this doesn't light up the road in style, I don't know what will! It is always interesting to see how Ferrari has managed to, over the years, integrate essentially standard, truck-like lamps into beautiful designs that divert attention from what seems to be the origin of those lights. However, I still think it looks better with the lights down. But please, compare and judge for yourself with these next pictures.

This can see the light of day - any day

But in the dark, I would be found dead with these down. And, possibly even worse, the testarossa would become a used-parts issue.

And now take a look at the interior:

Slide in and relax. Then turn on the engine for some action, airconditioning running but the radio turned off. By the way, black interiors look better on testarossas than light brown or even easily-spoilt white ones.

If I say this car has a fat rear, positively speaking of course, would you disagree?
Please refer to the following pictures before you make up your mind.


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