Ferrari Roma

Unveiled in 2019, the Ferrari Roma marked a return to a particular idea of the front-engined Ferrari grand tourer: a two-plus-two coupe built for covering distance rather than chasing lap times, named for the Italian capital and styled with a restraint unusual for the marque. It succeeded the Portofino in Ferrari's range and was positioned as an accessible entry point to the brand, aimed at drivers who might otherwise choose a Porsche or an Aston Martin. Where much of Ferrari's lineup shouted, the Roma was pitched as quietly elegant, its bodywork stripped of vents and creases in favor of long, clean surfaces.

Beneath the long bonnet sits a 3.9-litre twin-turbocharged V8, mounted ahead of the cabin but behind the front axle and driving the rear wheels through an eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Ferrari quotes 612 hp, a little more than the closely related Portofino produced, and the engine pulls hard enough to reach 100 km/h from rest in the mid-three-second range and to carry on beyond 320 km/h. At roughly 1570 kg, the Roma is light for a car of its class, and reviewers noted that it turns in more eagerly than the convertible from which it was derived.

The Roma's significance lies less in outright numbers than in what it represented: an attempt to broaden Ferrari's appeal without diluting its performance, and a design language that won recognition for its minimalism. It anchored a small family that later grew to include an open-topped Spider, and it stands as evidence that the company's engineers could make a heavily turbocharged engine feel expressive rather than merely quick. For a segment long dominated by German rivals, the Roma offered a distinctly Italian alternative, one that treated understatement, rather than aggression, as the point.