Thanks to good timing, good weather and a great 2009 Los Angeles auto show, MotorAuthority has a special road test for you today: our first drive of the Ferrari California.

You've seen it here before but today, I'll be driving it and taking in all the typical California treats as I drive up the Pacific Coast Highway to exercise its big V-8, its folding hardtop, and it's uncanny way of tricking people into believing I'm a part of someone's entourage.

Stay with us today here via CoverItLive, or on Twitter @therealma #Ferrari #California. Tomorrow we'll have a mega-gallery of live photos--and Monday, our full road test.