PURE FERRARI?

HATERS WILL SAY NO, BUT THE DRIVING EXPERIENCE SAYS SHUT THE HELL UP

- KRISTEN LEE

On a twisting Italian alpine road seemingly no wider than your finger, I had just executed a U-turn in the new Ferrari Purosangue SUV, pulling onto the shoulder to grab my camera, when a police officer parked on the same shoulder exited his car and held up a stern hand. My heart sank despite having just watched him perform the exact same maneuver. I assumed doing so was fine. But we know what happens when you assume.

He approached, and I rolled down the window, ready to show him my passport and whip out the only Italian sentence I’d bothered to teach myself ahead of this trip. (“Il vino rosso, per favore.”)

“Posso fare una foto?” he asked, holding up his phone.

“Oh!” I said. “Uh, yeah, of course.”

He snapped a picture, flashed a giant smile, gave two thumbs up, and waved me on my way.

If that isn’t the most driving-a-Ferrari-in-Italy experience ever, then nothing is.

Before arriving in the Dolomites for the Purosangue’s media launch, I was curious if people would recognize it as a Ferrari. The Italian automaker has never done a four-door four-seater, after all. The public would be forgiven for not spotting it for what it is.

I should have realized I needn’t have wondered at all.

The car drew onlookers everywhere it went, a variety of people whose moods ranged from curiosity to beaming joy. Among the excited Italian babble, you could easily pick out the words “Ferrari” and “Purosangue,” uttered with reverence you don’t often hear when people talk about cars. But the Ferrari was a hometown hero. Driving it was to feel just a little bit famous.