The flat, tiled roof of the Pininfarina design studio in Turin, Italy, is a secret paradise. A short stairway above the third floor and hidden from public view, immortal automobiles appear here almost routinely. Weeks before arriving in this northern Italian city, we’d seen photos of the car standing before us now, and we’d drawn our conclusions, mostly enthusiastic. Yet seen suddenly in three throbbing dimensions, this four-wheeled aggressor seemed to morph before our eyes. Jason Castriota, an energetic native New Yorker and lead designer for Pininfarina special projects, had warned us how different a car can look in real life — and if you doubt it, consider the first Porsche Cayman you witnessed after seeing it only in pictures.

The car on the roof was something called the Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina — less formally, “the Glickenhaus car.” Castriota and his colleagues also designed Ferrari’s controversial new V-12 599GTB Fiorano and the show-stopping MC12-based Maserati Birdcage concept. We’d seen both downstairs — and they beggar the camera. In photos, Castriota’s all-white Birdcage is neutral, almost formless. In person, it’s one of the most muscular, sensuous automotive shapes ever, ever, ever.

And now the P4/5 is pulling the same trick. The longer we looked, the more bad-*** and pumped it got — a snorting, snuffling beast, restless on its haunches. Something said, “Get back!”

If you plan on seeing this wicked car in person (we’ll tell you how you can), bring your upheld lion tamer’s chair. (A camera is no defense at all.)