If you grew up in the ’80s and were into cars, there’s a good chance you had one of two cars (or maybe both) as a poster on your bedroom wall: the Ferrari Testarossa and the Lamborghini Countach. But which was the best in real life?
That’s the question at the heart of this video from 888MF, which pitted a 1986 Countach LP 5000QV against a 1988 Testarossa to find out what they are like to drive on the road.
Although the Ferrari has been driven much less, showing only 8,000 miles (12,875 km) on the odometer, it feels like the car you’d prefer to drive day to day. It might be a little less visually striking than the Lamborghini but it’s a much more mature vehicle.
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With build quality that befits its price tag, a quiet engine, good visibility, and predictable handling, the Testarossa is a remarkably easy car to drive. The gated shifter does take some getting used to, but the rest of it just feels like a normal car. And a good one at that.
The host says he’d be ready to take it across a continent if he had to, something he’d be much less willing to do in the Countach. With somewhat questionable build quality, absolutely appalling visibility, and braking performance that doesn’t inspire confidence, the Countach is a much less civilized affair.
There is an advantage to that, though. On a short drive, it makes much more of an impact than the Ferrari. It’s loud, it’s heavy, and it looks wild. It’s an absolute showboat of a car and if you just want to experience something fun for a little while, it’s peerless.
Whereas the Ferrari is a real grand tourer that you might actually drive, the Lamborghini is more of a showpiece that you use to impress your friends. Today, as it was for the children of the ’80s, the Countach remains, essentially, the automotive poster child of that wild decade that, if you can afford it, you can have in your garage instead of on your bedroom wall.