CHASING CARS
ASKING £82,950 PRICE
ENGINE 4297cc/V8/QOHC POWER 453bhp@7750rpm TORQUE 358lb ft@5000rpm MAXIMUM SPEED 193mph 0-60MPH 4sec FUEL CONSUMPTION 13-18mpg TRANSMISSION RWD, seven-speed auto MoT 12 months on sale ODOMETER 28,050 miles
WHAT’S IT LIKE TO DRIVE?
Ferrari’s first front-engined V8 – and its first with an electric folding hard-top – was controversial at launch. The engine fires up immediately on the press of the starter button and while it takes a while to get up to temperature it idles evenly. The temperature and oil pressure gauge needles sit firmly in the middle of their dials once everything has warmed up and don’t move from their marks, even when the cooling fans kick in. The California gets into gear with a single pull of the right-hand shift paddle and pulls seamlessly through its ratios. Wide tyres make the car feel skittish and tramline a lot on uneven road surfaces but not uncontrollably. The automated-manual gearbox works best in automatic mode, the throttle always feeling responsive and accompanied with a ready V8 howl, though the gearbox has a habit of overriding the driver unexpectedly and choosing to change gear unprompted in manual Sport mode.
BODYWORK CHECK
The exterior is spotless with no scuffs, dents or corrosion.
The alloy wheels are unmarked and the Pirelli P-Zero tyres have plenty of tread left.
HOW’S THE INTERIOR?
The frameless windows drop correctly when the door is opened to equalise air pressure and snap back up when closed. The interior is almost completely unmarked apart from a slight scratch that’s visible on the centre console. The leather on the driver’s side outer bolster is starting to wrinkle, too, but there’s no danger of it drying out and splitting just yet. The roof electronics all work, including the alarm going off (and the mechanism refusing to work) if you attempt to operate it while the car is in motion.
UNDER THE BONNET
