The ‘Testarossa’ family was the answer to the aging and flawed design of the prior Berlinetta Boxer; a car that despite its good looks, had a cramped and hot cabin due to the layout of its coolant piping. With origins in the late 1950’s, the Testarossa nameplate started with a series of Le Mans winners, aptly named due to the colour of their cylinder heads. Fast-forwarding to the 1980’s, the Testarossa is revived as a mid-engined, flat-12 flagship grand tourer —designed by Pininfarina under Leonardo Fioravanti and Emanuele Nicosia, sporting the iconic ‘cheese grater’ intakes that would mark the styling of a decade.
Three generations make up this new ‘Testarossa’ family: the original Testarossa, the 512 TR, and the F512 M. The Testarossa started off with a 365/385 hp flat-12, one single mirror, and lock-nut wheels; it was later revised to have two mirrors and five-bolt hubs. This is the car made famous by the series ‘Miami Vice’, finished in white. The 512 TR, on the other hand, was a much more refined update, with a new intake, exhaust, Nikasil liners, and a Bosch engine management system that contributed to up horsepower to 422hp this time. Additional upgrades to brakes and suspension made the 512TR a joy to drive, compared to its predecessor, and a fresh revision in styling made it more integrated with contemporary Ferrari offerings. Finally the F512 M, the final Testarossa iteration limited to 501 units, featured titanium connecting rods, larger valves, and higher compression ration, upping horsepower to 434hp. Styling was once again changed, to feature, amongst its most distinctive features, F40-style open headlamps.
In total, close to 10,000 cars were produced, with 7,177 Testarossas, 2,261 512TR’s, and 501 F512 M’s leaving the assembly line in Maranello. A few cars outside of production were designed as prototypes and one-offs, such as Giani Agnelli’s Testarossa Spider, the Ferrari Mythos, or the Colani Testa D’Oro.
This particular F512 M was delivered new to Cornes Ferrari of Japan, and spent all its life in the Land of the Rising Sun until 2015, when it was exported to Netherlands. With just under 19,000 kilometres, this very original example comes with tools and manuals and up-to-date in service, including a full timing belt service in 2022 and the replacement of both fuel pumps in early 2023.
