Who can avoid the temptation to simplify decades as if they were easily understandable? Although it is generally more complex, the Ferrari Testarossa is still synonymous with the eighties. With its low nose, striking side fins and wide hips, Pininfarina, Ferrari's design collaborator, not only captured the spirit of the age, but intensified it. The new car, whose name is a shortened version of an old and famous model, made its world debut at the Lido, the cabaret on the Champs-Élysées, before the 1984 Paris Motor Show, being more than a Ferrari, a pure spectacle.
The Testarossa, the most recent member of Ferrari's renowned 12-cylinder lineage, is considered one of the greats in the automotive sector. All these cars are connected, and the Testarossa continued the legacy of the 365 GT4 Berlinetta Boxer and the 512 BB. It received a new injection system as well as an electronic starting system, in addition to four-valve cylinder heads that allowed its 5-litre, 12-cylinder flat engine to generate 390 hp. Its iconic design also responded to key engineering needs: the 512 BB's shell was conditioned by its front radiators, which led Ferrari to move them to the sides in the Testarossa. This increased the dimensions of the car (152 mm wider at the rear than its predecessor) and created a design ‘opportunity’. This gave rise to the upward-angled side air intakes, the protective fins, the buttresses and a remarkably flat and wide rear end, which allowed the designers to double the proportions.
It was the apogee of 1980s modernism in Maranello, a car whose almost cartoon-like shape quickly made it an icon of popular culture. In Miami Vice, a replica of the Daytona Spider was used in the first season, and later Ferrari provided a pair of Testarossa Monospecchio for one of the main locations. The new car arrived just a few months after the GTO, underlining the subtle repositioning of Ferrari's top-of-the-range 12-cylinder engine as both a GT and a supercar.
Curiously, by today's standards, the Testarossa is not considered as big or as provocative as it was when it was launched. The seat is comfortable and the non-assisted steering becomes lighter as speed increases. The classic ‘open gate’ gear lever adds drama and character to gear changing, while the modest size of the front tyres facilitates enthusiastic corner entry. However, its high-speed behaviour commands respect, due to the size of the engine, its position above the gearbox and its central configuration.
Estos problemas se abordaron en el 512 TR, lanzado en 1991. Además de
aumentar la potencia a 428 CV, los ingenieros de Ferrari bajaron el
grupo propulsor 30 mm para mejorar el centro de gravedad y optimizar el
momento polar de inercia. También se mejoró la rigidez estructural del
TR y se incrementaron las dimensiones de las llantas y los neumáticos,
lo que ofreció una experiencia de conducción más precisa en general. Las
mejoras visuales eran sutiles, como una nariz retocada y una cubierta
del motor parcialmente negra, pero la estética ochentera inconfundible
no perdió frescura con el avance de la nueva década. Además, era más
fácil de manejar: el motor, más potente, superaba las 7000 rpm, la
respuesta del acelerador era más precisa y la distribución de peso, más
equilibrada.
The F512 M, presented in 1994 (the ‘M’ stands for ‘modified’), lost its distinctive pop-up headlights due to new safety regulations, adopting four round taillights instead. The engine had titanium connecting rods and a higher compression ratio, increasing its power to 440 bhp, while a new stainless steel exhaust enriched the aural experience. It is the easiest of the three models to drive and offered a tactile and rewarding refinement of the mid-engined 12-cylinder archetype. This design gave way to the front-engined V12 format in the 1996 550 Maranello, reconnecting with the 365 GTB4 Daytona.