Put in your quarters, and use the wheel to choose your car. Use the gas pedal to confirm your choice. Lets see… Jeep, Mustang, Beetle…. OH! A fancy Italian looking sports car! Let’s go with that one, it has to be the best, and probably only for professionals.
In the world of Italian Exotic cars, there are plenty that get attention, but only few that people actually recognize from memory. Today, we are talking about the king of the dream, the Ferrari Testarossa.
In the 80’s Ferrari was looking to improve upon its Berlinetta Boxer. They wanted to make it bigger, better, faster… and most of all, they wanted to release it to the US, as the BB never made it to American soil. In doing so, they took a famous Ferrari name (the 1957 Testa Rossa) and made two words one.
The old BB was known for overheating, so much so that the interior itself would feel like sitting a furnace. To remedy this, Ferrari added a whopping 3 different radiators to keep it cool. Extra space was needed for this and the old BB was a little cramped to begin with so they essentially had to redesign a car from the ground up.
Little did they know, they would be creating an icon at the same time.
Ferrari used a F12 (flat 12) cylinder as opposed to a V12. The flat orientation of the engine provides a naturally lower center of gravity. The 4.9 liter produced a impressive 390 HP. Zero to 60 in 5.2 seconds, and a quarter mile in 13.5 seconds. Not bad considering the many many mundane options of the 1980’s.
The Pininfarina design caught the eye of not only would be customers, but the hearts of Americans as it speed along high speed pop culture.
The Testarossa began is insane popularity on the hit show Miami Vice. This relationship of man and car continued on throughout the years as many prominent celebrities bought and owned Testarossa’s. You can also find the Testarossa on the cover art of much of Kavinskys Outrun album.
From SEGA’s Out Run to Midway’s Cruis’n USA, the Testarossa was specifically featured in over 33 video games. It was included in even far more video games as a caricature, without licensing agreements. However, there is no mistaking the low profile and side strakes.
In TV, music, video games, and real life, the Testarossa will always live on in the psyche of every retro head out there. With $150,00 or so, like Billy Ocean, you can get out of your dreams and get into this car.
