The Ferrari Roma brings the eternal city to Dubai

It takes one heck of a vehicle to change the way you think, but the Ferrari Roma has that exact effect.

With every mile added to the dial of the exquisitely designed car, the driving experience transports you—mentally—away from whatever streets you are on an into the glorious surroundings of Italy’s eternal capital, Rome.

Bellissimo! Magnifico! Stupendo! All of these exclamatory Italian adjectives apply the latest model to come out of Ferrari’s Maranello headquarters, with the shapely coupe wooing you with both physique and performance.

Taking its inspiration from some of the company’s most influential designs, the gorgeous GT marks a return to timeless styling for the famed marque.

Stuffed under the Roma’s lengthy hood and mounted near the middle of the car is a turbocharged 3.9-litre V-8 that makes 612 horsepower and 561 lb-ft of torque. It pairs with an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, which allows this Ferrari to be enjoyed either during a nonchalant cruise or being thrown around a sweeping series of corners.

Stitched together with leather and swathed in faux-suede, the Roma’s interior mixes upscale materials with a unique layout. Each front-seat passenger is cocooned by a sweeping dashboard that flows into the doors and floating center console.

The driver faces a giant 16-inch fully digital gauge cluster that responds to haptic controls on the Roma’s button-heavy, flat-bottom steering wheel.

A pair of rear seats make it a 2+2 coupe and, unlike most other Ferrari models, the Roma has a large centre section, just don’t expect its interior cubby storage to be plentiful.

While its sheet metal recalls Ferraris from the ’50s and ’60s, the grand tourer also hides serious performance hardware and cutting-edge technology.

Its roaring heart is specifically tuned to make beautiful music. Likewise, its lightweight components and myriad dynamic systems aim to make the Prancing Horse badge proud.

Photography: Adel Rashid // Artwork: Cate Warde

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