It’s popular to disparage cars and trucks given the custom touch from a certain era that reflects a style no longer popular. But what if we’re being unfairly cruel to bad ideas executed well? The Ferrari Testarossa is an iconic car today but a revolution when it was introduced in the middle 1980s; as it usually goes, there was a rush to create replicas out of lesser cars to own an Italian supercar on the cheap. The C4 Corvette became a popular conversion target for the infamous “side strakes” that became instantly synonymous with the Testarossa, and this 1985 Chevrolet Corvette here on eBay appears to be one of the better conversions we’ve seen of this persuasion.
Bidding has reached over $10,000 with no reserve which is, frankly, a bit surprising. I think this car deserves that kind of money, but I’m shocked other bidders feel the same way. The rear bodywork appears to integrate cleanly with the proportions of the Corvette nose, and the conversion seems to be fairly heavy on the Testarossa cues. The rear taillight panel is a sympathetic re-creation and the quad exhaust pipes aren’t over the top. The rear wheels are nicely staggered with deeper dish than the fronts, so the original builder put some thought into this build. Of course, the engine still remains in the front, a glaring omission in any Testarossa recreation.
The interior, sadly, isn’t as exotic as the outside, resembling a bone-stock C4 Corvette. The heavily weathered rubber stripping along the door frame tells you that there’s some work to be done beneath that eye-catching exterior and that the cabin will forever be a let-down compared to the rest of the car. The C4 interior is attractive on its own, but it somehow looks too plain to compete with that faux Ferrari bodywork. This is, happily, one of the rare manual transmissions C4, equipped with the unique 4+3 gearbox, which should at least make the driving experience feel like it lives up to the sporting intentions of the bodywork.
The seller claims this Corvette was a barn find until recently, sitting for 10 years before he went through the car and got it running. Surprisingly, the air conditioning still works. He notes that the dash isn’t cracked and he has replaced the digital gauge cluster and steering wheel. The shift knob is awful, but that’s superficial. The tires will need to be replaced due to being old and flat-spotted. The headlights need new motors, and there are sure to be some other small issues that need sorting. The Ferrari Testarossa kit may not be to everyone’s liking, but if you’re going to buy one, at least look for an example that does a half decent job of copying the real thing.
It looks well done, but why was this a thing? Few others come to mind but could never quite wrap my head around the idea of trying to duplicate another car with an inferior car.
Probably because not everyone can afford a Ferrari. But spending 10 grand (back then) on your $25,000 car (base price of the 85 C4) allowed you to have a Ferrari look a like for less than half the price of the real.
Maybe think before asking your snide comments. Not everyone could afford a $100,000 dollar car in 1985. That’s about 250K in 2023 by the way. Can you afford a $250,000 car?
Didn’t think so.
Easy. If you can’t afford the real thing just buy a knockoff.
I agree. Why drive around in a car that will fool absolutely nobody into believing it’s the real deal.
For those to whom a regular C4 Corvette doesn’t look ’80s enough.
Not too bad for the price, even if it goes up a little. No engine photos.
The last thing a tuned port 350 needs is more weight to lug around.
Finally, a good looking Corvette.
It’s a relatively well done replica, but I gotta wonder how much weight the body kit adds to a car that only started with 240 horsepower. I would never own one, but if I did I’d yank the L98 and either build it with high compression or build it for boost. At least then it would be as fast as it looks. Or better yet, find a wrecked C7 ZO6 and swap the drivetrain and interior, if one HAS TO HAVE a fauxrarri, at least make it as fast as you’re trying to make it look.
It looks very well done. It looks like they grafted a Corvette front to a Ferrari rear. It looks better than the Fiero version, for sure.
From the fenders forward, it looks like a c4 with an aftermarket bumper….can’t think of why.
The back is surprisingly good considering the complete lack of effort (or inability?) to make the front third of the car look anything like a Ferrari.
There’s a part of me that loves these silly, slow, monstrosities, but who would dump this kind of money into something that will only ever fool people that don’t care about cars?
Well now, I like it as it is just a cruiser for us seasoned veterans.. easy to maintain and not a problem to cruise in.