Ferrari 296 GTB Review

Ferrari killed the V8 in its junior mid-engined car and replaced it with something stranger and better. The 3.0 litre V6 has a 120 degree bank angle with both turbochargers inside the vee, which shortens the plumbing and lets the engine rev to 8,500, and it is joined by an electric motor for a combined 819 horsepower and around fifteen miles of silent running. The noise is the surprise, high and hard and nothing like a six should sound.

The chassis is shorter than the car it replaced and the steering is very quick, which makes it feel almost nervous until you trust it. The interior is where it stumbles, because the capacitive touch controls on the steering wheel and the absence of physical buttons are a genuine daily irritation. Ferrari includes seven years of scheduled servicing, which softens the early years considerably, but consumables, tyres and anything unscheduled are priced as you would fear. Values have held. Extraordinary machine.