Ferrari breaks the mould with V12 Purosangue SUV

First four-door, four-seat Ferrari trumps Lamborghini Urus at 715bhp, £390k

- RACHEL BURGESS

The Purosangue is the most radical Ferrari yet, as the first four-seat four-door model to be graced by the Prancing Horse.

Although its proportions and functionality are unprecedented for Ferrari, it has retained some of the brand's fundamental features, having a front-mid-mounted V12 and being claimed to be "a true sports car".

 

Enrico Galliera, Ferrari's marketing and commercial chief, said: "We believe it's a game-changer. It has the performance of a sports car with the comfort and versatility of a less extreme car. For us, the strategy was to develop a sports car in a different segment." While Ferrari has a long history with 2+2 cars, most recently with the Roma, this is the first time a four-door model with four fully sized seats has made production.

The only previous four-door badged as a Ferrari was a Pininfarina-designed concept car of 1980, named the Pinin, which company founder Enzo Ferrari reportedly liked but never signed off.

Ferrari refuses to describe the Purosangue as an SUV, but the car's proportions and functionality are very much intended for this segment one in which Ferrari until now has been markedly absent while rivals such as Aston Martin, Lamborghini and Porsche have forged ahead to capitalise on the ever-growing worldwide popularity of SUVs.

The Purosangue is 4973mm long, 2028mm wide and 1589mm tall (compared with 5112mm, 2016mm and 1638mm for the Lamborghini Urus). Along with its 185mm of ground clearance, that puts it very much in SUV territory. It is also four-wheel drive.

V12 PERFORMANCE

Ferrari has held true to its heritage, employing its revered V12 in the Purosangue. The naturally aspirated 12-cylinder engine is a heavily reworked version of that used in the 812 Superfast, with a 65deg angle between cylinder banks, a 6.5-litre capacity, a dry sump and high-pressure direct fuel injection.