It’s pretty brave to launch a convertible in Rome, given how much ‘character’ the roads of this ancient capital have. Turbulent asphalt, Belgian pavé-style cobbled surfaces, Fiat 500-sized pot holes… if an open car is going to shake, shudder or shimmy, it’ll do it here. And if any type of car is likely to suffer more than most, it’ll be a long-wheelbase convertible that was born as a coupe.

Meet the Maserati GranCabrio, the four-seat, open-top version of the long-wheelbase GranTurismo. It looks fabulous, at least as good as the hard-top – with the roof down you can see all four headrests and better understand why its wheelbase is so long.