Bentley has invited me ice driving in Sweden in January but I had just as much ‘fun’ travelling to Kingham Station this morning. That twin turbo V6 puts 410bhp to the back wheels – enough to make even a rear-wheel drive BMW look good on ice.

Because the Quattroporte is also very long, the slightest tweak of the accelerator sends the back of the car swinging out at an alarming rate.

And what about that ‘ICE’ button on the auto transmission? Well, it has nothing to do with chilly conditions! ‘Increased control and efficiency’ is actually a fuel-saving device for urban driving, so don’t be fooled.

The best advice I can give anybody driving a Maserati in the snow are the words a Ferrari test driver gave me in the snow-capped mountains of the Alps once. Quite simple, don’t press the accelerator, ‘squeeze your toes…’