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1988 Ferrari Testarossa Is Really Rad and It's Today's Bring a Trailer Auction Pick

1988 ferrari testarossa front
1988 Ferrari Testaross Is Rad and Today's BaT PickBring a Trailer

• This 1988 Ferrari Testarossa that's currently up for auction on Bring a Trailer has us overdosing on nostalgia.

• Not only is the Testarossa an '80s icon thanks to the TV show Miami Vice, but the BaT photoshoot has vivid retro vibes.

• This minty '88 Testarossa has just over 5000 miles, all piled up from its 390-hp 4.9-liter flat-12-cylinder engine. The auction ends Tuesday, November 29.

If you waste as much time dreamscrolling on Bring a Trailer as I do, by now you know the vast array of exotic and vintage vehicles can easily blend together unless you're searching for something specific. If I had a dime for every time I saw a Ferrari Testarossa up for auction, I feel like I'd have enough to actually afford one. However, the 1988 example that's currently listed on BaT, which—like Car and Driver—is part of Hearst Autos, caused me to pause due to its wonderfully retro photoshoot.

1988 ferrari testarossa rear
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There's just something about the purple and gold backdrop in the Testarossa photos that vividly recalls the 1980s vibe, a decade when cars were characters as big in American TV shows as the actors who drove them. Who can forget K.I.T.T., the black customized 1982 Pontiac Trans Am from Knight Rider, or the red Ferrari 308GTS Quattrovalvole wheeled by a mustachioed Tom Selleck in Magnum P.I.? And of course, the other ride that epitomizes the '80s is the Testarossa, like the white one Don Johnson's character Sonny Crockett drives in Miami Vice.

All of this automotive nostalgia was stirred up inside me when I scrolled past the '88 Testarossa listing, and I was compelled to investigate further because I wasn't even quite sure what color paint it had. Upon closer inspection, I discovered it wore what Ferrari calls Oro Chiaro Metallizzato (translation: clear gold metallic light blue-green). It certainly wouldn't be my first choice. Then again, what's tackier, er, more appropriate to represent 1980s style than a gold supercar?