Thabiso Malimela
The Ferrari California didn’t seem to have a happy life. This could be attributed to its reputation is being the cheap or entry level Ferrari, which is(was) true. And then to add fuel to the fire, Ferrari gave it looks that only a mother would love – despite being designed by renowned design company Pininfarina. The California’s successor, the California T, came in with a new turbocharged engine and an exterior that is derivative to that of the California, albeit contemporary. It looked a lot better but no one could ignore the elephant in the room – it still looked a bit wrong.
Now, the Maranello-based sports car maker has given us this – the Portofino. Despite sounding a meal you would order at an Italian restaurant, your mouth will salivate once you lay your sights upon it. The super grand tourer design of the ugly duckling California is still present but the Portofino is now a swan. The Portofino has a retractable hard-top roof and 2 rear seats as it keeps the 2+2 hard-top convertible theme alive.
Under the vented bonnet lies the 3.9 litre twin-turbocharged V8 from the California T which now comes with augmented performance figures – 441 kW and 760 N.m of torque (29 kW and 5 N.m over the old version). This means that the Portofino can do 0 -100 km/h in 3.5 seconds and on to and beyond 320 km/h.
Ferrari says that this car is lighter than its predecessor and its chassis is more rigid – this means the Portofino won’t be as floppy as the California’s looks. There is also a new electronic differential (E-Diff) in the rear, electric steering and magnetic suspension with magnetorheological damping to improve both sharpeness and comfort. The Portofino is 16 mm longer, 28 mm wider and 4 mm shorter than the car it replaces.
Step inside the Ferrari cabin and you’ll find a note-worthy a 10,2-inch touchscreen, a redesigned steering wheel and the trademark Ferrari passenger info display so you can see (in numbers) how close you are to your death. The prevent the buffeting wind from disturbing the peace inside the cabin when the roof is down, a redesigned wind deflector reduces air-flow into the cabin by 30% – good news for those with long hair!
Expect the worldwide launch of the Portofino next month at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
