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Did Ferrari Just Ruin One of Its Most Iconic Nameplates?

The Prancing Horse has revived a legendary 1980s model — it doesn’t look like anything you remember.

Rear view of a red Ferrari SF90 Stradale showing the dual exhaust pipes, rear spoiler, fuel cap, rear wheel with five-spoke rim, and the Ferrari logo on the back. The car is parked on an asphalt surface.Ferrari
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By Gray Van Dyke

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The Ferrari Testarossa is one of the most legendary nameplates in the Prancing Horse’s legacy, renowned worldwide for its distinctive wedge shape and unforgettable pop culture presence.

Quintessentially ’80s in design, the model defined an entire decade — for many up-and-coming auto enthusiasts of the time, it was the poster car of choice. 

And now it’s back following a recent trademark. Billing it as a successor to the SF90, Ferrari has resurrected the icon through a thoroughly modern interpretation. 

Red Ferrari sports car with sleek, aerodynamic design parked on a racetrack. The car features a low profile, black tinted windows, and distinctive five-spoke alloy wheels. The background shows a curved, striped concrete wall with alternating light and dark gray waves. The racetrack surface is dark asphalt with bright blue and white painted lines along the edge.
The new Testarossa sticks with Ferrari’s current design language that includes the highly divisive black bar across the front.
Ferrari

While there’s no denying that it boasts some remarkable performance figures, the styling is already proving to be highly divisive. Will the Testarossa’s second coming hurt its reputation?

An ’80s icon, reimagined

Now, Ferrari is hardly the first brand to breathe new life into a nameplate from its back catalog. Remember, Lamborghini previously gave the Countach a revival with the retro-styled LPI 800-4.

Red Ferrari sports car viewed from the front, positioned on a curved racetrack with a modern concrete barrier in the background. The car features sleek, narrow headlights, a black grille, and a low, aerodynamic profile. The sky is partly cloudy, casting soft light on the scene.
Though pop-ups would have obviously been preferable, the low-profile headlights do keep the wedge shape.
Ferrari

However, where Lamborghini’s 21st-century homage showed clear similarities to its namesake, the new Testarossa proves to be a much more liberal approximation.

Ferrari drew inspiration from a number of important models in designing the car, including the Sports Prototypes of the 1970s, the 512 S, the 12Cilindri and the SF90. 

As such, even though it retains the wedge shape and the sharp front end of its forebear, Ferrari’s new Testarossa is more modern than it is retro. Nevertheless, it would have been nice to see some attempt at reinterpreting the car’s distinctive side strakes, for instance, among other recognizable features.

Two Ferrari sports cars parked on a racetrack, one in red and the other in yellow. Both cars have sleek, aerodynamic designs with black accents and visible engine compartments through rear glass panels. The yellow car is a convertible with its roof down, while the red car has a fixed roof. The surface of the racetrack is asphalt with a blue and white painted edge visible in the bottom left corner.
Ferrari is debuting the Testarossa Spider simultaneously, assuming you want open-air thrills.
Ferrari

In any case, if you check the comments section on Ferrari’s Instagram post (or any other launch coverage for that matter), you’ll find no shortage of negativity. Be it the black bar across the front end or the similarities to the SP3 at the rear, many Ferrari fans are finding reasons to dislike the car that don’t even have anything to do with its historical associations.

Among the Testarossa faithful, then, it goes without saying that the design is ruffling some feathers. For all the complaints about the splitter and the tail, you’ll see there are just as many calling for Pininfarina to start styling Ferraris again. 

Silver Ferrari sports car with a sleek, aerodynamic design, featuring a low profile, black accents, and distinctive five-spoke wheels, parked on a smooth asphalt surface under a modern, curved concrete structure.
As was the case with the SF90, there will be an optional Assetto Fiorano trim level for those wanting even more performance.
Ferrari

Highly capable hybrid

Looks, of course, are subjective. So how does the Testarossa stack up from a performance standpoint?

As the successor to Ferrari’s first plug-in hybrid — the SF90 — the model also makes use of a mixed-energy powertrain. Comprising a twin-turbo V8 and three electric motors, it’s rated for a mammoth combined output of 1,036 horsepower and 621 lb-ft of torque.

Red Ferrari 849 Tascrossa sports car viewed from the rear side, featuring sleek aerodynamic design, black roof, dual exhausts, and large alloy wheels, parked on a racetrack with a modern, striped architectural backdrop.
The rear end of the 849 Testarossa is striking and bears similarities to the SP3.
Ferrari

Considering that the engine alone puts down almost double the power (819 ponies) of the most potent Testarossa (which had a V12, mind you) from back in the day, it makes for quite the statement. On the road, Ferrari states that it’ll do 0-62 mph in less than 2.3 seconds before climbing to a top speed in excess of 205 mph. 

Typical of supercars nowadays, it also offers short bouts of electric-only driving, impressive active aerodynamics and infotainment integration for both the driver and passenger.

Interior of a Ferrari 348 with a black dashboard and steering wheel featuring the Ferrari logo, complemented by vibrant blue racing-style seats and blue accents on the center console and door panels. The dashboard includes a digital display behind the steering wheel and a touchscreen panel on the passenger side. The center console has metallic controls and a Ferrari emblem.
Though that center console appears as though it has a gated manual shifter, that’s merely a design item.
Ferrari

It goes deeper

Ultimately, only time will tell what effect the reappearance of the nameplate has on the OG, and whether the modernized Testarossa will succumb to the same depreciation as the SF90.

If there’s one thing that’s for certain, it’s that Ferrari’s history with the Testarossa name goes back much farther than the debut of the iconic wedge-shaped sports car in 1984. This release builds on a long-standing legacy.

Rear view of a red Ferrari 849 Testarossa with a black roof, dual exhaust pipes, and sleek taillights, parked on a paved surface.
Ferrari’s 849 Testarossa carries the spirit of the nameplate into the 21st Century with its ludicrous performance potential.
Ferrari

Italian for “red head,” the name was first used on the 500 TR in 1956 to describe the color of the cam covers. From that point, it went on to signify some of Ferrari’s most extreme, high-performance and legendary racing engines.

As such, the new Testarossa might not echo its ancestor in the same way that Lamborghini’s Countach does, but that’s because it’s not supposed to. Instead, Ferrari’s release carries the spirit of its namesake while continuing to push the boundaries of supercar performance.

About the Author: Gray is an associate editor at Gear Patrol, covering cars, motorcycles and anything else with wheels. When he’s not chasing the latest industry news, he’s probably wrenching on one of many projects. For better or worse, he believes classics make perfectly practical daily drivers.

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