Ferrari Roma: La Nuova Dolce Vita
Ferrari had not built a front-engine V8 coupe since the Dino 308 GT4 of 1973 — a gap of nearly five decades during which every V8 Ferrari was either a convertible or a mid-engine sports car. When Ferrari unveiled the Ferrari Roma in late 2019, they were filling that specific gap with a 620-horsepower, front-mid-engine 2+2 designed less for lap times than for a particular kind of presence.
Marketed under the slogan “La Nuova Dolce Vita” (The New Sweet Life), the Roma is a 2+2 front-mid-engine coupe. It was not designed to set lap records or scream the loudest. Instead, it was designed to be the most beautiful, elegant, and usable Ferrari on sale — a car you could drive to a premier in Milan or a dinner in Paris without shouting about your arrival, until you pressed the throttle.
Historical Context: The Return of the GT Coupe
The Ferrari Roma occupies a specific position in the brand’s history: the return of the front-engine V8 GT coupe after a long absence. Since the Dino 308 GT4 of 1973, Ferrari’s V8 road cars had been exclusively mid-engine. The California and Portofino used front-engine V8s but were convertibles. The Roma is the first front-engine V8 Ferrari coupe in nearly five decades.
This matters because the front-engine coupe has a specific character that the mid-engine berlinetta cannot replicate. It is more relaxed, more GT-oriented, with better forward visibility and a more natural driving position. The engine note comes from in front of you rather than from behind your head. The weight over the front wheels provides a different kind of steering feel. It is, in short, a different car for different occasions — and Ferrari recognized a gap in their lineup that the Roma could fill.
The name is both a place and a concept. Rome: the Eternal City, beauty and history intertwined, dolce vita made tangible in cobblestone streets and golden evening light. The car is named not after a technical specification or a performance achievement but after an atmosphere. That is unusual for any car manufacturer and deeply deliberate on Ferrari’s part.
The Design: Minimalist Elegance
The Ferrari Roma is widely considered one of the most beautiful cars produced by Maranello in the 21st century. Designed by Flavio Manzoni at the Ferrari Styling Centre, it deliberately rejects the aggressive, highly vented, aerodynamic aesthetic of cars like the F8 Tributo or the 812 Superfast.
Instead, the Roma draws inspiration from the elegant Ferrari grand tourers of the 1950s and 1960s, specifically the 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso.
- The Shark Nose: The front end features a pronounced, overhanging “shark nose” and a completely unique body-colored grille. The grille is made from a single piece of aluminum, perforated to allow air to reach the radiators without breaking the smooth lines of the front fascia.
- Clean Flanks: There are no Scuderia Ferrari shields on the front fenders (though they can be optioned, many designers argue it ruins the clean lines). There are no massive side intakes. The profile is defined by muscular, sweeping haunches and a rapidly sloping roofline.
- Integrated Aerodynamics: Because the body is so clean, downforce is managed invisibly. The car features a complex front underbody and an active rear spoiler integrated flawlessly into the rear window. The spoiler deploys automatically at high speeds, offering three different positions (Low Drag, Medium Downforce, High Downforce) depending on the vehicle’s speed and lateral acceleration.
The 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso reference is carefully chosen. That car — designed by Pininfarina and built in 1962-1964 — is considered one of the most beautiful Ferraris ever built and one of the defining expressions of Italian automotive design. It was a GT car designed for elegant high-speed touring, not racing, and it wore its purpose gracefully. The Roma aspires to the same ideal.
The clean flanks are particularly striking in an era when most performance cars have progressively accumulated more vents, intakes, and aerodynamic elements. Ferrari resisted all of these temptations for the Roma, achieving its functional aerodynamic requirements through underbody management and the active rear spoiler rather than surface features. The result is a car that reads as almost shockingly pure alongside its contemporaries.
The Heart: Award-Winning Turbo V8
Beneath the long, sweeping hood lies the F154 BH engine. It is a 3.9-liter (3,855 cc) twin-turbocharged V8, part of the same engine family that won the “International Engine of the Year” award four years in a row.
For the Roma, the engine was heavily revised compared to its application in the Portofino. It received new cam profiles, a speed sensor to measure turbine revolutions (allowing the maximum revs per minute to be increased by 5,000), and a new exhaust system equipped with Gasoline Particulate Filters (GPF) to meet strict Euro 6D emissions standards.
To ensure the GPFs didn’t ruin the sound, Ferrari removed the traditional silencers (mufflers) entirely, introducing a new bypass valve design to maintain a robust, muscular V8 growl.
