World’s most powerful convertible is a study in versatility

Heritage is the most valuable thing any luxury automaker can possess. It is also the most expensive: It costs time.

Over its 81-year history, Ferrari NV has cultivated arguably the most revered heritage of any of today’s sports car makers. The company is repeatedly named World’s Strongest Brand at Davos and among the most valuable luxury houses in the world, even with rivals on its tail of late in the stock market. So it is unsurprising that Ferrari would push its 812 GTS Spider as something with blue blood history, linking it to the Daytona Spider of 1969-the last Ferrari convertible before this one to sport a V12 engine. But what was surprising to me after a week of driving the car in Los Angeles was just how low-key and versatile it was. The car starts at $397,544, mind you; the one I drove cost nearly $535,000, thanks to options I’ll get to later.