On the evening of 2 October 1984, Ferrari VIPs and the world’s motoring press might have enjoyed a glass of Dom Perignon in celebrious surroundings. As anticipation builds, moments after perhaps discussing the signing of the recent agreement to return Hong Kong to the Chinese—scheduled for the distant future of 1997—the lights go out at the Lido Club in Paris. Amid gasps of surprise, a large plinth lowers from the ceiling, a single beam illuminating what’s poised atop. Moments later, the first glimpse of something radiant in Rosso Corsa is uncovered, Ferrari’s new and transcendent Testarossa.

While these lucky few weren’t the first to savour the straked splendour of Ferrari’s mid-1980s GT—select dealers were invited to Maranello a month earlier—word of mouth from those invited that night, and the subsequent prose that flowed from motoring magazines, helped turn the Testarossa into a totemic titan of its time.

Over the following week, three Testarossas were presented to the Parisian public. One remained at the Lido—immortalised by a photograph, amidst what must have been bemused traffic, in the middle of the Champs-Élysées. The other pair were found across town in the Porte de Versailles, pride of place at the Salon de l'Automobile. Designer Pininfarina placed one proudly, while the other formed part of Ferrari’s own display. The three-pronged approach certainly seemed to work, as 37 orders were allegedly taken during the car’s public debut.

Fast forward six years and this Testarossa lands on the Isle of Man, where it’s greeted by its first keeper, a certain Ferrari driver of some notoriety. Nigel Mansell is recorded on the car’s Warranty Card as the first keeper, taking delivery from Ferrari Deutschland GmbH on 13 March 1990. During that year, when he wasn’t staying at his newly completed Manx mansion, Mansell was racing Ferrari’s 641 in his final season for the Scuderia.

The Testarossa features a commemorative plaque in the door jamb that marks its ownership by Mansell. Furthermore, stamps from Nigel Mansell Sports Cars Limited of Dorset punctuate its early maintenance history in the accompanying service book. It is thought that by the end of 1990, the Ferrari had been acquired by its second owner, with the car then wearing a private registration until 1995. More recently, from 2021 to 2024, this Testarossa has been maintained at the hands of marque specialist Emblem Sports Cars, Dorset. Work included taking the car out of storage, changing the cam belt, removal and refurbishment of the alternator, radiator and starter motor, replacement of brake and coolant hoses, and more (invoices available to view on file). Notes in the service book suggest that the car’s speedometer was replaced on 27 May 1997, at which point the odometer read 8,333 miles. At the time of cataloguing, the replacement unit read 2,269 miles.

Presented in the timeless Ferrari shade of Rosso Corsa and retaining its matching-numbers engine, the provenance of this storied Testarossa will no doubt appeal to Ferrari and Formula 1 fans alike.