Coys Auction - Fine Motor Cars
Blenheim Palace,
Woodstock,
Oxfordshire OX20 1PX

Saturday 5th July 2008 at 14.30

Ferrari''s contemporary rival to the Lamborghini Countach, the Testarossa (as opposed to its Fifties sports-racer of the same name) was a very high performance machine with striking Pininfarina aluminium coachwork. Wide and purposeful, with flared arches and wide slats a prominent feature of its flanks together with a high sweeping tail designed for negative lift, rear lights covered by a black full length grille, a low sleek bonnet and long door mirrors sprouting like periscopes, its design cleverly integrated aerodynamics with aesthetic appeal, and appeal it did, 37 orders being taken on its launch at the Paris Show in October 1984.

At its heart was a lighter version of the alloy quad-camshaft flat 12 cylinder, 4,942cc engine of the 512BB, complete with dry sump lubrication, four valves per cylinder, fuel injection