2018 Ferrari Portofino: More And Less Like A Regular Ferrari!

The California T was the most un-Ferrari from Maranello but it’s been a huge hit. The Portofino replaces it with a Ferrari that is both more and less like a regular Ferrari!

- Shubhabrata Marmar

The idea of a Ferrari that you could use everyday is an odd one. It’s like asking if you could drink your treasured 12 year old single malt like water everyday at lunch or having a baby everyday just because you love babies so much. People don’t buy Ferraris every day and they most certainly wouldn’t want to use it daily. That makes complete sense to me.

Except that the Ferrari California T broke all of those rules. It was a soft, phat Ferrari that ferried two in comfort and two with some persuasion. And it was, to the hardcore Ferrari fans, a bit outside of what the brand represented to them. But the real story is that the California T was bought by customers who wouldn’t consider buying a Ferrari at all. Seven in ten, says Ferrari, to be precise. And these chaps appear to drive these cars daily more often than ever before and one in three actually carry backseat passengers regularly - and no, Tyrion Lannister’s chauffeur-driven Ferrari this is not. What gives?

Design and packaging

This is why Ferrari decided at the outset to not change the exterior dimensions of the car. However, the skin is new. It’s smoother, more elegant in line and understated in the same way as a supermodel dressed in black for an evening in town rather than a shimmering scarlet one. The scarlet grows darker and more muted and the white is the shoutiest of the Portofino’s colour schemes. The L-shaped headlights, a wide smiley-grille, vents and aero-routing complete the frontend. And it’s very, very nice to look at indeed. The side body features a curved shoulder line with the bulged arches done smoothly.