Remember That Ferrari Testarossa Driven By Michael Jackson for an 80s Commercial? This is How Much it Costs Now

It could be said that Michael Jackson is to pop what Elvis Presley was to rock and roll. After all, they were each declared to be the ‘king’ of their particular music genres. In fact, they even shared a rather special connection as Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, used to be married to Jackson from 1994 to 1996.

So, it’s really not surprising that the King of  Pop’s possessions, or even just things associated with him, have continued to fetch high prices at auctions. One of these high-value memorabilia is a black Ferrari Testarossa.

Up For Grabs

The Ferrari car appeared with Jackson in a Pepsi commercial

The vehicle’s ticket to fame is that it was once driven by the King of Pop in a 1987 Pepsi advert. In the commercial, Jackson used the Ferrari as a getaway vehicle in a rather action-filled escape scene where the star was trying to run away from the crowd of photographers and reporters chasing him. It only got a few seconds of screen time but that was enough to make the Testarossa famous because of its association with Jackson.

According to sources, the car was specifically made to appear on the commercial and isn’t actually an official Testarossa Spider. It was made custom by the R. Straman Company in California. The company began by removing the car’s roof to be replaced by a convertible top. The driver’s side mirror was then raised a bit to better stand out from the vehicle’s body lines.

It resurfaced in 2014 at the Barrett-Jackson collector car auction in Arizona where it reportedly sold for $73, 700. The Ferrari was among the many other celebrity cars that went up for sale at the auction. Included in the event are other vehicles like Simon Cowell’s 2008 Bugatti Veyron, Paul Walker’s 2 Fast 2 Furious Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII  and the Hudson Commodore from the 1989 film ‘Driving Miss Daisy’.

Current Condition

The black Ferrari Testarossa is estimated to have traveled a distance of 17,000 miles

Since its television debut in the 80s, the car has reportedly been bought and sold a couple of times over the years. However, whether or not Jackson actually owned the vehicle, remains unclear.

According to Motor 1, the Ferrari received major service from Ferrari itself in 2013.  The same source last located it in Ft. Lauderdale where it was put on the market with a $799,900 asking price, as per a report published in 2017.

MJ’s Other Cars

Jackson’s Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL which he bought in 1985

While the music icon may not have owned the tv-famous Ferrari, he did own a fleet of other impressive cars when he was alive. In fact, he left a garage full of them upon his untimely death in 2009. Although driven exclusively by chauffeurs since the 90s, Jackson bought and owned a wide variety of cars from Cadillacs to Mercedes-Benzes.

One of his most known vehicles is a Mercedes-Benz 500 SEL which he drove for years to get around Los Angeles before his decision to stop driving altogether. The car was eventually passed on to Jackson’s aunt for her birthday. It was then auctioned off at the ‘Music Icons’ auction for $100,000 after his death.