Growing up in the 1980s, a time of automotive excess and glorious impracticality if ever there was one, there were a handful of car posters that graced my bedroom walls.
The exotic image of the Ferrari F40 was among them – an unapologetic, fantastical vehicle so outlandish that, in semi-rural Gloucestershire, I might as well have wished to fly to Neptune as own one.
Thanks to the price appreciation of such supercars in recent years, the same is probably true in adulthood.
Nowadays, in more sober times, it seems even the legendary marque has had to offset the extremes of its eccentricities with – whisper it – slightly more sensible cars.
But in the midst of the engine-downsizing trend and the overdue ignominy of such manufacturers having to think about the environment, that isn’t really the headline news with Ferrari’s GTC4Lusso.
It’s easy to forget that there’s a strong lineage of four-seater Italian stallions, or “2+2” as they would have it, that runs back to the 1960s debut of the 250 GT/E.
And while a V8 version is imminent, for its recent UAE debut, during which I take it to the summit of Jebel Jais in Ras Al Khaimah, the GTC4Lusso is in full-fat V12 guise.
The Ferrari GTCLusso can reach 100kph in 3.4 seconds. Courtesy Ferrari
Four is certainly the magic number for the latest Ferrari 2+2, which has the requisite four-seats, four-wheel steering and sends power to all four 20-inch wheels.
Despite being able to transport a small family, however, it’s a long, long way from being a slouch up the UAE’s tallest mountain.
As I find out later in the day, there’s still a good deal more grip at the edges of the GTC4Lusso’s cornering prowess than I dare risk in a Dh1 million-plus motor, as demonstrated by a ride with one of two fearless Ferrari “pilotas” – trainer racers who have flown in from Maranello for the occasion.
But as a mini convoy of GTC4Lussos dash up Jebel Jais’s addictively twisty tarmac, one thing becomes glaringly apparent: it might not outwardly set your blood on fire like an F40 or many of its forebears, but it’s a brilliant driving machine.
Even the tightest hairpin doesn’t faze its balance. And with a very real lack of forgiving run-offs on Jebel Jais – waist-high concrete barriers and Ferraris don’t make the prettiest of bedfellows – it’s also reassuring to know that the GTC4Lusso has incredible braking potential, with the ability to screech from 100kph to standstill in a mind-boggling 34 metres. Especially handy when you can hit said 100kph mark in 3.4 seconds – and go on to a maximum of 335kph.
As I clamber out of the car at the top of Jebel Jais, sweaty and sated, the satisfying smell of singed rubber fills the air.
Then it’s time to take the GTC4Lusso back down the mountain.
That’s not nearly as fun as the climb, largely thanks to the majority of the descent being on a single lane, as opposed to the two going up.
The GTC4Lusso also has incredible braking potential. Courtesy Ferrari
Away from arguably the best driver’s road in the country, though, the most telling moments of the trip arrive when late-afternoon Ras Al Khaimah traffic slows everything to a crawl.
In an unadulterated supercar, you would doubtless be shifting uncomfortably in your bucket seat and planning a trip to a chiropractor.
In stark contrast in the GTC4Lusso’s leather-lined interior, you realise that this is the best of both worlds: a Ferrari with a wild side kept so well-hidden in the city that you would scarcely guess existed if the Prancing Horse badges didn’t give it all away.
aworkman@thenational.ae
