Why The Next California Is Ferrari’s Most Exciting New Car

The California has been a massive success for Ferrari. More than 8000 have been sold. More than 50% of buyers are female, opening Ferrari up to a whole new market. Half of California buyers are buying their first Ferrari, too. Bet you don’t want one though, do you?

It’s never been a looker, thanks to badly executed retro kinks in the doors and a fat arse to hide the folding roof. It’s also the least focused, with a slimmed down manettino ESP interface, less power than a supercharged Range Rover, and something of an image problem.

It’s arguably the only Ferrari ever to have been designed specifically to profit from a specific type of buyer (i.e: non-Ferrari enthusiasts) instead of simply being a high-performance, no-compromise supercar that everyone from milkmen to millionaires fancied. But we reckon the new one, due in 2014, could actually be the most exciting new Ferrari of them all. Here’s why.

1. Got turbo boost, yo?

Most online rumours, about celebrity death and football transfers, are nonsense. Stuff about cars often has more than a grain of truth though – it was widely reported online that Ferrari’s ‘F70’ would be a hybrid years before the LaFerrari arrived. What’s rumoured about the new Cali? Turbos. Yes, for the first time since the F40, blowers are going in a Ferrari. A 3.8-litre with over 500bhp and more torque than the 458 Speciale is possible. And just imagine what tuners will do with the boost pressure...

2. Electric shocks

Sources in America revealed a Ferrari patent application showing an electric boost system designed for a front-mounted V8 engine. That'll be for the California, then. We’re talking about KERS here, just like you see used in Formula 1, and the possibility of push-to-overtake systems in the new Cali. If £1m for a LaFerrari seems steep, the cheapest Ferrari getting KERS is a rumour we like the sound of.

3. You might be able to afford one

Sorry to burst a few bubbles, but unlike the F355 and 360 Modena, which can now be had from £40k, you’ll never be able to pick up a 458 Italia for BMW 3-series money. It’s on a new level of performance, and like the 430 Scuderia, it will probably bottom out at around £80k then bounce back up again. The Cali meanwhile, will always be the unfashionable choice: it’s the ‘slowest’, least focused Ferrari. And if you want a modern Fezza in 20 years time, it’s the one you’re most likely to be able to get your hands on, so respect it.

4. It’ll be beautiful

Ferrari is on a styling roll at the moment. The 458 is, no arguments please, stunning, and even survives decapitation – the Spider’s almost as gorgeous. The Ferrari F12 gets the nod over the 599 and 575 as the best-looking front-engined Ferrari since the Daytona, and then there’s the LaFerrari. Not universally liked, sure, but for a car that packages so much engineering and tech, manages airflow, and has a LOT of cooling to do, to be more striking than a McLaren P1 is some feat. I like the FF too, so I’m counting it. Anyway, the Cali doesn’t need to seat four, or have a lot of downforce. It needs to swallow a folding hard-top, but that’s it. Even Volvo can make a pretty one of those. A handsome California? It’s on the cards.

5. Ferrari has balls

Not afraid of a bit of controversy, or a few surprises, is it, Ferrari? Take the FF: it bins the jumbo-coupe look of the 456 and 612 for a more practical, more aerodynamic breadvan shape. In the last five years, Ferrari has killed the manual gearbox, soft-tops and steel brakes, made its first four-wheel drive car and created a hybrid. The brand has even committed to build fewer cars just to stay exclusive. Essentially, Ferrari isn’t too predictable, so the new California is likely to have more than a few surprises up its sleeve. Who’s not excited now?

Just don’t let a racing driver loose with it...