Now’s Your Chance To Own A Stupidly Rare 800bhp Ferrari Testarossa

It's not every day that a piece of tuning history comes up for sale. If you want this custom made piece of automotive marmite you'll need to make your way to Silverstone Auctions on 20 May

Neil Winn

28 Apr 2016

Now’s Your Chance To Own A Stupidly Rare 800bhp Ferrari Testarossa

Before the likes of Gemballa, Novitec Rosso and Tech Art hit the scene there were very few dedicated supercar tuners. One of the very first was ‘Koenig Specials’, founded by a successful amateur racing driver Willy König. König campaigned a number of Ferraris at Le Mans and in various hillclimb events across Germany.

Predictably, like all racers, König wasn’t content with the performance of his stock road cars. In 1974 he completely re-worked his personal Ferrari 365 GT4 BB, impressing a good number of Ferraristas. He was quickly inundated with orders, leading him to establish Koenig Specials.

One of the reasons König was such a legend in tuning car circles was that he modified his cars from the ground up; nothing was left untouched. This approach was best demonstrated by the company’s 1987 Ferrari Testarossa Koenig Competition Evolution. Already a potent supercar, the 4.9-litre, 390bhp flat-12 engine was completely reworked to produce a scarcely believable 800bhp.

And the modifications didn’t stop there. To contain this newfound power the car was treated to new anti-roll bars, a widened track and a new body to help improve downforce and cooling.

The car was then sent back to Koenig by its second owner in 1996 for further aesthetic upgrades. Namely, to have the front and rear ends of the car replaced with Ferrari 512M fascias. The finished result is certainly divisive, but you can’t question the craftsmanship that went into producing this limited run special.

For those interesting in purchasing this piece of tuning history you’ll be pleased to know that the car has received a clean bill of health from Ferrari specialists DK Engineering. Granted, it does have 28,850 hard miles on the odometer, but it is reportedly one of only 21 made. A pre-action estimate puts the car at somewhere between £115,000 and £130,000. Reasonable, for such a rare beast.

The Testarossa Competition Evolution will be sold to the highest bidder at Silverstone Auctions on 20 May.