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Northern Italy was in the grip of a heat wave when we arrived. But what really raised temperatures in Bolzano was the Maserati GranTurismo prowling its streets.
An hour from the Austrian border, the architecture is German, menus a mad mix of spaghetti and wurst, and even the language can't make up its mind. But this car is pure Italian, as passionate and sensual a creation as anything so solidly metal could hope to be.
No wonder Maserati's bosses were so happy. The day before, the company had announced a profit for the first time since its 1993 purchase by Fiat, largely thanks to the success of the new four-door Quattroporte.
Now here comes another prospect, based on that platform but sportier, a more obvious successor to Maserati's illustrious history.
Mind you, this isn't a pure sports car, a 911-beater, a club-day racer. It's a proper GT, and pitted against Jaguar's XK, BMW's 6-Series and the Mercedes-Benz CL500, at least in terms of size and price. But Maserati's whiff of exclusivity and its tasty aura could pull Aston and Bentley GT buyers, and even less sporting 911 owners looking for a slightly more relaxing life.
The basics are simple. Make a performance sports car that won't sacrifice touring comfort for four. Keep the Maserati DNA; for those looks think of the Birdcage show car, or the 1953 A6GCS and the loin-melting sound track. And, where possible, do it without leaking money.
Hence using the Quattroporte platform, here some 190mm shorter, the long wheelbase and abbreviated overhangs enhancing the GranTurismo's purposeful looks. The Maserati 4.2-litre V8, mildly tweaked, and the ZF automatic gearbox also fitted to the four-door car. And those gorgeous looks: the long bonnet framed by flaring arches; the sweep of waist enhanced by the subtle haunches; the way your eye flows over it, sweeping round a tail that could belong only to a Maserati.
Under the bonnet this characterful engine delivers 298kW at 7100rpm and 460Nm at 4750. That's not as powerful as the Jag, or as torquey as any of its direct competitors. Maserati is not too worried, excusing this and the car's 1880kg weight by pointing out the zero-to-100km/h claim - matching the lighter Jag - and how well that weight is balanced.
The engine sits behind the front axle, the six-speed auto transmission bolted directly to it. The result is a 49:51 front-to-rear figure that puts the heft over the back wheels, the traditionally sporty recipe eschewed by many up-scale GTs.
Don't forget, a GT won't compromise comfort for performance, and Maserati claws back the high ground with its interior. Not only is it well designed, with the four leather-clad, deeply-dished pews suiting real-world adults and the many, varied and useable extras, but materials and build quality have obviously improved, despite the rather temperamental electric mirrors on our pre-production test car.
Then there are the flourishes. Four cup-holders - frivolous but vital to the US market - are the footnote to an extensive list that starts at six airbags, ISOFIX child seat attachments, and adaptive headlights that rotate as you turn the wheel.
Heck, there's even an inbuilt hard drive that will hold 180 hours of music and special tuning for the ESP, to allow a little more sideslip than the more sensible Quattroporte.
But forget the guff - does it work? Oh yes. Sweeping into the foothills of the Alps and round hair-raising alpine turn after turn en-route to Moena and morning coffee, we found the GT assured and keen.
Gear changes are smooth and fast even in normal mode. Select sport for more aggressive transmission response and 100 millisecond gear-changes or manual, via stick or steering wheel-mounted paddles. The latter proved valuable on hard down-changes, but the car will swap cogs for you if you push the rpm envelope.
And push it we did, rejoicing in that feral cough as the revs peaked and the cogs changed. This is a stiffer car than the GranSport by 30 per cent, according to Maserati chassis and drivetrain engineer Paul Fickers, although he won't quote figures.
But you feel it, enhanced by the Skyhook, an automatic, continuous damping control that's optional in Europe but standard for NZ cars.
The conventional dampers sit at the sporting end of the Skyhook scale, while the adaptive systems flexibility does a great job of absorbing road irregularities. No doubt the lumpy roads down under played a part in fitting Skyhook to all our cars.
For their $280,000 to $290,000, New Zealand customers also get the upgraded Bose audio, heated front seats, tyre pressure monitoring and 20-inch wheels, which make for a marginally stiffer ride with slightly enhanced handling.
The GranTurismo's main competitor could be Aston's similarly priced V8 Vantage. Both are exclusive, both stylish, both make good use of their V8 engine and its sound track.
Which you prefer may depend on which brand of actress you identify with. Kristin Scott Thomas, star of The English Patient, with her glacial elegance and effortless cool, or Monica Belucci; unattainable but oozing sex appeal from every pore.
