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I have a long history with the Quattroporte. When I first drove the Quattroporte, during its introductory media event in Florence, Italy, in March 2004, I was amazed by the styling, the energetic V-8 engine borrowed from Ferrari, the oh-so-Italian interior, and the handling, which led me and others to call the Quattroporte "the four-door Ferrari." I was not so impressed by the paddle-shifted semi-automatic manual transmission, which was extremely jerky in urban driving, with unacceptably long, rough upshifts. It was clear then that Maserati knew that the transmission would be unacceptable for many American buyers, as the QP's engineering team was interrogating the U.S. press corps for its reactions to the gearbox. The DuoSelect was great when you were driving the car at its limits on hilly Tuscan roads, I told them, but it wasn't going to fly with the country club set who would buy the car in America.inline_mediumwraptextright24732806/reviews/editors_notebook/0908_2009_maserati_quattroporte_s0908_24_z+2009_maserati_quattroporte_s+front_three_quarters.jpgTrue

Through a fluke in timing or just plain luck, I'm fortunate enough to have now been behind the wheel of every single current Ferrari currently on sale. That's a rarity even for automotive journalists, and it's an honor I don't take lightly. Today's drive of the California marked a special occasion, since this was not just the only Ferrari I haven't driven, it's also an all-new kind of Ferrari.