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Ferrari's Ex-CEO on an SUV: "You Have to Shoot Me First" – Meet the Purosangue

If you asked Ferrari a few years ago what they thought of SUVs, they would have told you ‘hell, no!’ Back then, the Prancing Horse had the late Sergio Marchionne at the helm, who famously said in 2016, when asked about the idea of a Ferrari SUV, “you have to shoot me first!” Due to health complications, Marchionne passed away two years later, and the Prancing Horse is now run by Benedetto Vigna – and they have just presented their first-ever high-rider, the Purosangue.
Ferrari Purosangue 15 photos
Photo: Ferrari
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Whatever you do, don’t call it an SUV, not because it’s not a real SUV, but because Ferrari doesn’t like that. Quoted by Bloomberg, Vigna told journos who attended the grand unveiling in Maranello earlier this week that “It’s a Ferrari,” and therefore “please don’t call it an SUV, because it isn’t.

We can’t argue with that logic, as the Purosangue is not an SUV, but a crossover. In case you missed this part, it may come as a shock, as it is built on the same platform as the Roma, in turn, related to the Portofino, which is the successor to the California. And it is the Portofino that sits at the low end of the brand’s exotic lineup in terms of pricing and performance. It’s not hard to connect the dots and say if it’s worth the alleged MSRP of almost $400,000, when the Portofino M is almost half the cost.

From bumper to bumper, the Purosangue measures 195.8 inches (4,973 mm). It is 79.8 inches (2,028 mm) wide, and just 62.6 inches (1,589 mm) tall. By comparison, the Lamborghini Urus, one of its biggest rivals in the segment, is 201.3 in (5,113 mm) long, 79.4 in (2,017 mm) wide, and 64.5 in (1,638 mm) tall. Other rivals include the Aston Martin DBX707, and the Bentley Bentayga, and Rolls-Royce Cullinan, though the latter two are more luxury-focused.

Ferrari Purosangue
Photo: Ferrari
McLaren might soon challenge their likes with an SUV of their own, as the brand’s new CEO, Michael Leiters, is interested in such a product. Not only that, but he has the experience required to make it happen, considering that he is responsible for the development of the Porsche Cayenne, and the Ferrari Purosangue.

For a crossover, the Purosangue has nailed the wedge shape. It has a long nose, curvaceous back end, and short overhangs. It also has rear suicide doors that make it look cool and also improve ingress and egress. Once inside, you won’t find a central display, as it sports two of them, one for the driver, and the other for the person riding shotgun. Two more people can travel in comfort on the individual rear seats.

As the brand’s head honcho put it, “it’s a Ferrari,” and that means that it rocks some serious firepower. A naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12 engine lies under the hood, developing 715 hp (725 ps / 533 kW) and 528 lb-ft (716 Nm) of torque. The unit works in concert with a dual-clutch eight-speed automatic transmission mounted at the rear and all-wheel drive. From naught to 62 mph (0-100 kph), the Purosangue needs just 3.3 seconds, and it will eventually run out of breath at 193 mph (310 kph). This makes it about as fast as other super crossovers.

Production is scheduled to commence at the Maranello facility, in Italy, sometime next year, and deliveries should commence shortly after.

That said, it is clear that the Purosangue will boost Ferrari’s sales to never-before-seen levels, just like Lamborghini’s Urus, and that the idea of having a performance-focused crossover with an eye-watering price tag is nothing new. However, would you get such a model, and if yes, would the Ferrari sit at the top of your list?
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About the author: Cristian Gnaticov
Cristian Gnaticov profile photo

After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s.
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