Vehicle Description
Chassis No. ZFFTA17B000064545
Engine No. 00651
Few cars have personified a point in time the way the Ferrari
Testarossa perfectly captured the excess of the 1980s. Its
glorious, deeply-recessed side intakes, menacing louvered rear end,
and outrageously wide stance were the work of Leonardo Fioravanti,
whose brief was to create a radical yet refined successor to the
365 GT4 BB. Unlike the Boxer which was not sold new in the United
States, the Testarossa was conceived as a world-market car from the
outset and was therefore designed to be a well-rounded and overall
more livable supercar.
Development began with an overhaul of its predecessor's
longitudinally-mounted 4.9-liter flat-12 engine and radiator
hosing, which now pumped out a production car record 380-horsepower
while alleviating the hot cabin conditions of the Boxer. Inside,
Connolly Autolux leather trimmed the spacious, ergonomic interior
which featured air conditioning as standard. The biggest step over
its predecessor and the competing Lamborghini Countach was its
slippery shape which did without a rear spoiler and sported a
sculpted aerodynamic front end. Wide, light-alloy five-spoke wheels
completed this potent package and made room for large ventilated
servo-assisted disc brakes.
Classically finished in Rosso Corsa over Nero leather, this
Testarossa rolled off the Maranello production line in 1986
destined for the European market. It therefore features a number of
desirable cosmetic differences to US-market examples including
white front bumper lights, small round indicators behind front
wheels, no black rear impact bumper, and no passive restraint
seatbelt system. As an early Testarossa example, it also wore the
unaltered Fioravanti-penned design complete with center-lug wheels
and a single driver's side "flying" mirror (fitted on Euro-market
cars through chassis 67079) - the latter likely exchanged for its
current double low-mounted units during its federalization. The
accompanying Carfax vehicle history report's earliest entry
documents the Testarossa entering the United States on 21 July
1986, at which time it also likely received its additional square
front and rear side indicators, as well as an unusual third brake
light not housed within the rear engine cover shroud.
Registered to its first owner, Arthur Damast of Locust Cove, New
York shortly after importation to the US, the Testarossa remained
in his ownership for an impressive 25 years before passing to only
its second owner in 2011. Previous records associated with the
Ferrari note that it had recently undergone a major engine-out
service when it entered the Academy of Art University collection in
2012. For the past decade, Testarossa chassis 64545 has been kept
and exhibited in the Academy's University Automobile Museum amongst
over 150 influential classic and modern works of automotive design.
Today, the car presents in wonderfully original condition and
represents an excellent opportunity to acquire a fine example of a
legendary supercar that defined an era.
