is it just me ?

First impression : I really dont like the rear of the car
rest is awesome
its like the rear is not enough Ferrari if you know what i mean ....

360 rules

 

ger den en tillfällighet

 

http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/hovercraft.htm

 

Here are some better photos to judge the appearance of the California
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I also dislike the rear end design of the California..... that being said if one was offered to me at MSRP I'll most likely purchase it. (especially the sky blue)

 

Rare cause few sold.I hope this maser redux sells like edsels so the Factory will finally can that ivy league jack ass Montezemolo

 

If this car didn't have enought Cavallinos on it, I would think: BMW Z6 or something.

that rear....geesch.

 

Where has the Italian Soul Gone???? F40, Daytona, 512-M, 575, 355, 360 CS.

The newer Ferraris are generally attractive but not exotic enough :-(

Some days I like the 599 and some days I don't, doesnt give me the sleepless nights I used to get dreaming of getting behind the wheel of a wide-assed Testarossa or maybe I'm older and they are more attainable.

I hope they can create something one day that can bring that feeling back.

S

 

Spot on.

 

I disagree with a lot of the comments.

First Luca Di Montezemolo has done so much for Ferrari. Eight F-1 World Championships in the last ten years. Modern factory with state of the art wind tunnel. Much better cars. He's not perfect but he is damn good and smart too.

Second, the California is an impressive collection of firsts for Ferrari. All aluminum folding hardtop. Dual Clutch. Direct injection. First real Navigation system (Sometimes I don't take my 360 on a trip if I don't know the roads, but with the California I will). Large trunk with pass thru. Carbon Ceramic brakes (okay not a first) and magnetic suspension system (borrowed from 599). How can one not be impressed by all this.

Third, the California, despite what people may complain about, is not an ugly car. Fine, you may not like the rear. But it is not that different from the 599's. You may not like the little vent on the side but it is no worse than the vent of the aston or the gills of the merc.

 

And Michael gets a hellava lot more credit than LdM for these great years in F1 wars. The last 14 years the street Cars are not the last word,they all seem to be one class entry or another and this new front v8 is an insult to The Heritage of The Commendatore.

 

So we buy Ferraris now because of this ... buy a friggin map man!!

The car is an ugly piece of ... a Mercedes with a different badge.
Pete

 

AN MR2 with yellow shields pasted on.

TERRIBLE!

With a form like this, who cares about function.

 

what the hell are with those rear lights!?!?

UGLY!

 

We can debate whether Luca has taken Ferrari in the right direction. I'll grant they're profitable now, which is no minor thing. With regard to the road cars, they all need time with Jenny Craig.

As far as the tech stuff, Merc has been doing folding tops for a while. My Audi has a dual-clutch gearbox. Direct injection is available on the base Porsche 911 (997.5 version), and Audi also has a 599-like magnetic suspension. Carbon ceramic brakes are available on other Porsches and Ferraris. And navigation ... is available on many cars and has been for a while.

I'm sure the California is an impressive technical package, but I wouldn't call it groundbreaking -- more like a showcase of contemporary technologies that belong in any car costing this much. Plus, it will all be obsolete in 5-10 years anyway.

We can leave the aesthetics debate for another time - I think the 599 looks like a Mitsubishi, and (having yet to see a California in person) I think this one has some awkward proportions. It's not ugly, per se, but Pininfarina has done some heartstoppingly gorgeous cars -- and this one doesn't make the top 50.

 

A lot of people here do not like this car because it was not aimed at us and we were not supposed to like it. It was aimed at new markets where the brand sells for the brands sake, and those people needed a folding top. That is why the rear is big, the folding top. The compromise was judged worth it for the marketing advantage.

 

Hey I don't even like women with huge rear ends, but I truly don't think the California is going to make such a bad impression. People who have seen the car tell me that the California is a very good looking car and that the rear end is not an issue. There is a photo in Evo magazine that show the 599 and california from the rear. They are quite similar.

Anyway, the California will be making it's way across the US in selected dealerships September. So we can all see it with our own eyes. It will be interesting to see if that will sway the critics.

 

for me, i don't like the rear of the 599 too. and not to mention the california.

 

If this was the new Mitsubishi Eclipse i'd say job well done.

If after looking at this thing you don't have a reaction of disbelief i got nothing to say to ya.

 

The trunk has to be big to accommodate the large, folding roof. This makes it look like a MB which also has a folding trunk. I don't think that there is any way for Ferrari to get away from this. I don't like the way Ferrari tried to minimize this by placing the blacked out area and stacked exhaust in the middle of the rear end to attempt to break up the rear. Makes the car look too busy.

That being said I generally like the car. The interior is really nice.

Think how nice the car could have looked with a folding softtop, no rear seat and trunk lowered by about 3 inches or so.

 

When you re thinking inner self ( may be i ll like it whith the time...)it s simply a failure.When most of us have seen the 355 for the first time,they have just said"waoooooooooooooooooo".Whit the california, people need to persuade himself "it s not too bad".It s agreat difference,and that s why this design is a mistake and a no sense (it s not an italian design).

 

Pinifarina designed the California. So it is an italian design. It is not what you associate with the older designs by Pinifarina for Ferrari. However, this is the nature of all design- the forms and style change over time. Just look at the world and the way we live today compared to the 1980's. Put the 355 next to the 360 and the F430 and you will instantly see the evolution over time. The 355 looks dated now.

The California is in a different model line than the 308-430 line so comparing it to a 355 or F430 makes little sense.

.

 

You are right, the 355 looks dated or more accurately beautiful, like the Dino, 308, 328, Daytona, 330, 275.... The 612, 599; impressive performance yes, pretty, not so much, the 360, 430 and California appear to me to be more styled by the wind tunnel than an artist (imho, of course, taste and preference). But then again, I am biased!

 

The design team was not headed by Ken Okuyama before the 360, 430, 612 and so on hit the market, his and the newer designs are too concerned with what the global market thinks a design interpretation of Ferrari and Italian Beauty should be vs. what a born and bred Italian would understand the design to be, the beauty of a Ferrari should be built into your DNA and the newer Ferraris are a victim of globalization imho. I'm not saying only Italians can design beautiful cars, but the failure of management at Pininfarina and Ferrari is to seek out and secure a design head who has the same eye for form that Enzo Ferrari had, not an easy task but then again that is what is needed. We need to go back to the roots and keep the understanding of Italian flair, design, beauty and form alive which is dying with every new Ferrari being launched.

S