WHEN motoring was in its glamorous infancy, Gran Turismo motoring was all about taking breakfast in Mayfair before motoring down to Monte Carlo in the GT for supper. These days, even the upper classes do grand touring by easyJet.

Now, though, two of the most emotional letters in motoring, GT, adorn a rash of stratospherically expensive new super-coupés: the Bentley Continental GT, the Mercedes-Benz CL65 and the Aston Martin DB9. With the arrival of the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti, named in honour of Sergio Scaglietti, the Modenese coach-builder, this elite club has a new member.

The 612 does not seem very pretty. Ferrari says it was inspired by the one-off Ferrari 375MM of the mid-1950s, commissioned by Roberto Rossellini, the actor, as a present for Ingrid Bergman. There have been cumbersome Ferraris, but this is almost as wide as a Range Rover and not a lot shorter. The good news is this makes the 612 the roomiest Ferrari ever. Travelling four-up is no problem.

I tried the back seat and, even at 6ft 3in, fitted comfortably. A family Ferrari? Possibly, but I did not check to see if a prancing horse baby seat was available (you can get a Babygro, costing €195 (£130), in the Ferrari shop).

Not that the driver has been forgotten. The 612 is powered by a 5.7-litre, 540bhp V12 engine, making it the second-most powerful Ferrari after the Enzo. It uses an aluminium spaceframe and body, which helps to keep weight down, but it still scales a hefty 1,840kg. And if its front end looks ungainly it is because 85 per cent of the car’s mass sits inside its wheelbase. Visually unbalanced, it does not feel it.

Like the Bentley and Mercedes, the Ferrari accelerates with such vigour it is initially rather worrying. Nothing this size and weight should reach 60mph in 4.1sec then thunder on into illegality before you can catch breath.

Managing this kind of furious momentum through corners is where the Bentley comes a little unstuck, but the Ferrari’s braking and body control are remarkable. There is an artificiality to its steering that disappears as you get used to it and this £170,500 motor car responds beautifully to confident driving.

Better still, the 612 combines volcanic pace with the sort of manners old-school GT fans would expect. The automated manual paddle-shift gearbox is as smooth and instantaneous as any Ferrari road car. Lazy owners can leave it in self-shifting mode, where it is almost as seamless as a conventional torque-converter system.

Yet, despite all these heady achievements, one of the Ferrari’s key rivals is prettier, handles even more adroitly, costs £67,000 less and is made in a Midlands factory. The Aston Martin DB9 is better, even if its rear seats are all but useless.

IN DETAIL

Price: £170,500
Performance: 0-60mph in 4.1sec, 199mph top speed
Engine: 5.7-litre, 540bhp V12, 434lb ft torque @ 5,250rpm
Fuel economy: 13.6mpg (EC combined)