Barret-Jackson is offering a Ferrari Testarossa Spyder with a rather significant background for sale at their Scottsdale auction next week. The black convertible Testarossa by Straman, driven by King of Pop Michael Jackson, will go under the hammer with no reserve.
The no reserve bit means the seller has not set a minimum amount. So you could pick the car up very cheap if the bids are all low – which is not likely in this case, given the car’s history. But there are a couple of niggly bits about this Ferrari that might put off true Michael Jackson fans and true Ferrari fans alike. You see, MJ didn’t own this car as such. He just drove it briefly in his 1987 Pepsi Commercial called “The Chopper”. It is also not in original factory state, as Ferrari never made a convertible Testarossa.
This car was converted at a cost of approximately $40,000 – which was a lot in 1987 – to a convertible by R. Straman Company of Costa Mesa exclusively for the commercial. It features a canvas roof and a plastic rear window. Still a highly covetable thing.
If you want to bid on this magnificent V12 Ferrari Testarossa driven by Michael Jackson, we should point out that the car has full service history back to 1998, and it’s been given a major service in 2013 at a cost of $17,680.
Barret-Jackson via Top Gear
