Pininfarina, once Ferrari's preferred coachbuilder, is now busy establishing itself as a standalone automaker. It put its best foot forward by unveiling the radical Battista hypercar that promises to be one of the fastest four-wheeled things on the planet and now it's doubling it down by announcing a whole range of models, the first of which will be an SUV. Fear not, however, as the Pura Vision isn't your average sporty SUV as Pininfarina aims to deliver supercar-level performance under a skin that both resembles a four-door GT and the existing Battista. It sounds like a match made in heaven.

Coming with an outlandishly appointed cabin and a class-bending profile, the Pininfarina Pura Vision could seriously reduce the market share of Lamborghini's Urus and Ferrari's upcoming Purosangue. While we're yet to feast our eyes with the pre-production prototype showcased to prospective customers during a series of VIP events held by Pininfarina in August during the Monterey Car Week, those that have are talking about a sleek and not overly complicated design so typical of Pininfarina, one that'll only be matched by its impressive performance. At this stage of the game, the Pura Vision might become Pininfarina's most important product so they have to get it right.

Exterior

Turn the clock back 50 years and Pininfarina was the purveyor of some of the finest bodies in the entire automotive industry, complementing some of the finest engines ever made. Nowadays, Pininfarina is still making drop-dead gorgeous bodies but, underneath, there's no engine. There are motors, instead. Pininfarina's rebirth as an EV manufacturer will probably earn itself a place in the history books but this largely depends on the success of two products: its flagship hypercar, the Battista, and the model we're talking about here - its first SUV, the Pura (we guess 'Pura Vision' is the name of the concept).

In a world where consumers continue to chug on crossovers and SUVs, it was only a matter of time until Pininfarina jumped on the wagon and created its own interpretation of an SUV. And we don't mean that last bit lightly. It's almost two inches lower than a Lamborghini Urus and a massive six inches below the Bentayga's height.

Bentley's very own 'super-SUV' is relevant in this comparison because Pininfarina used it as one of its benchmarks while developing the Pura. Chief Design Officer Luca Borgogno told Auto Express that he looked at the Bentayga as the epitome of luxury and the Lamborghini Urus as the prime example of how a really fast SUV should feel like. "We tested the sportiest of SUVs and the most beautiful shooting brake ," he told the British outlet, "But we thought; why don’t we put those things together, so it’s not a shooting brake or an SUV?"

What we'll get, then, is another hybrid, a model that doesn't truly identify with either the sedan breed or the crossover/SUV breed. Remember when Ferrari announced the Purosangue while stressing the fact that we shouldn't call it a SUV? Pininfarina doesn't go as far as implying the Pura is something it's really not, but it does come forth with its own definition. No, it's not some abbreviation for 'Love of Sport' although, given its (supposedly) 1,000 horsepower output, the Pura is genuinely in love with sportiness. What 'S-LUV' stands for is 'Sustainable Luxury Utility Vehicle'. Will Pininfarina's next models to be underpinned by the same platform as the Pura also be 'S-Something'? Only time will tell.

We'll have to wait, as well, until we actually get to see the car. Pininfarina did announce it and we have even heard about some potential output and performance figures but, up until now, we're yet to get our hands on any images - not even a render! But, luckily, a few people have seen a scaled-down version of the Pura and they seemed impressed with the way it looks. Not that they could ever be frowning in the photographs shared by Pininfarina shot during its private VIP events in Monterey, California, but still.

"Every Italian recipe has super-simple ingredients and design is the same," Borgogno confessed to Auto Express. "We have clarity, where one line can define the design, we use sculpture for sexiness and we have a family feeling where our cars are perceived as relatives of the overall design approach, there are no lines that are not needed – everything is designed to be sexy," he added.

Sure, we've all been there before. The story about a 'sexy' high-riding car has been told and re-told countless times before and, each time we hear again, it becomes staler. Having said that, if anyone can put together a sexy SUV, it's Pininfarina. Lamborghini had a fair crack at it with the Urus but its inherently pointy and over-complicated design makes it look like something out of Battlestar Galactica and we reckon space ships are cool any day of the week. Cool, but not sexy. Simple lines are sexy - you don't see a million edges, creases, and cuts on Sophia Lauren in her prime, do you? Pininfarina says it will deliver that simplicity and we're waiting for it but not holding our breaths.

The headlights placed towards the outer edges of the fascia will be narrow, probably sitting above a gaping mouth.

The car's windshield will blend with the glassed roof, the whole canopy being held in place by an intricate aluminum structure with its main beam visible as it extends across the roof from the upper tip of where a normal windshield would end all the way to the rear hatch that features a roof spoiler. That spoiler actually sits quite low to the ground as the coupe/shooting brake silhouette of the Pura sees the roofline plunge downwards at the rear giving the SUV a distinctive GT identity.

From the side, the rather narrow side windows work to underline how much the doors and rear quarter panel cave in, to the extent that the car sports a coke bottle silhouette when viewed from above. The effect is further enhanced by the bulging flares, especially those in the back that are reportedly wider than the flares of a Porsche 911 Turbo which is not surprising given the fact that the Pura can be optioned with enormous 24-inch rims. The rocker panels will be darker in color than the rest of the body and they'll be made from carbon fiber that can be exposed or not, according to the owner's wishes.

