Ferrari One-Off

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Ferrari Testa D’Oro by Luigi Colani and Lotec

In the late 1980s, Luigi Colani wanted to build a land speed record car from a Lamborghini, Porsche, or Ferrari and chose a Ferrari Testarossa as a base. Luigi had a history in high-speed engineering and design due to his work at aerospace manufacturer McDonnell Douglas and being a designer for BMW, Asko, Eifelland F1, Rosenthal, Canon, Mazda, and Ferrari. He was so good at what he did that he won the Golden Rose International Prize for Creation and Design for a Fiat he designed. In 1972, he partnered with Eifelland to build an F1 car based on the March 721. This would not go very far, but would create a Bonneville racer based on the Chevrolet Corvette in 1980.

Taking the F1 design and Bonneville design experience, he would take the Ferrari Testarossa as a base for his next Bonneville speed attempt. Luigi Colani was known for his designs with flowing lines and natural shapes, so the original body panels were removed and replaced with new, much less angular designs. With the aerodynamic side of the equation taken care of, the mechanical part was next. For this, Lotec, a German company, was called upon for their history and success in turbocharging Porsches, Mercedes, and Ferraris. Lotec had already made a Ferrari Testarossa, which produced 1000 hp, but they used a Mercedes V8. Instead of swapping the flat 12 for a V8, they kept the original flat 12 and added two turbochargers, producing 1.25 bar (18psi) of boost. This caused the power output to increase to 750 hp at 6400 rpm, and the torque went from 451 Nm (333 lb-ft) to 900 Nm (664 lb-ft) at 5000 rpm. This all went to the rear wheels through a 5-speed transmission. All these upgrades required thermal insulation to be added to the engine compartment. To add this, they lined the engine bay with gold, like how the McLaren F1 did. This led to the name change from Testarossa, meaning red head in Italian, to Testa d'Oro, meaning golden head. With all these upgrades, including lighter body panels, the Testa d'Oro still weighed more than the Testarossa it was based on.

In 1991, Luigi Colani and his team brought the Ferrari Testa d'Oro and three other cars to the Bonneville Salt Flats to participate in Bonneville Speed Week. The Testa d'Oro was piloted by Mike Strasburg and used 235 tires in the front and 335 in the back, which is close to what the Ferrari F40 used. Even with the huge tires, the rear tires had an issue getting much grip due to the loose surface of the salt flats. Even with the loose surface, it still reached a top speed of 340 kph (211 mph), which was enough for a class win. The team felt that they could still go faster and reentered it for the 1992 Bonneville Speed Week without making any significant changes. This time, they would reach a higher top speed of 351 kph (218 mph) with Mike Strasburg driving once again. Still, after this, Luigi Colani was not satisfied. In the next year, the car went through an even more drastic redesign, making it even more rounded and proportions more drastic to the point that you can no longer tell that it is based on a Testarossa. The car, after these changes, would never go back and run on the Bonneville Salt Flats for unknown reasons. The revisions the car went through in the second round included a giant windshield, a huge, rounded front splitter, a blue interior which was a link to Ferrari race cars of the 1960s, and a silhouette that was like nothing else. It was finally sold in 2015 for $1.7 million.