1987 Ferrari Testarossa
The Garage

1987 Ferrari Testarossa

previous

They will never again make supercars like they did in the 1980s. The Ferrari Testarossa was Ferrari's answer to the Lamborghini Countach, and what an answer it was.

The story

We bought the Testarossa on a Tuesday and drove it to Big Sur on the Wednesday. That tells you everything you need to know about what it does to you. Rosso Corsa over tan leather, flat-12 behind your shoulders, and a gated shifter that demands you earn every gear - this was the car that started everything. The side strakes, the wide haunches, the flying buttress mirrors: it looked like a poster come to life, and then you turned the key and realised the poster had been underselling it. On Highway 1 with the windows down and the flat-12 building toward its crescendo, we understood for the first time what it meant to drive a car rather than simply operate one. We put thousands of miles on it - canyon roads, coastal highways, a few car shows where we barely made it through the car park without stopping every thirty feet - and every single mile felt like a privilege. It passed on to a new home eventually, but the sound of that engine is still with us.

Why we loved it

The Testarossa is the ultimate expression of 1980s automotive excess, but in the best possible way. The flat-12 engine note is intoxicating. a deep, mechanical wail that builds to a crescendo. The gated manual transmission demands your attention and rewards precision. The sheer presence of the car is something else entirely. Everywhere you go, people stop and stare. It's a time machine that transports you back to an era when supercars were raw, analog, and unapologetically dramatic.

Best for

Scenic coastal highway cruising Canyon roads where the flat-12 soundtrack echoes Car shows and concours events Experiencing the golden age of analog supercars

The road is only the beginning.

Membership opens exact routes, full itineraries, road notes, downloadable roadbooks, practical planning tools and the places worth stopping for.

Global opens every territoryOr choose United States, Europe, United Kingdom, Australia or New Zealand