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1988 Ferrari Testarossa Coupe. Stunning, Very Rare Example. No Reserve! on 2040-cars

US $65,000.00
Year:1988 Mileage:26060
Location:

United States

United States
Advertising:

1988.5 FERRARI TESTAROSSA COUPE.  Classic Red over Camel Hides.  Very low mileage, well-maintained example. 

 

This is a spectacular opportunity to acquire an incredible example of one of the world’s iconic Italian supercars in superb condition.  A rapidly appreciating Testarossa, specifically a 1988 mid-year model when the wheels and many other upgrades were introduced, this special example features the ideal Ferrari livery combination: Red, Tan, Black (obviously standard Testarossa dashes were chocolate brown).  Years ago, the current owner spent three years seeking out this ideal combination worldwide until finding the ideal, well-maintained vehicle to add to his/her collection.

This Testarossa is owned by a significant private collector in the Mid-Atlantic and has been his principal driving classic for years.

As is obvious in the photos (all of which were taken in advance of this listing on June 28, 2014), the car is in extraordinarily straight condition.  It has been aggressively maintained without concern at expense throughout the owner’s tenure. 

As you would expect:  The vehicle starts instantly and performs flawlessly.  The leather headliner is perfect, the high performance tires have ca. 90% remaining: Note tire nobs still visible in the photos.

No hangar queen, this vehicle is driven biweekly and has never been on a track for any reason to the seller’s knowledge. 

Despite the vehicle’s amazing condition, seller classifies it as technically a driver given ever slight signs of age of the vehicle, evidenced in the photography.  Among items, the car does have things like flawlessly matched road chips, very minor wheel scuffs, and leather scuffs/dash edging that betray to a judge or collector it’s not a 2014 model.  That said, all photos in this listing were taken on an unforgiving sunny afternoon to betray any flaws.  Obviously they are few and hard to identify. 

The car is stunning and is photographed at almost every stop light by adjacent drivers.   It is far and away the most attention grabbing automobile, Ferrari or otherwise, that seller has ever owned.

Should prospective buyers wish to see or inspect the vehicle, seller can arrange for the vehicle’s transport and mechanical inspection (fully at the prospect’s sole expense) in the care of one of America’s very few Factory-authorized Ferrari Master Mechanics.  Because the vehicle is currently at a secure, second home private location with armed security, there will be no inspection on other terms.  As a policy, seller does not allow test drives of any collection vehicle.  Thank you for your interest.

Of course this vehicle includes Ferrari tools, books, and records to include original window sticker copy from Walnut Creek Ferrari, California ($135, 050.00 USD).

WHY THIS CAR?

This car model is an extraordinary piece of automotive history.  It is an iconic, stunning design with shapes and curves that still stop the seller in his tracks years into his ownership.  The side grills, feeding separate engine banks, still amaze and their graceful slope make the car smoother and smoother as the car speeds up.  Kids and folk in the forties and fifties still ask if they can take their photo with the seller at every fuel stop.  For some reason, this car model has come to embody the supercar of the 1980s, without the ergonomic and mechanical baggage that many of us have experienced with other Italian supercars of the same period. 

The Testarossa market is indeed showing life and this vehicle likely well represents a credible opportunity to secure a position in that rising market.  Unlike the early and later eight cylinders, the Testarossa remains the most affordable largely handcrafted twelve cylinder Ferraris.  With a tubular frame, it is also a relatively advanced and straightforward design with modern adaptations beyond the achievements of the Boxer Series.  This example will flourish and allow the next owner to enjoy and drive the vehicle a great deal during this appreciation phase before exiting, in many years, with a still-low mileage, clean and perfectly optioned example.

SERVICE STATUS:

The car has been aggressively maintained by the current owner by factory trained mechanics throughout his tenure.  An experienced Ferrari collector, the vehicle has been maintained constantly without price being an object.  In preparation for the listing, the vehicle had a typical annual service and what he refers to as biannual private sorting, e.g. perfect fresh battery, fresh dual window switches, fluid services, etc…  (Done by Competizione’s Master Ferrari Mechanics the week of 23 June 2014).

As mentioned above, the vehicle is driven usually at least biweekly and has no storage/idling issues common to virtually every other Ferrari that is only stored, polished and shown.  It is driven and used and in tremendous mechanical repair as a result.

Of course the vehicle had a full engine out (30k service) and clutch replacement service at Ferrari of Washington at 20560 miles (5500 miles ago).  Seller is aware of no outstanding service needs.  As obvious in the photos, the engine bay is extremely straight and clean.  (Note that the original flaking foam deck lid insulation is long gone.  Lid lighting cables have been wrapped and protected in aviation grade heat sheathing.

Seller would embark instantly on a coast to coast drive in this vehicle from the garage without either hesitation or preparation of any kind to the vehicle.

TERMS:

This is indeed a NO RESERVE AUCTION.  Seller intends fully to honor any authentic bids made. 

To prevent any misunderstandings:  Please ask any questions in advance.  Seller is a very private party and not a car dealer;  Unfortunately please ask any and all questions before bidding as any deal is fortunate, but final.  Assume there is nothing beyond the photographed.  Buyer must provide for a significant deposit within 48 hours and payment in full by cashier check, certified funds or wire transfer within seven calendar days.  If you cannot afford the vehicle, please do not bid.  If the successful bidder fails to meet any term, seller will immediately issue a second offer to the next fortunate bidder.

This will be an extraordinary addition to any collection.  There are lots of clean, strange colored TRs on the market or others that were inappropriately cared for during their lives.  If you know the market and these cars well, you’ve likely already realized this is a special vehicle.

