Convertible Ferrari Testarossa in Bracknell today
Discussion
Was absolutely knocked sideways peering out of my office window in Bracknell today, around 15:00, to see a grey coloured Ferrari Testarossa convertible - yes, convertible, driving near the town centre.
What a sight.
Does anyone know of the car? Is it genuine or a replica?
Office windows are sealed, so could not hear the engine, unfortunately.
What a sight.
Does anyone know of the car? Is it genuine or a replica?
Office windows are sealed, so could not hear the engine, unfortunately.
Erudite geezer said:
Was absolutely knocked sideways peering out of my office window in Bracknell today, around 15:00, to see a grey coloured Ferrari Testarossa convertible - yes, convertible, driving near the town centre.
What a sight.
Does anyone know of the car? Is it genuine or a replica?
Office windows are sealed, so could not hear the engine, unfortunately.
wasn't this one was it?What a sight.
Does anyone know of the car? Is it genuine or a replica?
Office windows are sealed, so could not hear the engine, unfortunately.
https://youtu.be/hylCPChUWd0
nyxster said:
I do believe this could be the very same car.Would love to learn more, if the owner is on here.
Same one as driven on The Smoking Tyre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVCJr77qfJ0&t=...
That ratarossa is really interesting, a nice find for the owner!
According to this article by Catchpole for evo, the only genuine one built was for the old boss of Fiat, Gianni Agnelli....
https://www.evo.co.uk/ferrari/18239/the-story-of-t...
Doubt it would be driven around in normal use though if it's a Concours de Elegance car.
According to this article by Catchpole for evo, the only genuine one built was for the old boss of Fiat, Gianni Agnelli....
https://www.evo.co.uk/ferrari/18239/the-story-of-t...
Doubt it would be driven around in normal use though if it's a Concours de Elegance car.
It was built for parent company Fiat's boss Giovanni Agnelli. He had several one-off vehicles made by his companies, such as the Lancia Integrale Spider and cut-down 360 shown here. Seems like he preferred silver cars to red!
These specials would make a good basis for a book. I can't imagine he got to drive them much.
It was popular to chop exotic coupés back in the 1980s, because they thought it would make them worth more. Understandable if a car had maybe been rolled, but not on an undamaged vehicle.
I remember reading an article in one of the UK classic car magazines about the American Ferrari Owners Club concours. Originality was everything and a guy with a chopped Daytona Spider and another with an incorrect shade of yellow 275 GTB/4 were told to park in a far corner of the field, well away from the original vehicles on display. And this was 30 years ago!
These specials would make a good basis for a book. I can't imagine he got to drive them much.
It was popular to chop exotic coupés back in the 1980s, because they thought it would make them worth more. Understandable if a car had maybe been rolled, but not on an undamaged vehicle.
I remember reading an article in one of the UK classic car magazines about the American Ferrari Owners Club concours. Originality was everything and a guy with a chopped Daytona Spider and another with an incorrect shade of yellow 275 GTB/4 were told to park in a far corner of the field, well away from the original vehicles on display. And this was 30 years ago!
LotusOmega375D said:
I remember reading an article in one of the UK classic car magazines about the American Ferrari Owners Club concours. Originality was everything and a guy with a chopped Daytona Spider and another with an incorrect shade of yellow 275 GTB/4 were told to park in a far corner of the field, well away from the original vehicles on display. And this was 30 years ago!
Supercar Classics 
Still have that mag and love that article - especially the part about the hermetically sealed Daytona wheels and owners of the prototype 250TR.
348jeff said:
A slightly smarter one at the Ferrari Design Exhibition last year. IIRC it was a factory customisation for some bigwig in management.
That was a beautifully curated exhibition …. but somehow or other I must have managed to miss the area in your photo 
.Here's another 'silver' one
:
Erudite geezer said:
Was absolutely knocked sideways peering out of my office window in Bracknell today, around 15:00, to see a grey coloured Ferrari Testarossa convertible - yes, convertible, driving near the town centre.
What a sight.
Does anyone know of the car? Is it genuine or a replica?
Office windows are sealed, so could not hear the engine, unfortunately.
What a sight.
Does anyone know of the car? Is it genuine or a replica?
Office windows are sealed, so could not hear the engine, unfortunately.
Thats my TR spider ....otherwise known as Ratarossa.
If you are in Bracknell area you are welcome to pop over (I'm in Binfield) and I'll take you out for a spin in it.
Since filming the smoking tire video in it I have fitted Peters old exhaust with some straight thru pipes and it now sounds bloody epic.
Theres some videos ....sadly I can't post any links as my build threads on PH and posts keep getting removed and me banned due to links to my YT channel.
348jeff said:
A slightly smarter one at the Ferrari Design Exhibition last year. IIRC it was a factory customisation for some bigwig in management.
That is the rarest of all Testarossa's!Not only was it a factory spider (rare in itself, but the Sultan of Brunei had Ferrari/Pininfarina make him five spiders), but it was also the only manual/semi-automatic Testarossa ever made!
Gianni Agnelli, owner of the Ferrari company (so the biggest "wig" there was in the company!
), had gearbox manufacturer Valeo modify the car so it could be driven as a standard manual, with three foot pedals, or at the touch of a button, the clutch pedal retracts upwards, and the gears are changed when the gear lever is moved.Basically, when the gear lever is moved to go into gear, a sensor detects the initial movement and pull the clutch in automatically. Then, as the lever slotted into gear, a second sensor detects it and the clutch is automatically let out again to engage drive. This was all done due to Agnelli having a leg injury from a car crash in his younger days, that made it difficult for him to manage the heavy clutch on the car.
Assuming that was a collection of Agnelli's personal cars, the F40 in the background will be the only one ever made with a Valeo semi automatic gearbox.
As with Agnelli's Testarossa, his F40 still has a gear lever, and operates the same way as the Testarossa in semi-auto mode, but unlike the Testarossa, there's no clutch pedal in the car, to drive it conventionally.
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