Ferrari 12Cilindr i Spider

FIRST DRIVE Dramatically styled and with a glorious V12 engine, the latest drop-top Ferrari is every bit as desirable in the metal as you would imagine - and it's equally sensational to drive

- Alex Ingram

IT'S lucky that Italian is such a beautiful language, because it's fair to say that when it comes to naming their cars, the Italians aren't always the most creative. While many of those names sound evocative in the native tongue Maserati Quattroporte, for example - the 'fourdoor' doesn't have quite the same ring to it, and we doubt the Fiat 'Well Done' (or Bravo) would have been quite so successful from a British brand.

Ferrari isn't immune from such literal naming either. This, the 12Cilindri, is the most recent example. Somehow 'doh-di-chee chill-in-dree' sounds a lot more exciting than '12 cylinders.

This one is the Spider variant, lifting the lid off the superb V12 machine that we first sampled in Berlinetta form back in October. And losing its roof hasn't dented its spectacular presence on the road.

While some recent Ferraris, such as the Roma, go for delicate curves, and others opt for purely wind tunnel-dictated shapes to maximise downforce (step forward, the wild F80), the 12Cilindri deploys a completely different tactic. Its creators say that "it looks like it's designed to go into space".

It's angular yet curvy; retro yet ultra-modern. The black front visor between the headlights might seem like a link to another iconic 12-cylinder Ferrari -the 365 GTB/4 Daytona, but Ferrari's designers tell us that this is more of a happy coincidence than a deliberate decision. We're not so sure...

The angular rear window panel of the coupé has been replaced by a pair of buttresses, beneath which a folding metal roof resides. Ferrari chose this for its refinement - and because a spaceship wouldn't have a fabric hood.