‘In the second half of the 1980s the Testarossa was virtually a character in the fabulous third series of the TV show Miami Vice, directed by the great Michael Mann, and currently available on Amazon Prime. The plot of the influential series involved a pair of undercover cops, played by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas. To personify flashy 1980s’ Miami, the Johnson character drove a Ferrari Testarossa, often at very high speeds. The iconic TV show played an integral part in the success of Ferrari’s mid-engined supercar.

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‘Including revised variations, almost 10,000 cars in total were produced, making it one of the most mass-produced Ferrari models. Premiered at the 1984 Paris Auto Show, the Testarossa was a two-door coupe with a rear-mounted, five-speed manual transmission which added to the drama of driving this exotic Italian vehicle, a stunning piece of Italian ingenuity with great agility thanks to its aerodynamic shape. The car’s rear mid-engine design – with the engine between the axles but behind the cabin – kept the center of gravity in the middle of the car, increasing stability and improving the car’s terrific cornering ability. The Ferrari Testarossa had a 4.9 liter longitudinally-mounted, 180-degree flat-12 engine. It managed to hit 0-60 in 5.2 seconds while top speed was rated at 180 MPH, insane figures even by today’s standards let alone the 1980s.

‘For the 1992 model the Testarossa was re-engineered and introduced as the 512 TR (an abbreviation of course of Testarossa). After further developments – 1994’s F512 M, for example – the Testarossa was faded out in 1996 to be replaced by the front-engined 550 Maranello grand tourer.

‘I always imagine Ferrari Testarossas being housed in the most luxurious, air-conditioned garages – with Persian rugs for them to lie down on and perhaps even with their own swimming-pool in which the car can take an early morning dip.

‘Of course my ears perked up, because when somebody mentions they have an older Ferrari you never know what you’re going to find.

‘So I went over there.

‘At first I could hardly see the car for all the other stuff in the garage.

‘But when I got a close-up it turned out to be a 1989 Ferrari Testarossa. But it hadn’t been driven for a very long time. As you could tell from (A) The fact that the car only had 30,000 miles on it; (B) There was so much dust on it I couldn’t at first tell with certainty what color it was. It turned out to be nero, Italian for black.

‘The car, however, seemed in terrific shape. And I could tell from the copious receipts that it had been truly cared for: one bill alone came to almost $10,000.

‘The owner was gathering together his money to buy some real estate so the car had to go.

-Alex Manos, Owner