1980’s icon – the Ferrari Testarossa

For many people, this car is the ultimate 1980’s icon – the Ferrari Testarossa. Styled by Pininfarina, the Testarossa was introduced in 1984, replacing the Berlinetta Boxer. It was named Testarossa as a homage to the 1957 Ferrari 250 race car, and because Testa Rossa translates as ‘red head’, referring to the red cam covers.

To fulfill it’s role as high performance GT car, it has a decent amount of luggage space and a roomy, comfortable cabin. The 5 litre, flat-12 cylinder, mid mounted engine provides the motivation. 390bhp doesn’t sound like a huge amount of power  in 2016, but at the time of launch it was significant. The distinctive side strakes on the doors are possibly the most recognisable features of the car. Few know they were put there to satisfy legislation in some countries that deemed the openings on each side feeding cold air to the radiators were too large to be uncovered.

This car is part of a private collection, having covered less than 13k miles from new. It is completely original, and judging by the paintwork, had only ever been polished by hand. Whilst the car was in excellent condition, we’d had a chance to inspect it on a previous visit and identify areas of improvement for our client.

Most panels had numerous long, straight scratches, of light to medium depth. There was a fairly even amount of marring and light swirls that were depriving the paint of it’s true achievable gloss. Areas around the badges on the back were looking tired, the paint behind the badges was in desperate need of a polish. The badges themselves were full of polish and wax residue, but thankfully they were easy to remove to clean properly.

The single stage paint, meaning it has no clear lacquer over the colour, was soft and easy to remove most of the defects from. Due to the soft nature of the pigment layer, great care must be taken, particularly near edges. It can be very easy to ‘strike through’, wearing through the colour to the base coat underneath. It is possible to do this just by hand polishing too vigorously, and this was evident in a couple of very small spots.

Suddenly, the paint was starting to look quite different, the Rosso colour looking so much richer with a wonderful clarity and depth of gloss.

It has to be said at this point, a new tool recently purchased was absolutely perfect working on this car. The Rupes iBrid Nano is a battery powered polisher, and as can be seen in the photograph, is quite tiny to aid with access to awkward areas. In this instance, it was perfect for polishing between the side strakes on the doors. It has interchangeable heads, allowing the user to choose from either dual action random orbit set up with 3mm or 12mm throw, or a straight forward rotary head. As with all Rupes tools, it’s well made and the design has been carefully considered. We continue to invest in the best tools available, to help us deliver the best results possible.

The light weight magnesium wheels were carefully removed and thoroughly cleaned to remove any sign of dirt or contamination. Whilst off the car they were sealed for protection, then refitted paying special attention to the correct torque value for the wheel bolts. Like most Ferrari’s, they are tightened to a relatively low torque value, but this must be observed for safety.

To finish, the car was waxed using Swissvax Utopia, an extremely high grade carnauba wax offering excellent durability and show car levels of gloss. The engine was dusted and dressed, and inside the car, the Crema leather gently cleaned.

As always, we cherish the opportunity to work on such a beautiful car. If you would like to discuss a similar treatment for yours, please get in touch with us by clicking here.