CarBrandLogos archive · Ferrari · 1984

FerrariTestarossa

Five side strakes, a flat-twelve, and the widest rear end in Maranello's history.

Photo: Alexander Migl · CC BY-SA 4.0

The story

A defining chapter in Ferrari history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Ferrari Testarossa, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

The car the Testarossa replaced, the 512 BBi, had a serious flaw: its radiators sat in the nose, which meant hot coolant pipes ran the length of the cabin. Ferrari's fix for 1984 was to move the radiators to the flanks, and that decision produced the car's entire appearance. Air had to reach them, the openings had to be large, and safety regulations in several markets prohibited a single unbroken duct of that size — so Pininfarina divided it with horizontal slats. The strakes were not styling. They were the rules made visible.

Ferrari Mythos Front · Gildos · Public domain

Design and engineering

Feeding them made the Testarossa exceptionally wide at the rear, wider than a contemporary Rolls-Royce, and gave it a stance that photographed better than almost anything else of the decade. Behind the cabin sat a 4.9-litre flat-twelve — the name, red head, referring to the crackle-red cam covers and reaching back to the 1950s Testa Rossa sports racers — driving the rear wheels through a five-speed manual with an exposed gate.

Ferrari 512 TR - 003 · Mutari · Public domain

In production

It was a large, heavy, fast grand tourer rather than a scalpel, and it was easier to drive quickly than the mid-engined Ferraris before it. That accessibility, plus the shape, plus a starring role in Miami Vice, made it the definitive supercar poster of the 1980s and Ferrari's most commercially successful mid-engined car to that point. Just under ten thousand were built across the Testarossa and its 512 TR and F512 M revisions, ending in 1996.

1996 Ferrari FX - dk blu met - fvl · Pat Durkin · CC BY-SA 2.0

Legacy

That volume kept values modest for two decades, which is why so many were used hard. Opinion has since turned: the Testarossa is now recognised as the last of the flat-twelve Ferraris and one of the most complete expressions of a particular decade's confidence. The 550 Maranello that replaced it went back to a front-mounted V12 and a considerably quieter shape.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1984–1996

Units built

9,939

Engine

4.9 L Tipo F113 flat-12

Designer

Diego Ottina

Technical specification

The Testarossa, in detail.

Production: 1984–1996; 9,939 produced
Class: Sports car ; Grand tourer (S)
Body style: 2-door berlinetta
Layout: Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive
Engine: 4.9 L Tipo F113 flat-12
Transmission: 5-speed manual
Designer: Diego Ottina, Leonardo Fioravanti, Ian Cameron, Guido Campoli, Emanuele Nicosia at Pininfarina (Testarossa); ill; Pietro Camardella; it at Pininfarina (512 TR)
Assembly: Italy: Maranello
Manufacturer: Ferrari