2022 Ferrari California T in effect it heralds a new era

Having read through CJ Hubbard’s feature on the turbocharged Ferrari California T it occurred to me that this car represents a significant moment in Ferrari’s history, in effect it heralds a new era.

Turbocharging is nothing new to Ferrari with widespread use of the system in the 1980s Formula 1 and the glorious 288 GTO and F40. In those days it was all about power and huge outputs were obtained approaching 1000bhp. Today, turbocharging is more to do with fuel efficiency and ecology. While Ferrari is struggling to make its F1 cars competitive, it has achieved great success with the California’s new power unit. It seems unlikely that the naturally aspirated V8 will continue in production much longer. It has been announced that the 458 replacement, due in 2022, will be turbocharged. Maserati have already adopted the system in its Quattroporte and Ghibli saloons and I wouldn’t be surprised if the new Alfieri appeared with a California-derived unit. I do understand the need to take environmental issues into account, but we were having so much fun. My recent drives in a Ferrari 458 Speciale and Maserati MC Stradale were memorable because of that glorious purity of sound. Buy one while stocks last!

While on the subject of the California, I have always thought that the sound of the flat plane crank engine was not suited to the model and that a conventional V8 would have been more appropriate. I heard a story recently that the California was originally intended to be a Maserati Spyder and that it would have had the sonorous GranTurismo V8. It has been said that Ferrari changed the car’s title when it was realised how much more money could be made if it had a prancing horse on the front – and they were probably right.