Ferrari California review

"The California really grows on you"

What is it?

The first Ferrari with a folding metal roof. It’s also the first Ferrari with a front-mounted V8, direct injection and a dual clutch paddle shift gearbox. Designed to be more refined than a F430 yet almost as potent, the California has been built for driving on the sweeping open costal roads and wide boulevards of the sate after which it is named.

What’s it like on the outside?

It’s attractive, but more in a Nigella Lawson than a Megan Fox kind of way. For instance, it’s got a friendly smile rather than a moody pout, curvy hips instead of taught thighs and a voluptuous bottom not a pert derriere. And weighing in at 1,735kg, the California is certainly no waif.  

What’s it like on the inside?

Outstanding. The chocolate leather trim with contrasting stitching of our test car oozes craftsmanship of a £25,000 Botega Veneta handbag (don’t ask how we know this). And the solid aluminium centre console looks like a piece of modern art. Everything is so well built that by comparison the F430 feels like a kit car that’s been built in a shed.

What’s it like to drive?

Roof up or down the California is incredibly civilised. In fact the ride is so good that even on rubbish British roads you could be forgiven for thinking that Ferrari used a Volvo as a donor car… until you put your foot down. When you do it’ obvious you are driving a thoroughbred supercar.  
The 460hp V8 engine is immense. There are no holes in the power delivery, no manic peaky top-end rush. Instead there’s relentless, almost gravitational pull to the horizon, a feeling that’s enhanced by the fact twin clutch gearbox changes ratios with no let up in torque.  
Despite its weight the California is extremely agile too. Okay, so it may not be quite as sharp and pointy as the lighter, mid-engined F430. But that’s a bit like saying Newton wasn’t as clever as Einstein. Everything is relative. because the California will still make a fool out of an Aston Martin DB9 on a track.  

Verdict

You have to spend a bit of time with the California to really appreciate it because, unlike other Ferraris, it doesn’t instantly get your adrenaline pumping. But grow on you it does. And in the end, you start to think how it is probably the most rounded car the Italian firm has ever made. We’d still rather have a 430 Scuderia, though.

By Mat Watson