One to Buy: 3rd example built ex-Paris & Turin Motor Show 1984 Ferrari Testarossa
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Unlike some other Italian design houses whose work was often influenced by the latest fads, by the 1980s Pininfarina had long since established a reputation for elegant, classically styled machinery that really stood the test of time.
However, when it came to a replacement for the outgoing Ferrari Berlinetta Boxer, Pininfarina embarked on a rare trip into avant garde territory and in doing so created arguably the most iconic automotive design of the 1980s: the Ferrari Testarossa.
With its elaborately slatted side intakes and tail fascia, dramatically sculpted rear fenders and air-piercing nose, the Testarossa caused a sensation on its public debut at the Paris Motor Show in October 1984.
Today, that very car displayed on Pininfarina’s stand in Paris between October 4th and 14th of 1984 is being offered by Real Art on Wheels in Amsterdam’s Lake District.
Understood to have been just the third Testarossa completed, chassis 53285 subsequently went on to appear at the Turin Motor Show a few weeks later (November 14th to 25th), after which it was dispatched to Japan.
Following its arrival in the Far East, chassis 53285 was sold to renowned racing driver and 1964 Japanese Grand Prix winner, Sokichi Shikiba.
Since having returned to Europe in the spring of 2024, this all original numbers matching machine has been the subject of a major service and must surely rank among the most significant Testarossas in existence.
