La Dolce Vita

The Ferrari GTC4Lusso T is a lesson in indulgent living.

- Low Ka Wei

I cannot put a number as to how swiftly I was making progress, but considering the smudged landscape and my failure to spot the blue-and white patrol car with roof lights parked in plain sight, my speed must have not been that kosher.

Fortunately for me, neither could the upstanding member of the polizia on that stretch of strada provinciale; he did not carry a speed gun.

He speaks no English, and I, no Italian, but language barrier notwithstanding, the drill is the same wherever in the world you are: sheepishly hand over your driver’s licence and passport, and contemplate the prospect of spending the night on the cold, damp floor of a jail cell.

After many excruciating moments, he casts a sideways glance at the gleaming Ferrari I am piloting, hands back my papers and waves me off. I can almost swear he cracked half a smile.

Whether it is this light touch of the law, or the thumbs up I get from passers-by as I rev the engine in the GTC4Lusso T through the small, sun-drenched Tuscan towns that dot our test route, I cannot help but feel that the Italians truly celebrate their own.

DESIGNED TO WIN FANS 

Which brings me back to this superb grand tourer. It is Maranello’s answer to the current trend towards “lifestyle”-oriented sport utility vehicles, but defined on its own terms – a practical two-door, fourseat car with just enough luggage and passenger space for a weekend getaway, but beautifully designed along contemporary Ferrari lines as an aggressive, low-slung shooting brake. It is all sinewy and athletic; no lardy wagons here.