Ferrari Portofino: the gateway, and proud of it

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

They call the Portofino the gateway Ferrari, usually with a raised eyebrow. I'm not doing the eyebrow. A gateway is how you enter a palace, and if this is the door, the palace beyond must be something.

The charm offensive

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

Inside, that cream cabin is glamour without shouting. Two seats you'll use constantly, two rear perches best kept for soft bags and optimism, and a driving position that makes even the school run feel like a scene you're starring in. She asks nothing of you but sunglasses.

Three crowns and a wink

So why three and not four? Here's the honest truth, with an affectionate curtsy. In a room full of newer, wilder machinery she still drew the eye first, and that's a kind of magic money can't usually buy. But the top crowns here are reserved for cars that terrify as well as charm, the ones that make your hands shake a little before you've even opened the door. The Portofino charms completely and terrifies not at all, which is exactly her job. She's the warm welcome at the gate, not the dragon in the throne room, and three crowns for a welcome this gracious is a real compliment. The wink is because she knows it.

Come as you are. She makes the arriving look effortless.