1989 Ferrari Testarossa by Koenig Specials

Willy Koenig started independent tuning operations in 1974 with the first Ferrari 365 BB supplied to Germany. A racing driver of some note in his own right, Willy was friendly amongst the paddock which in turn allowed him to establish intimate links with the professional racing teams, engineers, designers, and development and manufacturing companies.

Right from the start, the philosophy of KOENIG-SPECIALS has been to build the ultimate in sports cars for the road, a synthesis of aerodynamics and design, with exclusive individual interior fittings and optimum driving characteristics, thanks to improved chassis, competition brakes, wide rims and tyres, sports exhaust systems, engine performance values, and, at the customer's request, with turbo, supercharger, or high-performance engines.

The Koenig treatment was not famously inexpensive and as such appealed largely to those in the "have everything' category, however, as the 80s drew to a close and that era of notable excess waned, many Koenig Specials disappeared into private collections and their whereabouts became unknown. It is now increasingly rare for cars such as this to be brought to the market, and consequently, shouldn't be ignored.

This left-hand drive Testarossa was first delivered to Germany and has travelled a, believed to be genuine, equivalent of just 29,000 miles. It sports the timeless colour combination of Rosso Corsa paintwork, with a, largely Nero interior albeit the specialist Recaro race seats with stitched Ferrari emblem dominate the cabin and are finished in red and black trim facing the tactile Alcantara steering wheel.

Despite some early Vittorio Strosek drawings of a Bi-Turbo Koenig Testarossa fitted with '512M' style transparent headlights, the car offered today thankfully retains the original pop-up headlights we've come to admire on the original design. This is a twin mirror example with a slim front-mounted chin spoiler and a surprisingly stylish equally slim rear-deck spoiler, which arguably all TRs could have benefited from. The rear profile, being the one that most other road users will be likely to see, is largely unchanged from the standard road cars with twin exhaust pipes being visible, and the model's famous slatted rear panel still present, albeit there is duel badging with both "Pininfarina Testarossa' and "Koenig Specials' represented.

Fortunately, enough of the original Pininfarina design remains for this to be easily recognised as a Testarossa even though it's wearing a dramatic party frock. The high drama continues with the specially designed Koenig-BBS alloy wheels, studded, and centred with Ferrari logos, which we understand are BBS racing wheels modified for road use.

Offered ready for registration in any destination country, this Ferrari Testarossa is a soundly engineered 'supercar' and a real 'in-your-face' example of automotive sculpture. Koenig cars weren't produced for the masses and this is not a car for a 'shrinking violet', so if you are in the market for a seriously quick piece of Germano-Italian exotica with film-star looks, and don't mind being the most recognised person in town, then this car may well hit the spot.