For many, the Testarossa is the pinnacle of Ferrari roadcars with its striking looks, midship flat-12 motor and starring roles in movies and TV shows. Still, no car has carried the “Testerossa” nameplate since it went out of production in 1996. Now, though, that could be changing — Ferrari has reportedly trademarked the name “849 Testarossa” about 40 years after the car first debuted.
The move comes following an eight-year legal battle over the ownership of the word “Testarossa” that was finally decided in Ferrari’s favor earlier this month, according to CarBuzz. Ferrari has wasted no time making sure the moniker stays inside the building, trademarking it in Iceland of all places. In all honesty, there’s a lot of weirdness surrounding this filing.
First of all, 849 Testarossa is not technically an extension of the official Testarossa trademark, which remains in effect until the middle of October next year, CarBuzz reports. Also, it was filed with the Icelandic Intellectual Property Office, unlike the Testarossa trademark, which was filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization.
Here’s why Ferrari may have done this, according to CarBuzz:
[Y]ou can forgive Ferrari for wanting to cross all the T’s and dot all the I’s on this one. Although Iceland is officially part of Europe, the land mass straddles both the North American and European tectonic plates. Wildly complicated territorial rights means a filing with WIPO does not automatically guarantee a trademark across all nations, so having a fail-safe ‘849 Testarossa’ in your pocket that runs until January 16, 2035, is no bad thing.
What’s in a name?
To me, adding the 849 to the front of Testarossa makes me think this is more than just a ploy to keep the name in Ferrari’s hands. It follows the general nomenclature of Ferrari model names like the 812 Superfast, SF90 Stradale, and 296 GTB. Adding in those numbers makes it seem far more legitimate. “849” is a little too specific if you ask me.
If there’s one thing automakers like doing, it’s reviving old nameplates in the hopes of feeding on your nostalgia. Ferrari’s main rival, Lamborghini, did just that when it reintroduced the Countach a few years back. Hell, even Ferrari has done it, reusing the GTO nameplate on the 599 to harken back to the 288 GTO of the mid-1980s.
I know Testarossa’s styling isn’t for everybody, and maybe it’s because I’m big and loud, but I’ve always had a serious soft spot for the supercar. I’m just crossing my fingers, hoping that whatever Ferrari does to revive it lives up to the spirit of the original.