Heartfelt thanks for your interest.  Best of luck in your own auto pursuits and adventures….whatever they may be!

Auto blog

Gary Cooper's 1935 Duesenberg SSJ fetches record price at Pebble Beach

Mon, Aug 27 2018

The 1935 Duesenberg SSJ formerly owned by Gary Cooper sold for a jaw-dropping $22 million over the weekend at the Gooding & Co. Pebble Beach auction, setting a record for the most valuable pre-war car ever sold at auction. It also appears to have become the most expensive American collector car ever sold at auction, eclipsing the very first Shelby Cobra ever made, which sold for $13.75 million in 2016. The Duesenberg was also the lone American-made entrant in the list of top 10 sellers, which was crowded with the names Ferrari and Porsche. You have to go all the way down the list to No. 21 to find the next American car: a 1930 Packard 734 Speedster Phaeton, which sold for a mere $1.127 million. All told, Gooding & Co. said it realized more than $116.5 million in auction sales over the weekend, with a whopping 25 cars sold for north of $1 million, an 84 percent sales rate and an average transaction price of $947,174. Clearly this is how the other half 1 percent lives. Gooding & Co. said there were five world-record sales at the auction. Joining the Duesenberg were a 1955 Ferrari 500 Mondial Series II, which sold for $5.005 million; a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta, $6.6 million; a 1967 Ferrari 330 GTC Speciale, $3.41 million; and a one-of-two 1966 Ferrari Dino Berlinetta GT, $3.08 million. Oh, and that 1969 Ford Bronco test vehicle we told you about? The one that was rebadged by Holman & Moody as a Bronco Hunter? It sold for $121,000, which was well below the expected range of $180,000 to $220,000. Perhaps it was the presence of all those gorgeous Porsche Spyders and Ferraris that meant collectors weren't interested in boxy, utilitarian off-roaders. View 24 Photos Gooding and Co. had expected the convertible Duesenberg coupe to go for more than $10 million. It was one of only two of its kind built by Duesenberg — the other having gone to Clark Gable — with a specially shortened, 125-inch wheelbase and a supercharged straight-eight with double overhead cams, able to produce around 400 horsepower and a top speed of 140 miles per hour. It features a lightweight open-roadster bobtail body produced by LaGrande out of Connersville, Ind. The car was also owned at one point by race driver Briggs Cunningham.

2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale

Wed, 28 May 2014

I wasted my last hour with the 2015 Ferrari 458 Speciale pacing the polished concrete floor of Home Depot. My quest was to find an industrial-strength adhesive that would permanently bond me to the bright-red Italian's carbon-fiber racing seat. At that moment, I was determined to spend the rest of my life with this Ferrari - glued behind its F1-inspired steering wheel - selfishly dismissing trivial matters like eating, bathing and all future interaction with my wife and kids.
After reviewing literally hundreds of exceptional vehicles, many considered the finest enthusiast offerings each automaker has to offer, I had finally found my mechanical soulmate - the limited-production 458 Speciale. I somehow became convinced that cementing myself within its spartan cabin would ensure that our love affair would never end. My plan was ingenious, assuming the hardware store still had a large bottle of Gorilla Glue on the shelf.
Simply put, there is no better way to start a weekend than with a gassed-up Rosso Corsa Ferrari 458 Speciale parked in your driveway and instructions to "Enjoy!"

New BBC Top Gear season is off to a great start

Mon, Mar 6 2017

The past few years have been very demanding for Top Gear fans. The Jeremy Clarkson Top Gear got too big for itself, and the core quality of the series degraded as stunts and jokes gradually became more and more stale. Things came to a head with the Fracasgate, with Clarkson punching a producer in a very nice hotel in Yorkshire with a very nice brass plaque commemorating "The End of Clarkson's BBC Career". Fast forward to a year ago, when the BBC produced a new series of Top Gear, with famed breakfast show person and shouting enthusiast Chris Evans hosting. Laden with personnel and curiously lacking any direction, the first new season collapsed onto itself with Evans eventually quitting the entire shindig. After that, viewers received a new, Amazon-produced Clarkson-Hammond-May series called The Grand Tour, which was often brilliant and just as often hampered by writing as hackneyed as the last Clarkson years of Top Gear. Now the slate is clean. Evans is gone. The first Grand Tour season has aired. The BBC has had a good long time to re-evaluate its strategy. And the first episode of this season's Top Gear has aired in the UK - and will air March 12 on BBC America. Your first extended look at all new #TopGear, coming 5 March. See you there pic.twitter.com/lYoYOtrWxR — Top Gear (@BBC_TopGear) February 23, 2017 What an improvement! It seems like the producers have taken an ax to everything not strictly necessary for making a great car show, and they've left what is absolutely crucial. There are the three car guys, Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris and Rory Reid. There is a new studio. There is a new track car. There is a celebrity, but it's not painful to watch. There are easy jokes, there are car jokes, there are Ronin jokes. Ronin jokes! It's as if Harris, by dissecting continuity errors in the 1998 film's BMW chase, is reaching out to us fans, saying he's one of us, and he did notice the wrong wheels when the black BMW falls from the bridge. (Other mistakes are wrong-colored tach needles, for instance.) The first car film is a quality Ferrari FXX K piece, with Harris enjoying one of the 40 built track-day specials on the bankings of Daytona. It's remarkable it was Harris who was allowed to drive the exclusive Ferrari, as the first "outsider" (in his words) to drive one; years ago Harris was one of the most vocal critics of Ferrari's practices, resulting in him getting banned from driving press Ferraris. But then again, this is a customer car.