Fast, sexy and great looking, but cramped for daily use, a bit of handful and demanding to live with is the reason Ferrari owners usually have several other cars – but the new Ferrari California plans to change this.

Can the new Ferrari California with its folding hardtop, generous boot and smooth semi-automatic gearbox break the mould and create a practical yet desirable Ferrari?

We sent Russell Bray to Sicily to see if the Ferrari California is the real deal.

Having spent an incredible day thrashing the Ferrari California over truly demanding, and sometimes perilously slippery Sicilian roads I can tell you despite its bling looks and convertible abilities it's not just a poseur's car.

View our Ferrari California slide show

Yes, you can fold the aluminium hard top into the boot in 14 seconds, and yes, the power steering is light and in automatic mode it's as easy to drive as a Mercedes SL.

But send the rev counter needle heading towards 8,000rpm, pull back on the steering column mounted gearchange paddles and start heading through the seven gears and the California is massively fast.

In other words it is a proper Ferrari.

The changes come so fast there isn't time for your head to snap backwards and forwards and the car's bellowing noise is sensational.

Luxurious

Sixteen years ago the legendary Ferrari F40 – a near-race car with virtually no interior trim, no electric windows, radio or interior light and cords to pull the doors closed – could just squeeze past 200mph.

Today the luxurious Ferrari California with its plush, leather swathed, air-conditioned interior and electrically adjustable seats takes less than four seconds to fling itself to 60mph before reaching a top speed of 193mph.

Ferrari has paid so much attention to aerodynamics that the car feels impressively stable, even approaching v-max, and with the rear wind deflector clipped in place, you can even do it roof down without fear of ripping your head off.

Roof up, the car is remarkably refined for long distance motorway hauls.

Up close, the Ferrari California is much bigger in real life than it looks in pictures and though it's a coupe-convertible it feels solid and masculine.

Ferrari has denied fitting a lightweight aluminium roof by customer demand saying it was the best solution and the way it folds enhances body rigidity.

More Ferrari California shots

The classic circular rear lights on the boot-lid don't house the brake lights. EU regulations don't allow them on surfaces which move, so like the indicators, are alongside the rear number plate.

The two pairs of twin exhausts are stacked vertically rather than the usual horizontal fashion because Ferrari wanted a sufficiently wide rear diffuser to create enough ground effect to suck the car on to the road at speed.

Ferocious engine sound

A small spoiler under the nose, barely visible in some photographs because of its dark colour, does the same job at the front.

Most people will hear the California before they see it thanks to the amazing sound of the 4.3-litre V8 engine.

The front engine, rear gearbox layout makes the California more evenly balanced and less nervous handling than the racing-layout, mid-engined F430 models.

The California doesn't bite as instantly into a bend as an F430, yet alone the Scuderia, and it is a much heavier car.

But if you are pushing on you still need to know what you are doing despite the more forgiving nature as there is so much pulling power from the 454bhp engine that it was easy to break the grip of the rear tyres, especially on these demanding roads.

In true Grand Prix racing-inspired manner twisting a switch on the steering wheel adjusts the car's handling. So-called comfort mode, still quite firm, is for all conditions, especially slippery roads, while in "sport" you can kick out the back end of a car to a surprising angle before the electronics take control and brake individual wheels to bring it back in line.

CST means all the electronic stability systems are off – though the brakes still retain their anti-lock function – and is best reserved for on-track Raikkonen or Massa style heroics.

Awesome stopping power

The California has out-of-this-world stopping power thanks to the ceramic disc brakes which proved tireless even on hairpin bend infested roads.

Even braking very hard you can change gear faster than you can blink using the new, smooth dual-clutch gearbox though perversely I miss the brutal gearchange of the robotised manual gearbox in other Ferraris.

I much preferred it fitted with the optional (about £3,120) magnetic "active" suspension dampers. Then in sport mode it cornered much flatter, with less body roll, yet still rode remarkably well.

Personally I like a little more weight in the steering and slightly faster responding steering, and being tall it would be useful to sit lower as with the steering wheel in my ideal position I couldn't see the interesting bits of the rev counter.

Ferrari plans grippier sports seats in due course.

The new engine uses direct injection to improve fuel consumption/lower carbon dioxide emissions, but you could halve the official 21.5mpg combined fuel consumption figure if you indulged in most of the performance.

Multi-link rather than wishbone rear suspension gives the California a smoother, easier to live with ride and flip down rear seat backs boost luggage capacity for those who want to carry golf bags.

A Ferrari for all seasons and all reasons? That's certainly how it seems with the new California.