1988 Ferrari Testarossa

This late‑first‑series Testarossa sits at the sweet spot of the model run: it keeps the early single‑bolt monodado 16‑inch five‑spoke wheels yet already wears two conventional door mirrors. The early 1988 model year units were the last to leave the factory with monodado wheels. This example is finished in Rosso Corsa over Crema Connolly leather.

The rear clamshell covers Ferrari’s Tipo F113A flat‑12: 4,942 cc, four‑valve DOHC heads, dry‑sump lubrication and Bosch KE‑Jetronic injection. Factory output was 380 hp and 354 lb‑ft, channeled through a dog‑leg five‑speed transaxle and limited‑slip differential. A July 2023 engine‑out service replaced timing belts and tensioners, ignition components, drive belts, gaskets, seals and filters; ignition modules and the A/C receiver‑dryer were renewed in 2021, and a Tubi exhaust now sharpens the soundtrack while saving weight.

Independent double‑wishbones with Koni dampers, four‑wheel ventilated discs, and those single‑nut alloys wearing BFGoodrich g‑Force Sport tires provide the dynamic envelope that made period testers record 0‑60 mph in ~5 s and 180 mph flat out. Steering and brakes are unassisted, giving the driver the analogue feedback modern exotics often miss.

Cream leather wraps the high‑bolstered seats, lower dash and door cards; a black leather Momo wheel fronts orange‑backlit Veglia gauges to 200 mph, and the iconic stainless‑steel gated shifter clicks through its pattern with rifle‑bolt certainty. Air‑conditioning, power windows and motorized three‑point belts make the cockpit surprisingly livable for a 1980s super‑GT.

The Testarossa’s flat‑12 is the grandson of Mauro Forghieri’s 3.0‑litre flat‑12 that powered the 312 T family to World Constructors’ titles in 1975, ’76, ’77 and ’79. That engine left the grid after the 1980 season—supplanted in 1981 by Ferrari’s new 1.5‑litre turbo V‑6 (Tipo 021) to suit ground‑effect aerodynamics—three years before the road‑going Testarossa debuted.