2009 Ferrari California
Good news, kids! Hard economic times has created bargains every where, and that includes a small auto maker in Maranello, Italy.
Recession bargain hunting extends even to Ferrari. Their newest offering is the California. It is the least expensive new Ferrari you can buy, a bargain at its offering price under $200k. And, there is little wait time — forget a 3-5 year backlog, the wait list for this little beastie is only 18 months!
Some of the specifics:
• 0 – 60 in 3.5 seconds
• First ever front engine V8
• 453-horsepower
• Retractable hardtop
• 1st Ferrari ot built entirely by hand
• High production run: 3,000 a year
• No manual transmission option
That last one is a deal killer for me . . . too bad, its a gorgeous looking car.
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Sources:
Official site
http://www.ferraricalifornia.com
Color It Red, Like a Sea of Ink
JERRY GARRETT
NYT, October 18, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/18/automobiles/autoreviews/18ferrari.html
The California: A chick Ferrari that captures a guy’s heart
Dan Neil
LATimes, September 4, 2009
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-neil4-2009sep04,0,22802.column
Ferrari California
Jeremy Clarkson
The Sunday Times, September 13, 2009
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article6830070.ece
Driven: 2010 Ferrari California
Jason Cammisa
Automobile, August 05, 2009
http://www.automobilemag.com/reviews/driven/0908_2010_ferrari_california/index.html
Our friends from Maranello show off their latest mouth-watering creation.
JORDAN BROWN AND ERIK JOHNSON
Car & Driver, May 2008
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/08q2/2009_ferrari_california-car_news
October 17th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
very beautiful as many Ferraris, and to me the early ones – I am as much a fan of the flair and panache of Italian Style and Beauty, but I am equally drawn by the Mechanical Symphony that a screaming V12 or V8 bring. I also like the new 458 Italia, which has been rumored to be headed for Spyder form as well.
October 17th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
But…but…we are supposed to have inflation..HYPERINFLATION!!
Idiots…
October 17th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Who’s not embarrassed to be seen in a low-end Ferrari? V-8. Phfphf…
October 17th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
Ya know, if I am putting the “California” name on my F-car, it’s not going to look like a cross between an Opel GT and a Lexus SC. They should have called it “Beverly Hills,” cause that’s going to be its market. No manual tranny in a F-car?
October 17th, 2009 at 4:48 pm
No manual??
WTF Over.
October 17th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
Nessuna trasmissione manuale in un’automobile sportiva!
Ferrari sputa sulle tombe di tutti i driver americani con questo atto di malvagità vile!
October 18th, 2009 at 3:55 am
Personally I would not want a sports manual transmission to deal with. I learned to drive in a 1966 diesel landrover that did not have syncromesh gears between 1st and 2nd or 2nd and 3rd so I do know how to treat a manual transmission gently. In New Zealand in the early eighties an automatic gearbox was very much the exception not the rule. Now after owning used Jap imports for years I have pretty much got used to automatics although one of our cars is still a manual. However I’d fully enjoy being able to floor it and not have to worry about missing a gear all the way to the top. I’d be fully occupied with keeping the car aimed properly anyway.
October 18th, 2009 at 5:17 am
I second Simon. I drive a Tesla roadster, there are no gears, period. Gears are only needed because of the gas engine and its lack of thrust at low speed. Electric engines show you you don’t need gears at all. That is one of the reasons the car is so fast (0-60 in 3.9). I also drive a Turbo in automatic and wouldn’t have it another way. Manual gears are a romantic construct that says “I am a man” but truly it is nothing but marketing a weakness (gears).
October 18th, 2009 at 5:28 am
What would you do with a manual anyway? You’d wear out 1st & 2nd gears, which would be the only two gears you’d be able to use unless you were looking to zip around town at 1200rpm.
IS it a CVT automatic?
And I know you guys understand that you can shift an automatic and hold it in gear, right?
October 18th, 2009 at 10:15 am
• No manual transmission option
No kidding. I can’t believe they did that. It only comes in girlie-omatic. How truly Californian. Pathetic.
October 18th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
You mean after all your “grief” in trying to get a new car quote e-mailed to you, this is what you settled on?