Ferrari California T A Revelation

Ferrari California T

There has always been two divergent views of the old Ferrari California; those who liked it and those who wanted to stone it.  Admittedly, I’ve always looked for rocks, and the bigger the better.

Long considered a “ladies” car, it has, however, been Ferrari’s best seller; 10,000 units sold in just 5 years.

Prior to the T, the Ferrari California has always been an odd looking car, with front and rear seemingly designed by different people.  And not particularly fast, the old Ferrari California has always been the least desirable prancing horse.

Enter the Ferrari California T-(REX)…

I spent an afternoon with friend Steve Braverman’s California T, and I’m glad I did, as I would still be unfairly lumping the new California T in with the old California.

Ferrari California T

You’re still not going to confuse it with a 458 or F12, but the CalT looks much better, and with a nip here and tuck there, it’s become a good looking car.  Steve’s car comes in an interesting combination of black exterior, red and black interior, with yellow stitching.  Think it doesn’t work?  Wrong—-the interior is absolutely perfect and the way I would spec it given the chance (read, money).

The completed update interior is now elegant and sensible, with touch screen knobs, gadgets and SatNav as modern as can be.

Ferrari California T

I have heard people say that the California T seats don’t have enough side bolsters, but most owners aren’t going to be flogging the T around a track.  Snug, supportive, these seats held me comfortably around corner after corner at real world speeds and even stuck in traffic, your butt is going to love this car as a commuter.

Good as the outside is, the real fun is under the hood.  The “T” now stands for GOBS OF FREEKING HORSEPOWER!  Shit this thing is fast…holy crap fast, and shades of things to come.  

Modern turbos spool up in nothing flat and this new Ferrari turbocharged engine is a jewel, with practically no turbo lag and bags more power.  As quickly as you can say, “abnormally-aspirated”, the Ferrari California T leaps away from a stand still with an incredible noise, although a bit muffled from the turbos.  No matter what you’ve heard, the Ferrari sound is just as unmistakable as ever and 20 cars behind you, they will know it’s a Ferrari.

THE STATS:

HP: 552

0-60: 3.5 seconds

TRANS: 7 speed

TOP SPEED: +198 MPH

Here’s the next decade of Ferrari; a motor that will be continually be uprated, forcing chassis, braking and handling improvements, all sure to keep customers standing in line for the cars from Maranello.

My take: $199,000 seems like a fair price considering what you get.

THE COMPETITION: Jag F-Type, Mercedes Benz GTS AMG, Mercedes SL

I’m putting down my rocks now…

Dave