"It was about the 80s, the sexy 80s. It was about excess. Far too much money. Shoulder pads and big hair."
You could argue all day long that the Ferrari F40 or Porsche 959 were the ultimate cars of the 1980s. Maybe they were. But as far as perfectly embodying that era and its values, I think the Ferrari Testarossa is the one that takes the cake.
That doesn't mean it was just a show pony. Far from it. The Testarossa had the power and noise to back up its vulgar, sophisticated looks, power that came from a 4.9-liter flat-12 engine. It was a hell of a performer in its time and probably no slouch today.
In this latest (free!) episode of /DRIVE, Ferrari expert and former racer John Pogson recounts his experience with the Testarossa. There's a tunnel run about 3:20 in that's just pure noise and pure sex.
A crazy car from a crazy decade indeed.