Ferrari has created something unique then. It also tells us it’s in a class of one and has no rivals. And then says we can have one for a few days to group test it. Against what, exactly? Ferrari has thought of that and very considerately supplied us with a list of cars it perceives as rivals and that we are ‘permitted’ to test it against: Lamborghini Urus, Rolls-Royce Cullinan, Aston Martin DBX707 and Bentley Bentayga. The only rival I’m really interested in is the Urus. Same sporting philosophy and Italian aggression. Lamborghini refuses to supply a car – the price difference means they’re not rivals, apparently. How about the Rolls? It’s not sporting, but it’s the same money and also has rear-opening doors. Rolls declines.
So here’s the snag. Ferrari doesn’t want us to test it against cars it doesn’t believe are rivals, and those that it does declare as rivals don’t want to get involved. Now, this never stops TG, we could have borrowed cars from owners or dealers, we could have thrown in a peskily talented Porsche Cayenne. But we’ve driven them all, so we can talk about them.