VISION EXPRESS

Pininfarina's new e-LUV concept - electric luxury utility vehicle - channels its past while pointing to the future. Beauty or beast?

- JASON BARLOW 

"Oh. I'll put this one to the CEO to answer because maybe you think I'm telling you bullsh**t?

So says Automobili Pininfarina's design boss, Davide Amantea. All TG had wondered, aloud, was whether it was actually possible to make a series production car that looks like the concept version of Pininfarina's proposed second model. He's smiling as he says it, so while no offence was intended, none has been taken.

Besides, it's not a daft question. The Pura Vision, as it's known, is almost bang on six metres long, two metres wide and 1.7m tall. So it's big, gargantuan in fact, an automotive land yacht from the country that gave us the eternally stylish but noticeably more compact Riva speedboat. The nautical parallel is encouraged by Amantea, who says the Pura Vision looks especially like a boat from above. The plan view is not one designers often laser in on, but in this case it's irresistible. It's the car drones were invented for, maybe even as a launchpad. You can picture this thing as the villain's wheels in a Marvel film.