The engine produces 620 cv (612 hp) between 5,750 and 7,500 rpm, and a massive 760 Nm (561 lb-ft) of torque. Like all modern turbocharged Ferraris, the Roma utilizes Variable Boost Management, which limits torque in lower gears and delivers the full 760 Nm only in 7th and 8th gear, mimicking the linear power delivery of a naturally aspirated engine.
The decision to remove conventional mufflers and rely entirely on bypass valves for noise management is audacious. Conventional mufflers work by reducing exhaust pressure through various acoustic means — absorption, reflection, cancellation. Removing them entirely means the engine’s full exhaust note is available, managed only by the bypass valves that close at low loads for emissions and open at higher loads for sound and performance. The result is a V8 that sounds genuinely mechanical and powerful — not synthesized or suppressed.
The 8-Speed Transmission
Power is routed to the rear wheels via a new 8-speed dual-clutch transmission, derived from the unit developed for the SF90 Stradale hybrid hypercar.
This new gearbox is 6 kg lighter than the previous 7-speed unit used in the Portofino. The addition of the 8th gear allowed Ferrari engineers to shorten the ratios in the lower gears for more aggressive acceleration, while utilizing the 8th gear as an overdrive for quiet, highly efficient highway cruising.
The Roma accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 3.4 seconds, 0 to 200 km/h (124 mph) in 9.3 seconds, and has a top speed of “>320 km/h” (>199 mph).
The 8-speed gearbox derived from the SF90 is a significant technological detail. That gearbox was designed for a 1,000-horsepower hybrid hypercar and is therefore massively over-engineered for the Roma’s 620 horsepower. The benefit of this over-engineering is extraordinary robustness and precision — a gearbox that changes gear with absolute mechanical confidence and will likely outlast the rest of the car.
A Digital Revolution Inside
While the exterior of the Roma is deliberately retro and minimalist, the interior represents a massive technological leap forward for the brand. The cabin features a “dual cockpit” concept, clearly dividing the space between the driver and passenger.
The Roma abandoned traditional analog dials entirely. Behind the steering wheel sits a massive, curved 16-inch digital instrument cluster. The steering wheel itself introduced a new era of Ferrari interfaces, featuring haptic touchpads instead of physical buttons for starting the engine, navigating menus, and controlling the wipers.
In the center console sits an 8.4-inch vertical touchscreen to handle climate and infotainment, while an optional slim display can be fitted ahead of the passenger, allowing them to view telemetry, speed, and audio settings. The gear selector is a beautiful piece of machined metal designed to mimic the classic open-gate manual shifters of vintage Ferraris.
The haptic steering wheel controls have been controversial since their introduction. The advantage is a cleaner wheel with more precision in placement than physical switches allow. The disadvantage is the difficulty of using them by feel while wearing gloves or driving hard — you cannot feel where the buttons are, so you must look. Ferrari has continued to refine this system with each generation, but it remains a topic of debate among enthusiasts.
The Roma Spider
In 2023, Ferrari introduced the Roma Spider — the open-top variant.
The Spider uses an aluminum folding roof that opens in 13.5 seconds. Ferrari achieved this with only a 75 kg weight increase over the coupe — remarkable for a folding hardtop conversion. Crucially, the same 620 horsepower, 3.4-second sprint time, and 320 km/h top speed are retained.
The Spider’s proportions are, if anything, even more beautiful than the coupe’s. The folding roof disappears cleanly behind the occupants, creating a pure open-top GT silhouette that references the 250 GT California Spider of the 1960s — another connection to the specific heritage the Roma is evoking.
The Ultimate Everyday Ferrari
The Ferrari Roma is built on an evolution of the modular platform used for the Portofino, but 70% of its components are completely new. The chassis is significantly stiffer and lighter, resulting in a dry weight of 1,472 kg (3,245 lbs) when equipped with lightweight options.
Equipped with the 6th generation of Side Slip Control (SSC 6.0) and the Ferrari Dynamic Enhancer (FDE), the Roma is incredibly agile. It feels much sharper and more focused than a typical Grand Tourer, blurring the lines between a comfortable cruiser and a dedicated sports car. It is the perfect modern interpretation of La Dolce Vita.
The comparison to the 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso is not just aesthetic — it is philosophical. That car was built for a customer who wanted beauty, refinement, and adequate performance in a package that expressed Italian elegance without compromise. The Roma serves the same customer in the same spirit, just with 620 horsepower instead of 250 and carbon-ceramic brakes instead of drums. The sweet life, updated for the present.