Ferrari Portofino: the palace gate

The court pays a visit

We met her at an independent exotics dealer in Sydney, a blue Portofino of the M-era school with her hardtop folded away and a cream interior glowing like the good china. She sat among Porsches and a Lotus, fine company by any measure, and still every eye in the room went to her first. That is not styling. That is presence, and Ferrari has been bottling it since before most of us could reach the pedals.

The Portofino is the one they call the gateway Ferrari, usually with a slightly raised eyebrow. The court refuses the eyebrow. A gateway is how you enter a palace, and if this is the doorway, the palace beyond must be extraordinary.

The charm offensive

Under that impossibly long bonnet lives a twin-turbo V8, and it behaves exactly as a Ferrari V8 should: docile when you are gliding down to the harbour, operatic the moment you ask a proper question of it. The folding hardtop is the party trick that keeps on giving. Roof up, she is a sleek coupe with genuine grand-touring manners. Roof down, she is the Riviera in motion, and Sydney, let the record show, enjoys rather more Riviera weather than the actual Riviera.

Inside, that cream cabin is a masterclass in glamour without shouting. Two seats you will use constantly, two occasional rear perches best suited to soft bags and optimism, and a driving position that makes even the school run feel like a scene you are starring in. She asks nothing of you but sunglasses.

Three crowns and a knowing wink

So why three crowns and not four? Here is the truth, delivered with an affectionate curtsy. In a room full of newer, wilder machinery she still drew the eye first, and that is a kind of magic money cannot normally buy. But the upper crowns of this court are reserved for cars that terrify as well as charm, the ones that make your hands tremble slightly before you have even opened the door. The Portofino charms completely and terrifies not at all, which is precisely her job description. She is the warm welcome at the palace gate, not the dragon in the throne room, and three crowns for a welcome this gracious is a compliment of the highest order. The wink is because she knows it.

Come as you are, Your Majesty. She will make the arriving look effortless.