Roma Round The Alps

The highest road border in europe is the target. Can ferrari’s roma elevate itself to the pantheon of maranello greats?

- Ben Miller

8 AM PIAZZO VITTORIO EMANUELE II, POLLENZO EIGHT O’ CLOCK, AND the chiming of ancient bells rolls around the cobbled piazza as it has done for centuries. Overhead, yesterday’s clear skies have given way to a bruised, claustrophobically low ceiling of cloud that entirely cloaks the distant mountains. The air is thick, warm like a bath and heavy with the scent of storms. In half an hour (and not a moment before, sadly), I’ll be given the key to my Roma. Until then there’s time enough for another espresso and to ponder all that we know about Maranello’s latest, a front/mid-engined 2+2 GT that – with neat symmetry – feels like a timely nod to Ferrari’s glorious past just as the fearlessly progressive hybrid SF90 forges into the future.

The Roma is, depending on your generosity, either nothing more than a Portofino with that car’s folding hardtop roof welded shut or one of the most intriguing Ferrari in years, one uninterested in outright performance and the race-inspired visual clutter of cars like the F8 Tributo and keener instead on qualities like timelessness, elegance and day-to-day usability. The Roma’s a 21st century Ferrari that, in its remit, style and heart-swelling romance, calls to mind masterpieces like the 250 GT Lusso – or so Ferrari hopes. Fast, engaging to drive and beautiful, it’s Maranello’s 911, if you will, albeit with a list price north of $400K.

Ask chief technical officer Michael Leiters for clarification on whether the Roma’s a GT or a sports car and his answer is ‘both’, delivered with a grin. Consider the engineering and he may have a point.