In the back, the rear window, which is seemingly 'broken' in two by the roof spoiler, ends rather high up, with the rear hatch protruding further than the line of the bumper before going back inwards with an acute angle. We can guess the back end of the Pura is, then, rather pointy, taking a page from Lamborghini's book on automotive design. But the lights will be dissimilar to what the Urus features. Slim, wide LED lights will complete the rear fascia.

The description above is not entirely accurate, as you may expect, but it paints a pretty clear picture of how the Pura will look and a rather accurate one as Pininfarina CEO Michael Perschke told CarBuzz that the scale model shows "80-85% of what the final car will look like".

Pininfarina Pura Vision Concept exterior dimensions

Interior

With no pictures on hand, it's hard to tell what the interior of the Pura will look like. The dash will be pretty simplistic in appearance with clean shapes and probably very little to no knobs, at least not on the dash or the top part of the center console. There could be some knobs, like those controlling the traction and driving modes, lower, towards the seats.

The digital gauge cluster sitting atop the dash will be quite long, extending over to the passenger's half of the dash and will offer a variety of information with its screen customizable in terms of what it displays. On the center console, you'll find the main infotainment screen, large and tilted at an angle to be visible despite its placement lower on the console. We don't know just how big this screen will be but it surely won't be Tesla big although everyone industry seems to be dying to have almost comically large screens in the cabin.

The carbon finish will be retained although customers can also go for a wood-trimmed cabin to complement the posh upholstery. "we wanted to put really rich materials inside the car and around 90% of what you touch is advanced wood, although it could be carbon fiber, too," Borgogno underlined. "Our car will be both sporty and elegant at the same time," the Italian added, suggesting this blend of styles will extend to the cabin.

No word's been spoken on the sort of gadgetry possessed by the Pura but you shouldn't be surprised if it packs every traction/stability/ride control system known to man and something on top of that. Driving modes for different terrains/weather situations will also be available as well as a variety of electronic safety features - a norm not only when it comes to luxury automobiles nowadays.

Drivetrain and Performance

Power will come from a new electric drivetrain developed by Pininfarina in conjunction with Bosch and Benteler. Despite having a different partner, Pininfarina assures us the Pura will still be a top performer.

Despite the fact that we don't know how much the thing will weigh, sources suggest a sub-three-seconds 0-60 mph time is realistic at this time. Top speed is unknown but it should be at least 150 mph. As a result, the SUV should go as much as 340 miles on a charge (Tesla's Model X comes with an EPA-rated range between 250 and 325 miles).

For the record, Lamborghini's Urus sends to the wheels an impressive 650 horsepower at 6,000 rpm and 627 pound-feet of torque at 2,250 rpm from a twin-turbocharged 4.0-liter V-8. The Urus completes the sprint from naught to 62 mph in 3.6 seconds, so 0-60 mph is done in little three seconds so, on paper, slower than the Pura. However, the new 'Rambo Lambo' will surely surpass Pininfarina's first SUV when it comes to top speed as the Urus tops out at 190 mph - faster even than the Bentayga in its meanest version. The Lamborghini tips the scales at 4,850 pounds, 500 pounds lighter than the Bentley Bentayga. Expect the Pininfarina to be closer in weight to the latter.

With so much power on tap, we assume Pininfarina will go to great lengths to make sure the Pura will also handle better than most SUVs (maybe the RS Q8, currently the fastest SUV around the 'Ring will be used as a benchmark for road holding). Oh, and it'll be built in an all-new factory that will eventually be able to produce up to 20,000 vehicles per year. An RHD version is part of the plan, unlike the LHD-only Battista.

Pininfarina Pura Vision Concept specifications

Final Thoughts

We see now that Indian juggernaut Mahindra didn't pour all that money ($168 million just to acquire the company) into Pininfarina so it can make an outrageous hypercar. It could even end up being a future Tesla competitor coming from Italy and surely boasting with better fit and finish and similar performance (the Model X Performance needs just 2.7 seconds to go from a standstill to 60 mph). But the Pininfarina will be more expensive at about $200,000. Yes, 10 times cheaper than the exclusive Battista but also a whopping $95,000 more than the Tesla Model X Performance with a 305-mile range and built-in Ludicrous Mode and autopilot hardware.

If Pininfarina delivers the perfect recipe, however, nobody will bemoan the lack of the autopilot because it'll be an SUV we'll queue up to drive ourselves... that is, after we end up drooling at its exterior. Again, if Pininfarina gets it right. if not, it may be a while (potentially even a long one) until the new factory runs at full capacity despite the fact that Pininfarina prepares three new models including a smaller SUV.

"Think Range Rover Sport to the Range Rover," is how an insider quoted by Auto Express described this baby SUV and, after that, a GT is in the pipeline with mock-ups having already been completed according to Pininfarina's CEO. We're crossing our fingers for this one!