Copart should not be looked at as a serious car buying resource for most humans. Then again, what if a car decision could be made there that’s unfathomably dumb and incredibly amazing at the same time—not to mention super cheap? There’s a salvage-title Ferrari Testarossa there right now, and it’s sending my mind to dark places.
I’ll readily admit to not being a Ferrari man. Most of the Italian brand’s cars do very little for me, personally—they’re expensive, unreliable and generally driven by monsters. But I have eyes and was born in the 1980s, so I have a deep and abiding love for the 12-cylinder Testarossa and its aggressive side strakes, pop up headlights, gated manual and swooping curves. It is a magical car, and hands down my favorite Ferrari.
They’re not cheap, however. Bring a Trailer reports most of them sell for between $75,000 and $160,000 these days, depending on condition.
But this ain’t Bring a Trailer. It’s goddamn Copart, where wrecked, flooded and salvage cars to go to die, overseas auctions or become the occasional Jalopnik contributor race car. Do I want to do something similar with this 1990 Testarossa? Yeah, man, maybe I do!
It’s not clear what’s wrong with this car from the listing but my guess is damn near everything, especially since from these photos I can’t even tell if it has a gearbox. Also, here’s the damage listing:
Primary Damage: ALL OVER
Secondary Damage: UNDERCARRIAGE
Oh, good! ALL OVER and then UNDERCARRIAGE. Maybe the seats are nice?
So clearly, this thing has been trashed. The front valence is broken and hanging off. The entire rear end is a mess. None of the panels fit together great. There’s exposed wires hanging out of the center console. And I’ve... definitely seen some better-looking Ferrari engines in my day!
But you know what? This thing is currently going for just $2,350. It has five days left in the auction, but I guarantee you it won’t go for any 80 grand. This questionable heap may be the cheapest way to get into Testarossa ownership, and I think that’s wonderful and special.
Any takers? I’m keeping an eye on this thing, man.
[Hat tip to my man Bozi for finding this bad boy]