Ferrari 296 GTS: roof already down

I don't usually gasp indoors, but I made an exception. There she was at Ferrari Sydney, a red 296 GTS, roof already folded away as if she knew company was coming, holding a little private party in a room full of other Ferraris. That's the detail worth savouring: even surrounded by her own family, she was the one every eye kept drifting back to. The camera came out before the hellos did.

The case for six cylinders

Traditionalists raise an eyebrow at a V6 Ferrari, and Maranello's answer was to make the eyebrow irrelevant. Twin turbos, an electric motor whispering encouragement, around 830cv all in, a number that reads less like a spec and more like a dare. She'll slip out of your street near-silent on electric alone, then clear her throat somewhere past the harbour and quietly rearrange what you thought "quick" meant.

And because this is the GTS, the folding hardtop takes the roof out of the equation. Stowed, that high-singing V6 plays straight to the stalls. Serious money, the sort you discuss with a banker who knows your first name. But nobody walks into Ferrari Sydney expecting a bargain. They walk in expecting a coronation.

The crowns

Four crowns, on the spot, no deliberation. She's gorgeous, wickedly clever, and gracious enough to be driven gently or hard depending on your mood and your licence. Why not five? Because I never hand the fifth out indoors. The fourth was earned the second that roof folded away; the fifth waits, patiently, until I've heard that V6 sing on an open road rather than a showroom floor. Less a crown withheld than a standing invitation, one I fully intend to accept.

Come as you are. She'll see to the leaving.