My heady weekend away with a Ferrari California T

Ann Marie McQueen in her loaned Ferrari California T, also pictured top and inset, attracting attention everywhere she takes it. Photos by Victor Besa for The National

It was back in the summer of 2014 that I bought my first convertible.

The 2008 Volvo C70 is a handsome and sturdy car, known for its safety.

I was coming out of a shaky time in my personal life back then, and the C70 seemed to sum up where I was: rich in experience and ready to have some fun.

The summer heat meant it wasn’t until several months later that I finally dropped the top – and was immediately hit with buyer’s remorse. Instead of enjoying the wind in my hair, I worried that I was being a show-off.

Things hit fever pitch a few weeks later on a Friday morning, of Formula One weekend, during a trip back from Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island. I was hit with a cascade of nasty thoughts that went something like this: “I’m going to give myself skin cancer/I look ridiculous, like I’m having a massive midlife crisis...” And so on.

I was in the middle of a pretty boisterous second-guessing party in my head when I noticed that I was passing too many Ferraris on my right for it to be a coincidence.

Some were convertibles, some weren’t, but all were awesome. It turned out that I was witnessing an offshoot of the 2014 Finali Mondiali Ferrari, which was held at the Yas Marina Circuit over the F1 weekend and involved more than 250 cars. As I passed all of these unbelievable vehicles, one of the drivers smiled and gave me a big thumbs up – and made my day. I’m not sure why having a random Ferrari owner appreciate my car was so meaningful at that moment, but it was.

I decided then and there to respect the instinct that prompted me to buy a convertible in the first place. And have some fun. I also developed an ­immediate, ­enduring soft spot for the Italian ­carmaker, which is why I found it more than a little bit synchronistic when their local representatives contacted me with an offer to take the spectacular 2015 ­Ferrari California T (the T stands for Turbo) convertible for a spin on ­Valentine’s Day weekend.

Obviously Ferrari is a much-loved brand, but it was only after I had been behind the wheel of one of its models that the depth of the UAE’s love affair with it was revealed to me.

While leaving Haddins Fitness at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, I pass not one but two little football-kit-clad boys who stop everything, mouths open in awe, as they point right at me, poking their dads furiously to look, too. Grown men and women stare, gesture and wave.

It’s best to be a least a little attention-­seeking when it comes to driving a convertible, and in particular, a brilliant red Ferrari. And if you’re up to interacting with the many adoring fans who will gather everywhere you go, the good vibrations received are well worth it. This is a car that makes people happy to their toes.

Putting the retractable hard top up and down is a 14-second show all of its own. On Friday morning, we hit the E22 to Al Ain, our trip from Abu Dhabi punctuated by honks, thumbs up and more than one non-verbal offer to race.

The Ferrari zooms up Jebel Hafeet, making each turn with grace. The real fun begins as we park, when the cheeky leader of a group of male expatriates from India approaches, boldly asking us to move the car over into the sun. All the better for his photo plans.

Before we have a chance to get out, there they are in front of us: a dozen guys, snapping photos, laughing, pointing, giving peace signs and thumbs ups to each other.

We rev the engine, sharing the growl of the model’s turbocharged V8. The fellow who styled this impromptu shoot hops into the driver’s seat after us, before we can lock the doors.

We have so much fun, too: driving along with Frank Sinatra blaring through the sound system, stopping with a selfie stick to capture the lush French-stitched Ferrari red leather and familiar black prancing horse logo on each headrest behind us. We can’t resist parking like rich jerks, just for a few minutes, at the Mercure Grand hotel near the top of Jebel Hafeet. No one even looks at us sideways as we walk away; they just gather around, camera phones at the ready.

After eating at The Farm, Al Barari, in Dubai, an Emirati mother stops me in the car park and asks if her three children can get a picture. I can discern only “Ferrari” as they chatter to each other in Arabic, posing in the passenger seat. “Is it yours?” she asks. I considered telling a lie, but can’t, confessing it’s merely on a lucky loan.

“Bye Ferrari,” we say on the Saturday night, as we drop off our luxurious ride outside Al Tayer Motors on Sheikh Zayed Road.

We’re wistful, cheerful and grateful – and very windblown.

And then it’s back to real life and my sturdy, Volvo C70 – the one that a charming Ferrari driver once sanctioned with a smile and a big thumbs up, just when I really needed it.

What the California T drive is actually like

The 2015 Ferrari California T may be an attention-getter on the road, but it’s also a treat to drive, practically speaking.

The ride is so smooth, and the car so responsive (0 to 100kph in 3.6 seconds; 0 to 200kph in 11.2 seconds, which I don’t doubt, but didn’t test), that we don’t even need to speed to enjoy it – although it’s tempting. Quickly accelerating – prompting that famous rumble – is an ongoing thrill.

The layout is, however, slightly confounding to newbies. During our weekend, we have to rescue a valet who can’t figure out that reverse is a button on the centre console. I don’t blame him – it trips me up, too, just as I never really get used to shifting into neutral and drive via a click of a pair of sleek silver handles behind the wheel.

The interior is vibrant, with impossibly consistently coloured Ferrari red semi-aniline, or soluble-dyed, leather. But it’s the slick, futuristic carbon-fibre touches on the dash, console and steering wheel that I appreciated most.

Our best efforts combined couldn’t figure out the radio, although I easily synched my phone to the sound system wirelessly.

Although it’s a two-seater car, there appears to be just one cup holder. Parking makes me very nervous, because the California T is deceptively long and wide (a concave and convex 4.5 metres by 1.9 metres). It’s such a low rider, indeed, that all curbs can be considered the enemy.

A nice surprise was that the front seats are incredibly ergonomic and comfortable – I could sit in them all day, and almost do.

Why are there two back seats that only the smallest of children could fit into? Because they look so good there, silly.