Ferrari calls this a crossover SUV, here is why I disagree

Ferrari has just unveiled their new 4-door crossover SUV (or so they claim it to be) and it does look very nice. It has sharp angles and softer angles and is overall sleek and sporty but the more I look at it, the more it starts to look like a modern Ferrari edition Mazda RX-8. Let me explain.

Now before I explain why I think that, let me just say that I do like the design of the Ferrari Purosangue. It looks stunning and of course the naturally aspirated V12 is just an absolute symphony of angels to me and as perplexed as I was to see this over hybrid systems like most Ferraris now, I am certainly happy about the engine choice.

However, from the side, the car just looks like a modern interpretation of a Mazda RX-8. Despite being a crossover SUV according to Ferrari, the car is low to the ground and has similar strong lines running across it that give it a sports car look which is quite similar to the RX-8.

The Ferrari Purosangue also has the same suicide rear doors on the Mazda RX-8 and while some people could argue that the suicide doors were made famous by Rolls Royce, that is a discussion to be had another day so let’s put a pin in that for now and focus on the similarities between the Purosangue and the RX-8.

So, yes, the rear doors on the RX-8 are significantly smaller and so is the rear cabin of the RX-8 but Ferrari could have went with regular doors, the fact that they chose suicide doors makes the Purosangue look even more like a bigger RX-8, or maybe Ferrari assumes their customers to use this car as a chauffeur driven vehicle.

Obviously the interior of both cars along with other styling cues such as headlight and tail light design are all different but that has to be a given and I don’t know if this is just me but if I stare at the Purosangue long enough, my mind replaces the prancing horse with the Mazda wings and then I get scared.

While these cars are different enough but they share basically the same shape and that is enough to make me think that the designers of the Ferrari Purosangue were heavily inspired by the Mazda RX-8.

Either way, it is a great design and the V12 alone was enough to have me fawning over the car but I just could not shake the similarities between the two cars and am clearly not the only one who thinks so as our friends at DSF also see the similarities. Check out what the gang at DSF think about this here and here.

What do you think of the design of the Purosangue? Do you like it or would you have preferred a different design?