Ferrari California – the car world's greatest misses
A Ferrari by name, but not sufficiently Ferrari-like in its behaviour, the noughties Cali was a hard car to love
Ferrari isn’t the sort of company to have an ‘entry-level’ model. It certainly wouldn’t use that pair of words itself because it gives the impression of a car with plastic seats, no headrests and a blanking plate where the clock should be. But in 2008 an entry-level car is basically what Ferrari announced with this, the California.
The spec, however, was far from Popular Plus, featuring a 4.3-litre, 453bhp V8 wrapped in a Pininfarina-styled shell, plus the bragging rights of being the first front-engined Ferrari with a V8, the first to have a double-clutch gearbox, the first with a folding metal roof, the first with direct injection, and the first with a multilink rear axle. And all this for less than the previous kick-off point to getting a new Ferrari in your garage, the F430. No wonder Maranello’s marketing mavens reckoned the Cali would attract new blood to Ferrari ownership.
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As well it might when, on paper, the car sounded like a compelling take on the trans-continental GT. On the road, however, much of that promise evaporated, as Richard Meaden discovered in evo 143 when he compared the then-new California with an Audi R8 Spyder, a Jaguar XKR convertible and a Porsche 911 Turbo cabrio. The chief problem seemed to be the mismatch between that revvy V8 and typically quick Ferrari steering at one extreme and the rather soft springs and under-damped rear end at the other. In such talented company it came a distant last with a disappointed Meaden discovering that when you left its low-speed comfort zone, it was simply ‘all at sea’. He also noted that Ferraris should be hard to resist and, unlike any of its range mates, the less-than-charismatic California was weirdly easy to pass over.
Perhaps that’s because it wasn’t really a Ferrari at all. Instead, this car was originally conceived as a new flagship for Ferrari’s sister company, Maserati. As a replacement for the old Coupé and Spyder, it would have been logical, also being a front-engined, V8-powered car with a grand touring bent. But when horse and trident went their separate ways in 2005, cash-strapped Maserati couldn’t justify launching a brand-new model on a bespoke platform with an all-aluminium shell, a folding metal roof, and an expensively specified powertrain. All it could really afford was a cutdown Quattroporte chassis using existing tech clothed in a new steel body, which is what it gave us with the hastily developed GranTurismo of 2007, leaving Ferrari with an unwanted but almost-completed front-engined car of more exotic spec.
Rather than throw it in the bin, the visible parts were restyled and, hey presto, Ferrari suddenly had an entry-level car. But ‘entry level’ never sounded right for this Ferrari. Not because it sounded cheap, but because it sounded like we were about to get a new Dino rather than a heavy, front-engined cruiser with some odd chassis tuning, an awkwardly proportioned rear end and a strange lack of identity that could be blamed on its difficult conception. Of course, purists will tell you the Dino wasn’t really a Ferrari. But in heritage and personality, neither was the California.
This story was first featured in evo issue 324.
