A £200,000 sports car has been shipped to the Isle of Man to be road tested by a leading motoring website.

The Steam Packet Company brought a Ferrari 458 Italia over for the website MSN Cars to try to raise the Island's profile as a destination for visiting car clubs. 

Ian Dickson, MSN Car's editor, visited the Island in November.

He said: "With the TT festival and the Manx Rally the Isle of Man is something of a mecca for motorsport enthusiasts and when deciding where to test a Ferrari for a story on MSN Cars there was only one location that could do this car justice.

"The stunning scenic backdrop, especially on the Mountain Road, was perfect for our photographer to produce a set of images which showed off the Ferrari 458 Italia vividly while the roads were a perfect test of this £200,000 supercar.

"The Steam Packet Company was instrumental in setting this story up and were a great help in choosing accommodation that allowed us to maximise our time in the Island. Without their help we would probably have stayed in England for this drive story."

The Steam Packet Company and Isle of Man Tourism work closely together to attract a number of car clubs to the Island.

Last year 18 car clubs visited bringing 800 people and 425 cars to the Island. These visitors accounted for more than 2,500 bed nights during the year.

Clubs that visited included the Model "T" Ford, the Jaguar XK Register, Rolls Royce, VW Camper, Lotus TVR, Porsche and Mitsubishi.

Mark Woodward, chief executive of the Steam Packet Company, said: "With its open roads and spectacular scenery the Isle of Man has much to offer visiting motorists who can soak up the atmosphere at their own pace.

"This is an area that we will be looking to develop further in coming years and we’ve already received a number of enquiries – and bookings – for 2011."