When the Ferrari California appeared on the scene back in 2008, it had a lot of new features to show the world. The first retractible hardtop, the first front-engine V8, and a dual-clutch 7-speed transmission. It also retired one of Ferrari’s classic designs: the manual gearbox. It’s a car that moves ahead and manages to hold onto its past.

The Ferrari California is a “grand tourer,” a car designed not just for speed and handling, but for spending some quality time on the road. What makes it a bit more suitable for the long-haul is that it’s a “2+,” a two-door car with two seats in its backseat. The real magic may be in the driver’s seat, but at least now you’ve got a slightly larger audience to share your joy.

The California’s name is a nod to one of the great Ferraris of the last century. The 250 GT California came on the scene in the late ’50s and pleased many a mid-century driver. That particular model was made famous in the 1986 John Hughes movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” In that film, the car was a 1961 Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California, one of fewer than a hundred cars built. It was also, if you recall, destroyed in the movie’s climax — but worry not, that was just a replica.

This car made such an impression that the Ferrari family had to carry on the name in a new generation. Sure, they could’ve called it the Florida, but really, California seems much cooler. And it carries that 20th-century style into the 21st. The 2008 California goes zero to 60 in a shade under four seconds and reaches a top speed of 193 mph; in wind tunnel tests, it’s proved that it is Ferrari’s most aerodynamic car.

As serious as this car is, it isn’t one of Ferrari’s monster cars. In fact, the California has impressed some critics with how nicely it plays, and looks. Its features are fine but not exotic. It can certainly get up and go, but perhaps not in as scary a way as some of its siblings. And it’s got, as some have said, kind of a big ass.

None of which is to say that the Ferrari California fails any kind of test, whether in appearance or in how it rides, or even in backseat space (which is, admittedly, a bit limited, but still a backseat). It’s the car you want when you want to go somewhere far away. For that very quick trip cross-country. It’s the new minivan. Or well no, not even a little bit, but the California is indeed a car you’ll want to spend a lot of time in with people whose company you enjoy at high speeds.

Robotics and Preeminence of a Ferrari, find more at Charles Granere‘s.