My 12 month California T odyssey

Mitchell, in the middle of watching I was inching towards the garage... but it is snowing, not good conditions for P Zeroes... dammit!

 

LOL

 

Well, less than a week in the car, had 2 days with ice conditions keeping me off the streets, but still managed to up the 62 miles at delivery to over 250 now, driving to work, errands, taking friends for demo rides. Half broken in...

Funny interaction at a stoplight with my son driving. We were in the left turn lane, awaiting the light that changed at an opportune time in the story:

I'm in the passenger seat and the guy in the car next to me gives the "roll down the window hand signal".

Him: Wow, that looks great!
Me: Thanks!
Him: What do you guys do for a living?
(Light changes, green arrow appears, my sons starts us rolling away)
Me: We steal cars!

I could hear his laugh for quite a ways down the road as we drove off...

 

The other day, iPhone pic, when the ice was all gone off the streets, but still 28 degrees.

Mitchell, that's like in your freezer...
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Yesterday was a clear day and over 40 degrees so I dropped the top, great sounds. Different from top up, both very good. At 55 mph nearly no wind in the cockpit, heater did a good job at that temp. Seat heater is the hottest I've ever experience. Really hot. Maybe this is the same on all cars, or mine is extra hot because of my charcoal interior...?

 

Wow, the versatility of the interior is amazing.

They call it a CUP holder, but it can definitely hold other things. I had seen another thread recently that showed a wine bottle in the cup holder of perhaps an F12, as I recall. So I've been waiting to try out the California T cup/wine bottle holder.

I was pretty sure it would hold an Italian wine bottle. As you see, it does that just fine.

I will try a Burgundy bottle next.

(only to be used for transporting while in the car...)

Cheers!
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Just heard my back seat and trunk mats have shipped, should have them soon, and then will post pics.

I had already received a Maserati trunk cargo net from my dealer, which fits the Cali T very well. Logo was removed, of course...

 

My wife and I took the family to northern Italy for 10 days, got to use my trickle charger for the first time. Left on a day that schools and businesses were closed due to hard ice and black ice on the roads (Mitchell, Google: ice on roadways...), horrendous trip to the airport (no, not in the Cali T). After being driven around for 10 days and not behind the wheel at all, I got back to sunny and 70 degrees, and on the cusp of exceeding my break-in miles , where I had not gone over 4,500 RPM and did no heavy braking.

Break-in period is officially over...

Only one acronym sums up the new level of driving. OMFG. O-M-F-G.

Now I seldom have it UNDER 4,500. The steering wheel LEDs may get worn out...

Today I was driving top down, on a dry, twisty country road "circuit", engine braking, hunting for red traffic lights to downshift all the way down and go back up. For those waiting for their Cali Ts, and for those who test drove and thought the sound was good but not great, those who said such must not have had the engine and exhaust system warmed up after 20 minutes and then shifted at 5,000 RPM. 2-3, 3-4, 4-5 at 5K will give you a firecracker pop on each shift that had me visualizing when I was 8 and lighting Black Cats and throwing them. Pop-Pop-Pop. Really satisfying. Daily driving is about to go up a few notches on the fun-o-meter.

Still no time for final Official Cavallino Counts, as I cannot bring myself to be near the car and not drive it. WooHoooo!

O M F G...

 

Al,

Of first note, you will not be able to remain sane. Not going to happen. However, your sanity will return after delivery, and when you first turn the key and press the red button, it will instantly be a distant memory...

The pics came out Dec 15, things ran very much according to schedule, based on the official Stage estimates, except...Sta.... Staaaa... (get a grip, Dave...) ... Stage 90. That was nearly my undoing. Storms in the North Atlantic and east coast killed the port schedule. I took delivery in mid February. Ferrari of Atlanta had it for a few days prepping, then sent it to a local installer for the full body Suntek protection, then sent it to me in a covered transport. I went with Mitchell on Suntek, he used probably the top installer in the US. I spent an hour and a half with a Ferrari rep in a Cali T drive event that was moving around the country, got a chance to put it through its paces, to the delight of my red shirted passenger. Any myself.

I can say, after babying the car for the first 482 miles (Keith, truth be told, it was CLOSE ENOUGH...) I've been letting her rip, and it is such a complete sensory delight. Way better than the test drive event could hope to portray. The Ferrari marketing people are actually underhyping the car when they say it's not a car, it's a dream.

 

I received my trunk liner and rear passenger seat floor mats today. I put them in the car and they look great. Many thanks to Andrew at ExotiCARe. Perfect fit. Shipped flat from Toronto to Tennessee. Alcantara with stiched Cavallinos to match the outside paint color.

An occasional microfiber one-direction swipe from time to time and should always look really new.

Works great with DD errands and taking things to and from the office.

With the top open I can stack carry out food containers 4 high and with the cargo net still drive home is a spirited way and not worry about things tossing around the trunk.

The cargo net D-rings swivel around to allow the clips to be attached on the edge of the mat, which is a nice touch from the factory.

The cargo net is for a Maserati, Ferrari of Atlanta had them in stock, and told me Keith had it so I knew it would fit well. Maserati emblem removed, of course...


The trunk liner, mats and net are, of course, MSA.


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