Multimatic-made ‘legs’ for Ferrari's new thoroughbred

The Ferrari Purosangue scurries up the snowbound pitches of Italy's Monte Bondone, the Alpine peak whose auto-hillclimb exploits date to 1925. Ferrari's first “SUV” - really, more a genre-blurring crossover - slices through Bondone's 38 devilish corners, gaining nearly 4,900 ft (1,494 m) of elevation over an 11.2-mile (18-km) workout. Its 715-hp (533-kW) V12 sings like the tragically-fated opera hero it is, to an 8,250-rpm height that's as lofty as the surrounding Dolomites.

Emissions regulations may soon spell the end of that barrel-chested, 6.5-L engine, whose 12 naturally-aspirated cylinders describe every roadgoing Ferrari built between 1947 and 1973. But the rest is modern magic, the kind of prestidigitation that's required to transform a 4,774-lb (2165-kg), AWD machine - the first Ferrari with four doors and four adult-sized seats - into a stunning performer that feels lighter and lither than any driver would ever expect.