Ferrari California at the Paris Motor Show

What comes in your mind when I say Ferrari…. red, powerful, fast, good looking, expensive, waiting list…. errrr… well its true! Being one of the most sought out car maker on the planet, Ferrari’s usually come with a huge waiting lists which can stretch to even 2 years!

The newest Ferrari California is no different and is already sold out until 2011. Rubbishing fears of an economic downturn, thousands of buyers all across the globe have placed their orders for the Ferrari convertible which goes on sale from January 2009 for $190,000.

Ferrari has planned a production of 2500 to 2800 cars for 2009 rising up to 3000 cars for the year 2010. The best new for Ferrari is that 60% of the buyers are first time buyers, something which will give tremendous push to overall sales of the company.

Speaking to Automotive News, Ferrari chairman Luca Cordero di Montezemolo said there are no plans to change this output. He also revealed that 60% of buyers who have ordered a California have never bought a Ferrari before.

Jump over for more details.

Mr. Montezemolo also mentioned that economic downturn has been a blessing in disguise since lesser orders were received from buyers who simply purchase the cars to sell them at profit immediately after taking the delivery.

“We had unacceptably long waiting lists caused by too many people who were not buying the car they ordered, but were reselling their order at a profit,” he said.

The Ferrari California is powered by a 4.3L V8 engine with more than 460 bhp on tap. The California also comes with Ferrari’s other race bred technologies like the F1-TRAC traction control and magnetic ride control system. This is also the cleanest and most efficient Ferrari with consumption reduced by 30% compared to the F430, a straight result of the new dual clutch 7-Speed transmission with four seperate settings and advanced aerodynamics.

The car performs like a throughbred Ferrari too with 0-100 kph time of under 4.0 seconds and like every other Ferrari is expected to be a fire breather around corners too.