If you were a child of the MTV generation, no doubt you popped the collar on your pastel colored blazer, rocked a mullet and dreamed of cruising down the street and picking up girls in your Ferrari Testarossa - just like the guys on Miami Vice. Now, if you've got the cash, that dream can become a reality come this weekend's Mecum auction at Monterey Car Week on California's coast.
In the hit show, Det. James "Sonny" Crockett (played by Don Johnson) and his partner Det. Ricardo Tubbs (Philip Michael Thomas) were undercover narcotics investigators posing as high-level drug dealers in sexy, violent, cocaine-soaked Miami, Florida. After the dramatic and untimely destruction of his Daytona Spyder, and a fair amount of complaining to boss, Lieutenant Martin Castillo (Edward James Olmos), Crockett's character landed the famed Testarossa in an effort to keep up his appearance as a monies crook. The car proved an immediate hit among fans and a stroke of marketing genius for both the show's producers and Marnelle, Italy-based Ferrari.
But its introduction initially was less a calculated marketing move than it was the result of a TK Enzo Ferrari's having a serious bone to pick with Hollywood. As the story goes, Ferrari was incensed that the ride portrayed as a Daytona Spyder actually was a mocked-up Corvette. From a producer's standpoint, such mockups made financial sense, considering that a genuine Testarossa commanded a price tag of $181,000 in 1986, compared to $35,000 for the Spyder. But when Enzo Ferrari himself insists upon you using the genuine article, you do it.
Of course, with a car like that, you've got to take a few precautions. That's why in many of the more dramatic car chase scenes, the "Testarossa" you see is actually a DeTomaso Pantera with a Testarossa body kit. Thanks to its mocked-up stunt double, Crockett's famed Testarossa, hidden away in storage since the show's run ended in 1989, survives today. It boasts a 4.9-liter, 390-horsepowe flat-12 engine paired with a five-speed gated manual gearbox. It recently underwent an $8,000 engine-out service and reportedly has just 16,124 miles on the odometer. It sports cream-colored interior and a period-accurate car phone.
If you'd like to drive home the famed TV car that once graced posters on your teen bedroom wall, don your Wayfarers and head to the Hyatt Regence Monterey Hotel and Spa August 13-15. But be ready to fork out a pretty penny, as this iconic '80s ride could fetch upward of $1 million. In the meantime, let's see your '80s car pics. Post them on the E3 Spark Plugs Facebook Fan Page.
