Current Price: USD $80,000 – Source
Auction Ends: Monday, October 27 at 10:05am PT
–
This 1988 Ferrari Testarossa was imported to the US from Europe by a friend of the seller, who subsequently had it modified to meet US emissions standards and converted to convertible configuration by the R. Straman Company in Costa Mesa, California. The car was then purchased in 1989 by the seller, whose 36-year ownership included a 2018 overhaul of the 4.9-liter flat-12 as well as bodywork and a repaint. Finished in Rosso Corsa, the car also features a five-speed manual transaxle, a limited-slip differential, servo-assisted ventilated disc brakes, five-spoke 16” center-lock magnesium alloy wheels, a black convertible top, tan leather interior upholstery, air conditioning, power windows, a radar detector, and a cassette stereo. This Testarossa Straman convertible is now offered with federal approval letters, invoices from current ownership, owner’s manuals, removed exhaust silencers, an accident-free Carfax report, and a clean Pennsylvania title in the seller’s name.
Richard Straman began offering open-roof conversions for a variety of Ferrari models in the 1970s out of his Southern California shop and by the 1980s became a leading provider of convertible conversions for a wider range of makes and models. Conversion of the Testarossa model included the addition of structural fortification to accommodate the removal of the coupe’s roof and the fabrication of a convertible top with buttress-style rear anchor points.
This example is finished in Rosso Corsa and was repainted in 2018 after body repairs performed by Karosserie in Wayne, Pennsylvania, following an incident during which the car left the road and entered a corn field. Work during the project included replacement of the front valance, driver-side mirror, windshield, and belly pans in addition to repairs to several panels. R. Straman Company badges are present on the quarter panels.
Five-point magnesium alloy wheels are secured by octagonal nuts and were mounted with BFGoodrich g-Force Sport tires measuring 225/50ZR16 up front and 255/50ZR16 at the rear in 2018. Stopping is handled by servo-assisted ventilated disc brakes, and the brake fluid was flushed in August 2025.
The cabin is trimmed in tan leather over the bolstered bucket seats and door panels, with black leather covering the dashboard, center tunnel, and door armrests. Additional features include color-keyed carpeting, a gated shifter, air conditioning, power windows, a Whistler Spectrum 2 radar detector, and a Sony cassette stereo with a remote CD changer. The seller notes that attempting to play a CD results in an error message. The air-conditioning system was recharged in August 2025.
The MOMO three-spoke steering wheel sits ahead of orange-letter Veglia Borletti instrumentation including a 200-mph speedometer, a 10k-rpm tachometer, and gauges monitoring oil pressure and coolant temperature. Instruments to the driver’s right include oil temperature and fuel level gauges as well as a six-digit odometer showing 47k kilometers (~29k miles). Approximately 23k miles have been added under current ownership.
The 4.9-liter F113 flat-12 features dry-sump lubrication, dual overhead camshafts on each cylinder bank, four valves per cylinder, Bosch fuel injection, and Marelli electronic ignition. This example’s engine was overhauled by Algar in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, between 2016 and 2018, with work that included resurfacing of the cylinder heads, rebuilds of the fuel distribution heads, and replacement of the pistons, cylinder liners, bearings, and fuel injectors. The timing belts were replaced in August 2025 by Scuderia Performance in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.
Power is sent to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transaxle with a limited-slip differential. Independent suspension incorporates unequal-length wishbones, coilover shock absorbers, and anti-roll bars at front and rear, with dual shock assemblies at each rear wheel. The exhaust system was modified upon the car’s importation to the US in 1989, and a pair of removed exhaust silencers is included in the sale. Various scuffs are present on the underside panels.
The accident-free Carfax report lists an importation date of December 3, 1989, and notes a mileage inconsistency in September 2009.
