I have to self-administer mental slaps to stop myself thinking I'm in a dream sequence with a chorus of angels on accompaniment. The car's not helping. The rhythm of this road is one the Ferrari 296 GTB slips into effortlessly. It compresses in, then springs out, a movement that comes as naturally to it as breathing to us. In and out, in and out. Just doing what it does. Just sweeping along.
It takes Mark and Charlie in the hired 'chase' car 10 minutes to catch up. They're green, the Seat Arona's brakes are smoking. I hadn't been going intentionally quickly, but every so often, when third became fourth became fifth, I was aware. Mental slap time.
Encapsulated in those miles, though, is the genius of the 296 GTB. This is a deeply, furiously complex car. It never feels like that to drive. Neither on road, nor on track. But there's also another contradiction at the heart of Ferrari's latest and - well, let's share this now shall we - greatest* achievement. As the occupants of the hard-pressed Arona can attest, the 296 generates speed without effort. It's by no means alone in that, but so often these days the engineering necessary to give cars that astonishing rapidity further distances the driver from the experience. Not here. Along with the simplicity comes tactility. (*only technically speaking. In a back catalogue that includes the 458 Speciale, F40, F50, 288 GTO and 812 Competizione, there's no definitive.)
This story is from the April 2022 edition of Top Gear.
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This story is from the April 2022 edition of Top Gear.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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