When the Ferrari California made its official debut earlier this month we were given a few details and about three pictures to drool over. Today Ferrari released a more detailed press release with some new pictures of the Ferrari California (some with the top closed). President Luca Di Montezemolo recently got behind the wheel of the California, taking several laps at the companys Fiorano circuit. Of course he had nothing but good things to say about his companys latest toy.

I am very satisfied indeed with the work that the women and men of Ferrari have done, said Montezemolo. The California is an extraordinary car and I was delighted with the performance, comfort and driving pleasure it delivered.

So we already know that power comes from a 4.3 liter V8 producing 460-hp that is mated to?a 7-speed dual clutch transmission. What new info did we learn? Well for one we learned the Ferrari California returns a combined fuel-economy of 18mpg. Oh we also learned that the retractable hard top that closes in just 14 seconds. And thats about it. Now go drool over the new pics.

2009 Ferrari California:

 



 

Press Release:

Maranello, 29th May 2008 – The new Ferrari California, 2+ convertible, had a very special test-driver behind its wheel the last few days as the Prancing Horse President Luca di Montezemolo put it through its paces over several laps at the Fiorano circuit.

I am very satisfied indeed with the work that the women and men of Ferrari have done, declared Luca di Montezemolo. The California is an extraordinary car and I was delighted with the performance, comfort and driving pleasure it delivered. The California is, like all of our models, the epitome of cutting-edge innovation. Its gearbox, suspensions and chassis are the most advanced possible.

This is the first dual-purpose Spider/Coupé with a retractable hard top that closes in just 14 seconds. Despite its extraordinary performance, the California 2+ is also exceptionally easy to drive and has a space behind the front seats that makes it supremely flexible in terms of usage.

The latest photographs of the new Pininfarina-styled retractable hard top convertible released today show it with its top closed and in an Azzurro California livery. Azzurro California was the colour chosen for the legendary 1960s spiders appearance at the New York Auto Show in 1962 and proved one of the firm favourites with owners of that model too.

Like the rest of the current Prancing Horse range, the Ferrari California has been aerodynamically designed to deliver significant downforce values – 70 kg at 200 Km/h, in fact.

This is the first time too that the new 7-speed dual clutch has been used on a Ferrari car. This technology is the fruit of in-depth gear shifting systems research by the Scuderia Ferrari. The system utilised on the Ferrari California cuts the gear shifting time to zero and enhances to the utmost the cars performance in terms of comfort and driveability.

Performance is further boosted by the new Launch Control button which when hit delivers blistering high performance starts by ensuring correct torque delivery and preventing tyre spin during acceleration.

The car is 4560 mm in length, 1900 mm wide and has a wheel base of 2700 mm. The luggage capacity of the Ferrari California provides further proof of the versatility of this latest additionto the Prancing Horse range: when the roof is up, the boot has a 360-litre capacity and a 260 litre capacity when it is down.

For the first time on a Prancing Horse car, the boot and cabin communicate directly, allowing a choice of luggage configurations to be used.

Particular attention was also paid to fuel consumption levels which in the case of the ECE combined cycle is 13.2 l/100 km with CO2 emission levels of around 310 g/km.