Meet the new Ferrari and Lambo killer

Irealise that last Sunday I bullishly talked up the prospect of reviewing the new Ferrari GTC 4 Lusso this week. The thing is, in between times something quite momentous happened: took delivery of another Italian stallion that has completely blown my mind. In fact, more than that, it scrambled my brain, pickled my earliest memories, sliced and diced my emotions, pressure-washed my eyeballs and then plugged them all back in so I could see for myself a new world order of car supremacy. I am talking about the staggeringly impressive and stunningly beautiful Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio.

A car so perfectly formed in every dimension, curve and cubic centimetre, I’m at a loss, wondering where on Earth it has suddenly emerged from.

Nothing comes from nowhere and brilliant one-off car designs are no exception. There are continuations, evolutions, recreations and innovations, but most exciting of all is when a revelation seems to enter the car world’s atmosphere like a meteor from outer space, which is exactly what’s happened here.

For well over the first half of the 20th century, Alfa Romeo couldn’t help but produce legend after legend, immortalising the Milanese logo into the gold standard for high-performance motoring. (Pre-World War II: 6C, 8C – there were lots of them in different configurations. Post-World War II: 33 Stradale – swoon, Daytona – double-swoon, Duetto, SZ, 4C and 8C Competizione). More recently, however, there have been far fewer. Well, now it seems they are back.

The most intelligent, artistic designs don’t leap out at you, they creep up on you. It’s the Quadrifoglio’s misleading profile that foxes everyone at first. Nothing special? Look again at the subtle muscular bulges and that cheeky carbon-fibre hem on the sill that suggests something more serious is going on. Edge next around the back for confirmation, courtesy of an enormous low-slung diffuser and quartet of Wurlitzer-like tailpipe cans. Finally, walk to the front of the car and take a long, lingering look at the most handsome sports saloon in the universe.

Climb inside and the dream continues. Zero bling/maximum cool suggested first by the carbon-backed bucket seats finished in leather, Alcantara and race tracks of white and green stitching. There are swathes of carbon fibre everywhere you look, including a streak that flashes across the dashboard before blending seamlessly into the infotainment screen and re-emerging again as part of the perfectly composed steering wheel.

Ignition then, via the red start button, after which all the fun of the fair is available in the shape of eight gears, two huge (sensible) flappy paddles, four driving modes – each discernibly different from the next (hallelujah) – and an alchemy-soaked 2.9-litre twinturbo V6 engine pumping out 510hp. All of which combines to produce a controlled frenzy of snarl, crackle and pip-pap-pop, with no turbo-lag whatsoever.

I loved the noise, I loved all that power, but most of all I loved the way the car handles. Don’t get me wrong, she will bite you where it hurts, especially in Race mode if you stick the boot in at the wrong moment, but keep a light touch on the wheel, take note of what’s happening beneath the seat of your pants and you will have a whale of a time. The car can withstand the most extreme inputs with consummate ease and capability, it’s just a question of whether the human driving it has the talent to match.

Every second I spent in this weapon of mass distraction was like sitting in a very comfy, very fancy, very sexy slingshot ready to be pinged in any direction at a millisecond’s notice. But far less self-consciously and con-

You can keep your Ferraris, Lambos and Beemers – our man’s just found his new favourite car ‘I WOULD BE AMAZED IF YOU TOOK A TEST DRIVE AND DIDN’T GO ON TO BUY ONE’