Ferrari - Roma Therapy

Maranello's 456kw coupe delivers a sleek new take on the front engined ferrari, but how successfully does it blend tradition with technology?

- Ben Miller

MID-ENGINED FERRARIS require little explanation. Founder Enzo famously may not have been a fan of the layout, preferring his horses ahead of his cart, but Maranello has long since established itself as a master of the art of otherworldly yet accessible mid-engined performance. Cars like the F8 Tributo and new SF90 showcase the marque’s technological and artistic flair, while also linking its road cars to Formula 1. Elemental and pure, they’re uncomplicated in their remit and their appeal.

It’s not always so straightforward with Maranello’s front-engined cars. The astonishing, V12-powered 812 Superfast is often lumped in with GTs but is, in fact, nothing of the sort, being instead a hypercar ever willing to sweep sideways on a breath of throttle and force you to re-learn everything you thought you know about fast. And then there’s the Portofino, Maranello’s folding-hardtop entry-level model. In many ways the least Ferrari-like Ferrari money can buy, it’s also the first Ferrari many buyers experience.

And now there’s the new Ferrari Roma, the 2+2 coupe unveiled late last year. Beautiful and redolent of the past in its ideals if not, thankfully, its design, the $409,888 Roma sits just above the Portofino ($399,888) and promises to be both a GT and a sports car, as well as the first of a new breed of more usable, everyday Ferrari.