The Ferrari Portofino M Is Officially Dead
After 15 years of existence, the entry-level Ferrari convertible that started with the 2008 Ferrari California has been phased out.
The entry-level front-engined drop-tip Ferrari is officially going out of production. Though the death of any Ferrari is a sad occasion, the Ferrari Portofino M has been around a long time under multiple costumes. And it has a replacement.
Ferrari confirmed to Road & Track on Thursday that the Portofino M is set to end production soon in favor of the just unveiled Ferrari Roma Spider. It was Ferrari’s only true hardtop convertible, with other Ferraris like the 812 GTS and F8 Spider using a smaller retractable roof mechanism. The Roma will use a soft top instead of the Portofino’s hard top.
It’s been a 15 year run for the Portofino M with its earliest version in the 2008 Ferrari California. The California was lukewarm at best, though it had some of the ingredients for success like a 4.3-liter naturally aspirated V8 with a flat-plane crankshaft and a rear-biased weight distribution. Things didn’t pick up for the California until its first update in 2014 with the California T. T is for turbocharged, and it was the first Ferrari since the F40 to get forced induction. Ferrari also revised the car heavily to address earlier complaints.
From there, the Portofino was released in 2017 with a 592 hp twin-turbo flat-plane V8 that finally met the match of other Ferrari cars. The perspective changed from the sun-beaten California coast to the Italian Rivieria, and the car received another slew of updates in body structure and materials. Though it still had its roots in that original California, it was much more well received. Then, the Portofino M arrived as the final update in 2021, with 612 horsepower.
Though it is, frankly, the forgotten Ferrari of the modern era, it became something beautiful and good. And for everything that is great about a taut handling mid-engined supercar, there’s nothing wrong with a top-down cruiser. Au revoir, Portofino.
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