1/21/20 25/100 Ferrari Testarossa

The final car of the group is the odd one out (like it’s not easy since these are 5-car series) yet is a fantastic one, the Ferrari Testarossa.  Named after the red valve covers it employs a boxer V-12 from the 512 BB in a wider stance with cheese grader sides, and while it does not have the sleek and narrow look like the F40 the Testarossa was a very iconic car of the 1980’s.  Matchbox did a nice job with this casting with some nice early releases, but like the others suffered from the ill-fated Tyco era colors before finally coming back down to normal for its final outing.  The black paint looks sleek on this car with detailed front lights and prancing horse badge, while the rear gets detailed taillights and yet they managed to print the silver prancing horse against the ribbed section in the middle.  The 5-spoke wheels look good here, yet unlike the others do not suffer from the higher ground clearance look (even though the Testarossa has a working suspension, it doesn’t do much with little travel).  On the track the wide car handles quite well and doesn’t upset the car at all, and the new wheels prevent the rubbing on the fenders that was common with the 8-dot wheels of earlier examples.  While not as interesting or highly detailed as some other replicas out there, this Testarossa by Matchbox is nicely done, has the correct wide stance of the real car, and this black tuxedo looks great on this car!

Specifications:

· Engine: 4.9L DOHC flat-12 385 hp.

· Transmission: 5-speed manual

· 0-60 mph: 5.2 sec.

· Real vehicle price: #100,000 est. 1987

Rating:  4.2 out of 5 stars