The 812 GTS Is Everything You Hope a Ferrari Can Be

 The 812 GTS Is Everything You Hope a Ferrari Can Be

For years, I've tried to convince people that my job as an automotive writer is more normal than it seems. Most people don’t believe me. I spend most days sitting at the computer, or in meetings, but there are also days where upon arriving at the historic Ferrari factory gates, keys are handed over to a Tour de France Blue V-12 spider. Maybe they have a point. The 812 GTS Is Everything You Hope a Ferrari Can Be

The 812 GTS is an easy car to understand. It's an 812 Superfast with a folding metal hardtop. Same 6.5-liter 8900-rpm 789-hp V-12 monster under the hood, same hyper-quick dual-clutch transaxle, same freakishly agile front-engine rear drive chassis. As if it matters, the GTS is around 120 pounds heavier than the coupe and a little less rigid. And it is one of the finest automobiles on sale today. The 812 GTS Is Everything You Hope a Ferrari Can Be

I managed to nab a few hours with the 812 GTS on a particularly hot summer day in Maranello. Excited doesn't even begin to describe how I was feeling, not just in getting to live the childhood dream of driving a Ferrari in Italy, but getting to drive this particular Ferrari. A few years ago, I had a weekend with a 812 Superfast, and I haven't really stopped thinking about the car in the interim. The 812 GTS Is Everything You Hope a Ferrari Can Be

To me, Ferrari's front-engine Gran Turismos of the Sixties represent a pinnacle in the history of the automobile. The peak of glamour, sophistication (mechanical and otherwise), and excitement. Driving a modern descendent of the 250 SWB, 275 GTB, 330 GTC, and of course, the Daytona, is thrilling enough. Then there's the fact that the 812 is complete and total sensory overload.

Its V-12 defies belief. Nothing displacing 6.5 liters should rev so quickly, and the power it produces never seems to end. The sound is unlike anything else, too, even other modern V-12s. There aren't enough good things to say about this engine, and the 812 GTS gives you two new ways to enjoy it.

First is, obviously, with the roof down. I got lost in the hills southwest of Maranello trying to find a route recommended by Ferrari's test car manager. Somehow I ended up on roads far too narrow to exploit a 400-hp car, let alone one with double that, though I did drive through tunnels. 

So The 812 GTS Is Everything You Hope a Ferrari Can Be

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