Category: Exotic Sports 
Price Range: £197,673 to £197,673
Hugely fast with sensational acceleration; enormous grip with foolproof, friendly handling and fine feedback; looks terrific and sounds even better; good ride and great usability
Handbrake needs a hefty tug; some early build-quality glitches on test car; will be very expensive
Here's the ultimate front-engined supercar, a car that makes a Mercedes SLR McLaren feel aloof and clumsy. Quicker than an F40 yet a hundredth as frightening, the 599 GTB is a towering achievement, a new benchmark and the fastest-accelerating car we have ever driven on the road
Approx £170,000. On sale in UK October
You could forgive a car like this for being a touch harsh and hard-edged at times, but actually it's pretty civilised, even when the driver's having maximum fun.
The seats are very supportive (various designs are offered, mainly with carbonfibre shells) and the leather trim is lovely. If you think there's too much naked carbonfibre as standard - it forms the centre console and air-vent housings, and a good part of the door trims - you can have it trimmed in leather instead.
Indeed, there's a Carrozzeria Scaglietti personalisation programme which is effectively an options list, including 20" wheels all round instead of the usual 19" fronts and 20" rears plus various brake-caliper colours and myriad trim options.
There's also the Allestimenti Speciali programme, which enables buyers to have bespoke modifications individually devised (no doubt at vast cost) with Ferrari, provided they stay within Ferrari's safety and quality standards.
Back to that civility. The 599 cruises quietly enough to allow conversation, with surprisingly little wind noise, and the air con works well. Best of all, though, is the ride, thanks to those magnetic dampers, co-developed with Delphi to build on an idea first seen in the Chevrolet Corvette. For a car with such low-profile tyres to absorb ridges and ruts with such suppleness, yet still have such taut sinews when needed, is remarkable.
