Into the Spider-verse

AV6 PHEV Spider with a better power to weight than a Bugatti Veyron, the 296 GTS is all kinds of contrasting emotions, but just how good is it? We drop the top fire up the piccolo V12 and find out

- Dipayan Dutta

A Ferrari with a V6, that’s a plug-in hybrid and isn’t even built around a carbon fibre tub. Remember this was a company that started a whole different brand the last time it put a V6 in a production car rather than call it a Ferrari. So if ever there was a Ferrari with everything to prove it must be the 296 GTS. So we hopped on a plane and flew out to Dubai to find out whether Ferrari’s new GT coupe spider lives up to the prancing horse on the hood.

Buttresses. Flying home I penned down my thoughts about what I thought about the design of the 296 GTS. And I found my mind going back to buttresses and nomenclature pedanticisms. “But the buttresses on the GTB!” and “A GTS is supposed to be a targa”. Pardon my French but, these goddamn nerds! Yes, the buttresses from its tin-top sibling are gone and its place is a folding hardtop. And yes, Magnum PI’s 308 GTS was a targa. Maybe Maranello doesn’t give two hoots about Tifosi nerds and their hackneyed facts. Both 296s were developed and designed concurrently and were expected to be recognised as siblings. But in its own right and sans the buttresses, the GTS is very much a gorgeous spider with broad shoulders and that svelte 296 form. What stands out straight off the bat is the incredible put-togetherness of the fully deployed roof mechanism. Truly you could spend a few hours just watching the roof come off and back onto the GTS. It’s coordinated and beautiful mechanics in motion, and to say it like the Italians, it is all about the sensazione. We timed the top dropping to 15 seconds and this can be done on the move at speeds up to 45kmph.