Those of you who grew up with the TV show Miami Vice in the 1980s will instantly remember Crocket and Tubb's iconic white Ferrari Testarossa, which was given quite a workout during the show's six year run in numerous action scenes. When the series ended in early 1990, the hero car was retired and placed into storage for 15 years from 1990 to 2015. After previous failed sales attempts, the legendary exotic will be going under the hammer at at a Barrett Jackson auction in Arizona, which runs from January 14 – 22.
This 1986 model Testarossa has a 4.9-liter 390-hp flat-12 engine with a 5-speed manual gearbox. Its beige leather interior is well equipped, too, with luxuries including power windows, cruise control and air conditioning, and looks to be in very good condition considering the age of the car. Noticeably, the passenger side mirror is missing, but the low mileage of 16,500 miles on the clock makes up for it. Ferrari's involvement with the show is quite notorious. Originally, the show's lead character Crockett drove a Ferrari Daytona convertible – except it was actually a kit car based on a Chevrolet Corvette. Ferrari didn't approve, and subsequently sued.
To repair its relationship with the carmaker, the show's producers agreed to blow up the kit car in exchange for two Testarossas from Ferrari. These cars were delivered in black, but showrunner Michael Mann had them repainted in white to make them more visible in night scenes. This isn't the first time the famous Ferrari has been available for sale. An eBay auction listed the Miami Vice Testarossa for a whopping $1.75 million, but it's hardly surprising to see it didn't sell at that astronomical price when you could buy a V12-powered LaFerrari for around the same money. It then went up for sale at a Mecum auction, but didn't sell.
This time there won't be a reserve price in this latest auction, so it should finally find a new owner (who ideally owns a collection of brash Armani jackets to complete the look) after being homeless for 15 years. How much do you think it will sell for?
