Words by Dionysis Nanos
Imagine the following scenario. You're a big, bad, rich person in 1987 and its time to get another supercar because your Countach is sitting all by itself in your garage. Naturally, you think about getting a Ferrari to go with your big Lambo, but the Testarossa just isn't wild enough for you because the questionable substances you have in your system (cause it’s the 80s after all) are fully kicking in . You're a self made millionaire and you want it to show. That's why you got your gigantic house in the hills after all. So you look around and find out a gentleman by the name of Koenig. More specifically, his name is Willy Koenig, renowned racing driver and one of the few people that had the courage to defy Enzo Ferrari. In fact, his company, Koenig Specials set up shop because Willy Koenig himself was dissatisfied with the performance of his newly acquired 365 BB, compared to the racers he was accustomed to driving. Yes people, we're talking that level of cool.. or that level of clinical insanity depending on how you see things.
Koenig Specials played with every Ferrari model in the 80s but by far the most well known are the Koenig Testarossas. According to Koenig their Testarossas were the cars Ferrari should have made in the first place. Looking at the bare facts, your eyes water and your soul trembles in fear. The "normal" Testarossa, made 390 HP and had a 0-100 km/h (or 0-62 mph) time of 5.3 seconds, which was blisteringly fast for the time. Koenig though, thought that this was just mere walking pace, and so his version of the Testarossa made 710 hp, or 320 hp more than the standard car or better yet, almost the double the power of the standard car, courtesy of two turbochargers strapped on the Testarossa's flat-12. At least the car came fitted with upgraded suspension and steering so you wouldn’t find yourself stuck in a nice comfy 1980s ditch.
Convertible Koenig Testarossa. For the man Tony Montana wished he could become
But of course Koenig thought the standard Testarossa was a bit too bland for his… odd tastes. So he made a bespoke convertible model, with the trademark widebody treatment and a top speed of 198 mph or 319 km/h, and all that in 1989! The convertible was a different challenge all together though, since Ferrari didn't make a convertible Testarossa and so there had to be considerable structural strengthening to the car in order to tame the engine and its face altering performance. But even that wasn't enough for Koenig, who went on to make an even faster variant of the standard Testarossa, which developed 800 hp and had a top speed of 217 mph or 349 km/h. And these are official Koenig figures. Allegedly, since every car was tuned according to customer specifications, the power could reach 1000 hp, if the customer really wanted it. 1000 hp is hypercar territory today, so making that sort of power in the late 80s in what is Retrowave with wheels must have been mind bending to say the least.
In fact, Koenig's cars were made to exact customer specification. The owner of the car could choose bodykits, engine tunes and even completely bespoke interior pieces like steering wheels and seats. The cost of all this excess? After the interior was completely retrimmed, the engine was tuned and ready and the 16-speaker, 1000 Watt Kenwood stereo was fitted, the car cost almost 1.5 million dollars, in today's money. Not cheap, but when you're talking that sort of level of speed and exclusivity it almost sounds like a bargain. Plus you would have the added benefit of looking like the most 80s person in the 80s… if that makes sense.
Interior of a Koenig Testarossa. Note the special Momo steering wheel and the speakers of the upgraded stereo
The Koenig Testarossa then is the ultimate 80s hypercar. Bold, wide, stupidly fast and exclusive to the point that the Countach looks like a base spec Ford Escort from 1984, these cars can go for a lot when they find their way to auction. But that’s okay. It is after all the wildest of the Testarossas.