The Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa was one of the most distinctive and successful cars in the automaker’s history. Not to be confused with the similar-sounding Testarossa from the 1980s/1990s, the pontoon-fendered race car won 18 races and three World Sports Car Championship titles, and now, Ferrari has made an official 3/4 scale replica of it. Called the Testa Rossa J, the car will be built in collaboration with The Little Car Company, a UK-based outfit that specializes in fully-functional scale vehicles like this one. The Testa Rossa J will be limited to just 299 examples, and while it can be driven by anyone aged 14 and up, it isn’t road legal.
In terms of design, the Testa Rossa J was recreated from the 250 Testa Rossa‘s original paper drawings. The hand-beaten aluminum bodywork reproduces the original car’s distinctive shape with near-perfect accuracy, and things like the steering and suspension geometry remain true to the original to provide period-correct driving dynamics. Buyers will be able to choose from 53 paint colors to adorn their Testa Rossa J, and can choose between 14 different historical liveries to top it off.
In contrast to the full-size 250 Testa Rossa’s 3.0-liter V12 engine, the Testa Rossa J uses an electric powertrain with up to 90 km of range. The car also features the same Manettino dial seen on Ferraris on sale today, which allows for selection between four different drive modes. Novice mode is meant to ease drivers into the Testa Rossa J’s driving experience, and as such it limits power and top speed to 1.34 hp and 20 km/h respectively. Comfort makes use of the car’s full 5.36 hp, however top speed is still limited to 45 km/h. Finally, Sport and Race modes have full power, but the car’s top speed of over 60 km/h is now made achievable and acceleration becomes progressively sportier as you ascend through the two modes.
As for some of the car’s other parts, its pedals are from the F8 Tributo, the handmade 12-inch wheels ride on real Pirelli tires, and the Bilstein coilover suspension was fine-tuned by Ferrari’s development drivers at the Fiorano test track in Maranello. Pricing for the Testa Rossa J starts at € 93,000 (US$ 110,000), which is an obscene amount of money for an electric scale model that isn’t road legal, but it’s certainly a lot less than the cost of a full-size original.
