ROAD CAR TESTS
Ferrari goes family friendly
Not quite an SUV – crossover is more accurate – the Purosangue four-seater ticks many boxes, says Andrew Frankel
It’s a Ferrari but not as we know it. The Purosangue has all the wail of a supercar V12 but can comfortably fit four people
So now we know. Contrary to all the rumour and speculation, this all new Purosangue is not Ferrari’s first SUV. It doesn’t have the height, the driving position or the space in the back or boot. It can’t seat five people and its towing limit is 0kg. Before the Purosangue Ferrari had never made an SUV; it still hasn’t.
Think of it instead, and it seems strange to employ a word more commonly used to describe a Nissan Qashqai than a V12 Ferrari costing over £300,000, as a crossover. It’s a bit elevated, it has coupé-like styling, but four doors, a hatchback tailgate and rear seats that fold flat. A bit of everything.
The only available engine is the 6.5-litre V12 from the 812 Superfast, but detuned from 789bhp to 715bhp to benefit low down torque. Ferrari will absolutely not be drawn on other potential engines but nor are they denied, so it seems more than likely that, at the very least, the 3-litre V6 hybrid powertrain from the 296 GTB will be made available at some stage, offering as it does more power, more torque, better fuel consumption, decimated CO2 figures and an ability still to be sold in countries like the UK that ban sales of pure ICE engines from 2030. But it won’t sound like a V12.