[Image Source: Ferrari Club of Las Vegas]

-from Automobiles de Luxe -

By Gunnar Heinrich

Nothing quite like lists.

Lists tend to get the readership revved and make for some interesting tallying. The subsequent discussion, of course, is the best part.

So, when the New York Times' own "Collectible Cars" section published a list of would-be collectibles whose values have plummeted rather than appreciated in the intervening years, you know the discussion could have been good.

Except this was the online section of the old school print edition. Not the Wheels Blog which readers can and do comment on.

So, I'll skip the less interesting cars on the list like the '76 Chevy Cosworth Vega and get to what was good - the Ferrari Testarossa...

-from the NYT-

1985-91 FERRARI TESTAROSSA

The Testarossa was the car to have in the late 1980s, so desirable that it took some luck to find one for sale at its 1987 window sticker of $134,000.

"People were ready to pay $30, $40 or $50,000 over list " to buy one, said John Levy, a sales consultant with Shelton Ferrari in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "The more people saw them go up in price, the more they were willing to pay."

"Then the music stopped," Mr. Levy said, adding that "a good early Testarossa could be had today for around $50,000."
-end excerpt-

I can think of few cars from the 1980s that are now worth more than a $50K Testarossa. The only exceptions that readily come to mind are the Lamborghini Countach and Rolls-Royce Corniche Convertible; fine examples of each can exceed $100,000.

But we must remember that even the oldest Testarossa from M.Y. 1985 is not yet a technical antique. It's possible, nay, likely that with another 10 years added on to the clock, Ferrari's former icon will appreciate.

That having been said, I remember seeing one pristine, tutto rosso Testarossa on the showroom floor of Scottsdale Bentley back in 1999. The dealership was asking $60,000.

[NYT]