The Ferrari Purosangue is loose, and I think it’s extremely successful. Unlike a Lamborghini Urus, it not only has a recognizable head and butt, but also truly unique proportions. With its long nose, relatively short passenger cabin and limited height for SUV terms, it is basically much more special than its competitors. The claim that this ‘SUV’ is primarily a real Ferrari is, in my opinion, largely justified.
The Purosangue is not surprising. The car already showed a lot on teasers and spy footage and even turned up completely uncamouflaged in February, especially in the, as far as I’m concerned, dull gray that can also be seen on the factory images. Initially, only the ‘Meriva doors’ ended up on my list of unexpected features, until I took another close look at the front. That’s where we find the most ‘deceptive’ headlights of today’s car world, and that’s saying something.
Just some context. The front, which consists of two or more ‘layers’, in which the actual headlights (dipped and high beam) are placed one floor lower than the layout suggests, has become fashionable again by Citroën and Hyundai. We now also see it at Skoda, Kia, BMW and many other brands. Usually the aim here is to visually present the daytime running lamps, which are positioned higher and are often flatter and sharper in shape, as headlamps. The actual lamps, aided by modern LED technology, are hidden in an often dark housing.
Some times hiding it works better than others. The most successful example until the arrival of the Purosangue is probably the Rolls-Royce Phantom from 2003, where the low beam is in the round viewers under the ‘headlights’. Based on what we now know, the Purosangue goes a sensitive step further, because Ferrari makes some holes in the nose where you expect the headlights. Look closely: the voluptuous, large openings above and below the daytime running light bar are secretly only openings. The whole looks like a copy of the Roma viewers, but it is not. That’s what makes this choice so remarkable: there is literally a hole in the shape of a headlight in the place where you expect it, but apparently it is not used.
The real headlights hide in the top part of what is optically the grille. Ferrari scrupulously avoids switched on lighting (for this reason?) on the press image, but as a result, the flawed Photoshop-skills of the undersigned do not hold back. With the dipped beam on, we get a better idea of what the Purosangue will actually look like, at least in the dark.
While we’re at it: the Purosangue must have a license plate on the nose in most countries. Ferrari makes that as difficult as possible by placing the shiny horse in the middle of the cooling opening in the bumper. This leaves two options: above the grille, or below. The latter option looks better in our opinion, but also means that an extra ‘hole’ with undoubtedly an aerodynamic function is covered. We will have to wait for the first realistic images to see how Ferrari intends to solve this ‘problem’.
And to top it off with light and plate:
A Purosangue on any license plate will always remain an exclusive appearance, because Ferrari limits production. That already means that a lot of potential buyers are fishing behind the net.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl