Portofino

Make
Ferrari
Segment
Compact

If you grew up in the late '80s or 90s, there's a good chance you spent a few bucks playing OutRun at the local arcade. If you were really fancy, you had a Sega system at home and could play it whenever. In any case, it might be too long ago to remember, so here's a recap. It's basically a game where you try and outrun the police in a Ferrari Testarossa Spider with an exceedingly hot blonde woman seated next to you. We assume she was attractive, as the graphics were hardly ground-breaking.

The Ferrari Testarossa Spider the game designers used as inspiration was never a production car. The factory built one for Fiat's brilliantly flamboyant boss, Gianni Agnelli. After that, Pininfarina built seven examples for Brunei royalty and several other clients to whom you simply don't say no.

One of those cars is now up for grabs via RM Sotheby's.

The famous auction house is leaning hard into the nostalgia factor, probably because those who grew up playing the game now have enough cash to splurge on such things.

"The Testarossa Spider is a remarkable car in its own right that attracts the attention of collectors the world over. But the fact that it's also the star of a computer game, which so many people of a certain generation played endlessly through the late 80s and early 90s, was too good an opportunity not to celebrate. Our film is a fun reimagining of the OutRun arcade game that has allowed us to make those 80s dreams a reality," said Peter Haynes, Director of Public Relations and Marketing, Europe, at RM Sotheby's.

This particular example is a one-owner car, which means it was supplied directly from Pininfarina. It was never registered and has less than 500 km (312 miles) on the clock. Recently, the owner spent more than $177,000 getting it back to its former glory.

Pininfarina repainted the car and refreshed the interior, which cost roughly $94k. It then went to Zanasi, where the drop-top was refurbished, and a new clutch and fuel pump were installed. The entire engine was lifted out, taken apart, and cleaned.

Hopefully, the new owner will make more use of the glorious flat-12 engine, which produces 390 horsepower and 360 lb-ft of torque. It's not the most powerful 12-cylinder engine ever, but it sounds sublime. We can only imagine what it must sound like with the roof off.

It's expected to sell for $1.7 million, much more than a brand-new, much faster Ferrari Portofino. But Ferrari's cheapest drop-top isn't even half as cool as this.