A couple of years ago I was at an airport and I noticed in the duty free area there was a Ferrari on a turntable that was a raffle prize.
I’d never seen one like it before turns out that it was a California, at £25 / $40 a pop for a ticket I passed on what may well have been my only opportunity to own a Ferrari without regret.
Allegedly the California was originally conceived as Maserati, however the economics of the project dictated that only a Ferrari badge offered any hope of a financial return on the vehicle.
Researching this blog I was surprised to find the California introduced in 2008, shares it’s engine design with both ALFA Romeo and Maserati models.
Over 1,000 hours are said to have been spent in a wind tunnel perfecting the aerodynamics of the California so that it’s drag coefficient is 0.32 the lowest ever achieved for any Ferrari.
I have to confess it was not until I had run a registration check on these vehicles that I had any idea of exactly which models they were and indeed they were both the same type, I thought the red one was a 612 Scaglietti !
Allegedly there is room on the back seats for two adults in a Ferrari 612 Scaglietti something at 6′ 2″ I’d love to put to the test.
Even if I had known it comes with a front mounted 450 hp 4.3 litre 260 cui V8 engine I doubt I would have been tempted to buy a raffle ticket….
because for all the attention to detail …
beautiful craftsmanship ….
seven speed dual clutch transmission …
and promise of the joys of open air motoring …
alone price of the road tax on the Ferrari California is enough to keep me on the road for a whole year in my 20 year old jalopy … but that does not stop me from dreaming 🙂
With thanks to the PistonHeads responsible for bringing these dream machines to the Sunday Service at the BMW Plant in Cowley a couple of weeks ago.
Hope you have enjoyed to days California dreaming edition of ‘Gettin a lil’ psycho on tyres’ and that you’ll join me again tomorrow for a look at another vehicle bearing the California name. Don’t forget to come back now !
PS Should I have failed to quench your thirst for Ferrari’s take a look at the new Ferrari FF with Michele Rahal over on The Drive Channel.
