RED LETTER DAY

What makes a Ferrari special? Our man finds out from behind the wheel of the Ferrari GTC4Lusso T on the streets of Mumbai

- AATISH MISHRA

MY HEART WAS POUNDING AGAINST MY ribcage. It’s just another car, I tried to tell myself as I pulled up to dealership. Dawn had still not broken, though the doors of Ferrari Mumbai opened to let me in. A bright red Ferrari sat there in the silent stillness, waiting to be ripped out of its slumber — the Ferrari GTC4Lusso T. Ever since I started off as an automotive journalist, I looked at driving a Ferrari as some sort of milestone. It takes some of us years to get our hands one one, and others bite the dust before they even get the chance. And here I was, with the keys to one of them. F**king pinch me. I remember roaming these very streets as a college student, dreams as lofty as the buildings around me, wondering if I could ever say I made it in life. That morning, I felt like I had.

The engine fired to life and even at idle, the exhaust buzzed more intensely than any other V8 I have been close to before. Almost like a hornet’s nest when whacked with a stick. Don’t ask why I know that. As the fluids got up to temp, I sat and admired the machine in front of me, resplendent in Rosso Scuderia. The GTC4Lusso T sits on the comfort-end of the Ferrari spectrum. The long bonnet and shooting brake derriere gives it the most gorgeous stance, with swooping bodywork peppered with lovely details like the slatted vents on the side. Even on the inside, it's not as strippedout as, say, a 488 GTB. There was lovely beige leather everywhere, from the seats to the dash and even the door trims. But all of that is incidental, what really sucks you in to the Ferrari experience is that steering wheel.