Made famous by the 80’s hit TV show Miami Vice, the Ferrari Testarossa is one of the most iconic cars in the world, and the dream of every young boy growing up in the ’80s. One such young boy was Mr. Croci. After decades of hard work, Mr. Croci was finally able to purchase his dream. Unfortunately, the dream got into an accident.
Undeterred, Mr. Croci began the long process of not only restoring his beloved Testarossa, but also bringing it into the 21st century. With the help Officine Fioravanti, the reborn Testarossa you see here looks like a normal Testarossa from 1984, but it has now been modernized with the latest automotive technologies. Mr. Croci is a clearly a Miami Vice fan because he changed the color of the car from red to white.
The process or restoring vintage cars with updated tech is known as restomodding. California have two of the best known restomodders in the world, Singer and Guntherwerks. Both apply their craft on classic Porsche 911s and finished cars can cost up to $2 million.
While there are tons of restomods for the Porsche 911, there are almost none applying the formula to Ferraris. Officine Fioravanti wants you to know that this Ferrari Testarossa is a proper restomod. It’s also their first restomod, but they’re hoping to do more.
While the exterior doesn’t look too different from an original Testarossa, the Flat-12 engine has been rebuilt to give the supercar an extra 107 horsepower and the redline has been increased to 9,000 rpm. The car was also put on diet and lost 287 lbs.
To upgrade the engine, Officine Fioravanti made new pistons and camshafts that could handle much higher engine speed. The original mechanical fuel injection system was replaced with an electronically controlled system. The powerplant now makes 492 hp.
If Mr. Croci wants to feel the difference between the original output and the upgraded power, he can just flip a switch on the center console. In one position, the car makes the usual 385 hp of a normal Testarossa. Turning the switch unlocks the full 492 hp. Officine Fioravanti estimates the new Tesarossa’s top speed at 201 mph, 20 mph faster than the version from the factory.
To make the restomod Testarossa handle and brake like a modern supercar, Officine Fioravanti modded the suspension with adjustable Ohlins shock absorbers with four settings and new anti-roll bars with six adjustments. The steering now has just two turns from lock to lock, and the Brembo brakes have six-piston calipers in the front and four-piston calipers in the back.
Driving modes are handled by two knobs on the center console. They allow you to select Wet, Normal, Sport, and Race modes for the anti-lock brakes and traction control.
Officine Fioravanti made only a few tweaks to the exterior. The pop-up headlights now have LED illumination for better visibility. The original Testarossa’s 16-inch wheels were upgraded to a staggered setup that has 17-inch wheels in front and 18-inch wheels at the rear. The car’s new exhaust system is made of titanium.
The interior is where the Testarossa Restomod made the most changes. The cabin was completely reupholstered in a light shade of brown leather.
The seats and door panels feature perforated leather, and the original plastic switches on the dashboard, center console, and doors were replaced with billet aluminum switches. A new stereo with Apple CarPlay was installed, as well as a USB-C charging socket.
As a final touch, an old-school Motorola “brick” phone was attached to the passenger side of the center console. It is fully functional and connects to your iPhone via Bluetooth. A set of custom fitted luggage that matched the car’s upholstery was added in the area behind the driver and passenger seat.
Neither Mr. Croci or Officine Fioravanti would say how much the Testarossa restomod cost. However, given that the projects took over a year to complete and seeing how much companies like Singer charge to restomod a 911, don’t be surprised if the bill for the Testarossa restomod comes to over $1 million.
