We review the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta from price to economy and all its features

LIFE is just bellissimo for Ferrari at the moment. Fernando Alonso leads the Formula 1 Championship and on the road Ferrari are heading for another record sales year. 1 Beautiful ... Ferrari F12berlinetta

LIFE is just bellissimo for Ferrari at the moment.

Fernando Alonso leads the Formula 1 Championship and on the road Ferrari are heading for another record sales year.

Beautiful ... Ferrari F12berlinetta

Italy as a country may be facing tough times but Ferrari appear to be recession proof.

But all that success is put in the shade this week by our exclusive first drive of the F12berlinetta, not only the fastest Ferrari road car ever, but also one of the most beautiful.

Motoring Editor Ken Gibson became one of the first people outside Ferrari to get behind the wheel.

IT’S called the F12 and with a top speed of 211mph it should have been a jet fighter.

But the F12berlinetta, to give its full name, is a Ferrari — and it seduces you until you are completely under its spell.

The launch of a new Ferrari is always an occasion to be celebrated.

And when it is a classic V12 Ferrari, the expectations are even higher.

Fortunately, the F12 is touched by genius, a masterpiece of advanced race car technology and a beautiful piece of sculpted motoring art.

Driving a Ferrari is always special. They have a magic only a handful of car makers get close to matching but that none can surpass.

They are objects of desire only the lucky few get to own but are lusted over by a world of admirers.

And the F12berlinetta, even by Ferrari standards, is extra special to look at and drive.

It’s also the fastest ever road-going Ferrari.

Now I’m not religious but when they handed me the keys to the F12 on Sunday morning, I did a little prayer of thanks — there is a motoring god.

The F12 is like a gorgeous woman in a bikini, — you just can’t take your eyes off her.

I love every voluptuous inch of this car but the deep curves cut into either side of the long bonnet, called the Aero Bridge, are a highlight.

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Like all the striking lines of the F12, the Aero Bridge is functional and part of an aerodynamics package geared to keep the F12 planted on the ground at speeds when it should be taking off.

As soon as you see the F12 you want to drive it and that’s what I did, from early in the morning until late at night when they forced me to hand back the keys.

When I first turned the ignition to hear the outrageous symphony bursting from the 6.2litre V12, I was in no doubt that for a few hours I’d truly been blessed. My seduction had begun.

It’s a sound that your right foot can turn up louder and louder until your ears ring, because Ferrari have laboured long fine-tuning the twin double exhaust system to produce a noise to die for. But Ferraris have always been about performance and the F12 covers the ground at speeds that make Usain Bolt look slow: 0-62mph in 3.1seconds, 0-100mph in 8.5 and a top speed of 211mph.

And those figures don’t get close to describing the adrenaline rush when you push the accelerator flat, as every sense in your body comes alive to the music of a Ferrari in full cry.

It is an immediate and unrelenting surge of power that, despite the ridiculous speeds, feels effortless and smooth.

The handling and cornering is as close as you can get to an F1 racing car because its chassis, mechanical components, aerodynamics and suspension have been honed on the F1 circuit.

And with 740bhp — 120 more than the Ferrari 599 it replaces — it has roughly the same power as an F1 race car.

This is a car that rewards and involves the talented driver while flattering the average driver like me. By the end of the day and five laps around the test track, I was convinced I had the driving finesse of Fernando Alonso.

But it was only when Ferrari’s chief test driver took me around the famous Fiorano test circuit, next to the Maranello factory, that I truly experienced the sheer magnificence of the F12 unleashed to its full potential.

The remarkable thing is you travel at ridiculous speeds in luxury, the soft leather sports seats wrapping around you like a fine Italian suit in a cabin, like the rest of the car, which is a perfect balance of supercar and luxury car.

There are even 320 litres — 11 cubic feet — of boot space to make the F12 practical too.

There is, of course, only one major drawback for mere mortals like you and me — it starts at a few pence under £240,000.

But if I was a Ferrari nut like DJ Chris Evans or a Premier League footballer — or just lucky enough to win the lottery — I’d buy the F12 in a flash.

It is the reason we get so emotional about cars, it’s a labour of love and an object of desire rather than just another motor.

If Ferrari were a religion I’d become a regular church-goer and preach the gospel according to St Ferrari of Maranello.

Lord be praised.

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