Ferrari Portofino, like or dislike?

4 min readSep 10, 2018

I saw my first Ferrari Portofino a few months ago when Ferrari Vancouver brought in a demo car for prospective clients to drive. First impressions were good, more aggressive styling and updated Ferrari interior, only trouble was the demo car was in an uninspiring metallic grey. So I was thrilled to see the Portofino in traditional Rosso Corsa this weekend at the Luxury Supercar Weekend.

Not everyone was a fan of Ferrari California or the California T if views on the internet are anything to go by, though the 11000 souls who purchased this particular Ferrari would seem to contract this “fact”. While it was never my favourite Ferrari it will always hold a special place in my heart as it was the first Ferrari I ever got to drive. As a GT the California did its job well, this was a Ferrari you could drive everyday, with the added versatility of being a coupe and a convertible. Ferrari’s adoption of the hard top folding roof took convertibles into the twenty first century at last, finally dispensing with the ugly canvas roofs. It amazes me that Aston Martin, and Lamborghini have still not joined the hard top folding roof party. Both companies have argued that the weight disparity is not worth the cost in performance.

Poppycock. The new Ferrari Portofino weights 80kg less than the Ferrari California while increasing horsepower to a respectable 591 delivered by a 3.9L twin turbo V8. Truly we have attained ludicrous horsepower figures in a GT car viewed as a starter Ferrari, which will do 198 mph.

The interior of the Portofino has been revised. Infotainment is handled by a 10.2in HD touch-screen, with Apple CarPlay. Perhaps more practically the Portofino has several excellent places to stash your smartphone. Ferrari continues to adorn its steering wheels with Formula One style multi functionality in mind. Its take some practice to use the steering wheel mounted indicators, and I speak from personal experience.

Beauty as with all things is in the eye of the beholder, though I would argue that the Portofino is clearly an improvement on the styling of the California. The Portofino has more muscular styling than the California. Most pleasing to eye is the refinement of the rear decklid which looks more integrated and gets rid of the slightly bulbous arse of the California.

The Portofino is better looking than the California, faster, and even more practical to drive, now I just need $250000 (Canadian) to get into my starter 591 horsepower Ferrari.