If I were to tell you that a car made me feel sexy, you might nod along. If I were to tell you a car made me feel more confident, you might think that was a little trivial. And if I were to tell you that a car actually made me feel powerful, you might suggest I work on my inner self. "True confidence comes from within" is a line I would have annoyingly recited back to anyone who shared those same sentiments with me, after all. But two days behind the wheel of a Ferrari and I now wholly understand the so-called supercar effect—and it’s one you really do have to feel to believe.
The location: the North Coast 500, a famous 516-mile circular route carved into the northern Highlands of Scotland. The set-up: roof down, sunglasses on, music blasting. The car: a classic, glossy red Ferrari Roma Spider—“Spider” simply meaning convertible in Ferrari terms—with rich red leather interiors, every mod-con imaginable, and an undeniably sleek silhouette that tackled (admittedly small) potholes and speed bumps far more gracefully than I expected. Essentially, a picture-perfect scene for my first experience behind the wheel of a £210,000-plus car. It’s easy to see why I was sold in an instant.
Yet it wasn’t just me who was captivated by this car. Thumbs up, headlight flashes and turning heads became a regular occurrence as we drifted through the small Highland towns en route—proof, if ever I needed it, that a Ferrari evokes something in all of us, be it wonder, lust or even mild envy. Still, while the Roma Spider was undeniably the star of the show, I couldn’t help but wonder whether it was us, the drivers, who were also drawing attention.
According to Yahoo Finance, around 94% of supercar consumers were male as recently as 2019—a disparity that is slowly but unmistakably shifting. In 2023, automotive outlet Torquecafe reported another major supercar brand attributed 11% of its global sales to women. And Bloomberg noted in the same year that if you spot four Ferraris on a street in China, chances are at least one is being driven by a woman. In other words, the landscape is changing. Women are interested in performance cars, and with the number of ultra-wealthy women increasing globally, they’re beginning to invest accordingly.
Inside our Roma Spider, we were living proof of that. Beside me sat Cat Roberts, a luxury-car content creator, Formula E racer, and encyclopaedia of all things supercar-related. Behind us, in a Ferrari 296 GTS, was Emma Walsh, supercar commentator and presenter. And a little further up the road: Chloé Lloyd, in what many are calling the ultimate super-SUV—the Ferrari Purosangue.
If practicality is the point holding you back from being sold on a supercar— the need for extra child-friendly space, a sturdier, higher driving position, or room for suitcases, food shops and all the detritus of real life—this is the model that answers all of it. And as a lover of big cars myself, it was the Purosangue that I couldn't wait to get behind the wheel of.
As the brand’s first-ever four-door, four-seater car, it houses an extraordinary V12 engine, meaning it’s blisteringly fast while still offering all the virtues of an SUV: height, space, stability and an effortless ability to handle long distances and unpredictable terrain. I can personally attest to all of the above after whipping through the Scottish countryside, hitting impressive speeds, hugging tight coastal corners, emergency-braking for the occasional rogue sheep and doing it all with a six-foot-plus cricket player in the back seat and our luggage tucked neatly in the boot. A sight you certainly don't see everyday.
Essentially, it’s the more rugged, everyday-friendly sibling to your typical sports car—speed bumps, suitcases, and car seats are no longer your natural enemy. Although, of course, that extra space, size and versatility come with a premium price tag of £313,000 and above, making it a fixture on the wish lists of ultra-high-net-worth individuals—women, increasingly, included.
So, with every potential need now catered for, let's see if Purosangue purchases will put us more on a level playing field.
