The new Ferrari Testarossa design has been public for about 48 hours, and the ratio of excitement to rejection on the Internet is simply incredible. Online commentators almost universally hate the car; as for me, I find it rather successful.
Resurrecting a Legend: A Risky Bet
Obviously, any car manufacturer plays with fire when reviving a legendary name. A vocal minority will always be disappointed, and there will invariably be a loud contingent of purists who prefer the old version. Die-hard fans of the original tend to commit to disliking new iterations, no matter their form. But in over a decade of following automotive news, I don’t recall a product as unanimously disapproved in online comments as this new Ferrari.
Heightened Criticism for Maranello
The Ford Mustang Mach-E also sparked polarized reactions at its debut, and I know more than one person disappointed by the new Chevrolet Blazer or Acura RSX compared to their ancestors. But a Ferrari, a car that most people will only admire without ever driving it, invites a much higher level of design criticism.
The Unambiguous Verdict of Online Communities
Articles featuring the car are flooded with negative comments. The coverage by Road & Track and Car and Driver gathered a few more charitable responses, but even the r/Ferrari subreddit seems to mostly downvote the design.
Design Analysis: Tribute or Betrayal?
One of the most frequent complaints is that the 849 Testarossa doesn’t look like the flat and wide Testarossa millennials remember. Which is true, it is different. Although the 80s icon itself didn’t look much like the 250 Testa Rossa (two words) that preceded it.
Modern Styling Elements
If the new car doesn’t have the iconic side strakes, it has its own unique side ventilation, with that vertical black line flowing into an air intake. The black bar at the front, an element appearing on many modern Ferraris, adds a retro-futuristic feel that could be interpreted as a nod to the pop-up headlights the Prancing Horse brand loved.
The rear of the new car doesn’t have the ultra-wide grille or buttresses, but it’s just as dramatic as the old one, with a huge bulge for the engine and width accentuated by spoilers. This latter feature is actually more of a reference to the 512 sports prototype from the late 60s and early 70s.
A Name That Carries Weight
I now wonder if people hate it because they genuinely find it ugly, or simply because they’re not satisfied to see the Testarossa name return on a modern machine. If it had been called something else, would opinions change? The revival of the Lamborghini Countach in 2021 was much better received, but it was also a much more restrained design.
Even as a fan, I concede that “GTO” might have been a more appropriate name to resurrect here. The black line at the front strongly resembles the nose of the 80s 288 GTO. And that car, like today’s Testarossa, had a twin-turbo V8, whereas the old Testarossa was famous for its V12.
It’s understandable that fans aren’t doing backflips to celebrate the triumphant return of a classic icon with this new 849 Testarossa. The controversy is fierce, but the debate over its design is far from over.