The ‘Testarossa’ series was introduced in 1984. Over 12 years it was given a facelift, from Testarossa to ‘515TR’ and then ‘F512M’, which as you know became the final period. But the verdict the original beauty in the design style was ruined is not normal and unusual I think.

Testarossa (1984-1992)

512 TR (1992-1994)

F 512 M (1994-1996)

In particular the front mask of the final F512M is unpopular and at the time criticised from all quarters. In fact it also proved unpopular on the used car market after the end of it’s production. The design suddenly became comical where could only see the image of a Mexican Walking fish, and voices of descent clearly grew with damning criticism.

However, despite this …

… what has happened to these 3 cars after more than 20 years?

For each model with a minimum of 10,000km on the clock, the current price feels something like this.

And as expected, the clear winner proving the most unpopular of all is F512M. On top of that, only the F512M is more expensive than other new cars.

Of course, there are a lot of different reasons at play here; that there are few things good about early test models; or that the level of finish of the final edition was reassessed; that the design was then orientated towards the future without considering any incongruity at a later date; or that, the final edition somehow inspired a lot of beautiful cars that now exist.

But I think the most critical reason of all is

‘production volume’

Testarossa : 7,177 units

512TR : 2,177 units

F512M : 501 units

Nevertheless, the small number means F512M is by far the toughest.

This is probably one truth that can be applied to all antiques and not just cars. Of course, due to them also being made for 8 years, the number of F512M an 512TR produced were almost the same for about 2 years. More than 2,000 units of 512TR were produced, whereas due to the strange design and unpopularity, the F512M was limited to 500.

Therefore, it could also be said the vehicle has the highest asset value. In spite of the F40 being having 1,300 units made, there were only 500 F512M produced.

Of course, only having a few doesn’t mean an increase in price. That is natural. If there are no buyers an increase in price would also unexpected. But when the market began looking, these few remaining models became strong.

This car is interesting because of all these different things, don’t you think?