There is a certain inevitability about the Ferrari Purosangue. Since Enzo's day, Ferrari has pretty much built the Ferraris it wanted to build. The Purosangue, the first ever four-door four-seater from Maranello, is a Ferrari that Ferrari's customers wanted it to build.

While the number of doors and seats and the high-riding hatchback bodystyle and all-wheel drive powertrain might suggest otherwise, the Purosangue is not, the folks from Ferrari emphatically insist, a Ferrari SUV. Or even a Ferrari crossover, for that matter. The Purosangue is first and foremost a Ferrari, they say, and Ferrari only builds sports cars. And by that they mean cars with impressive performance and dynamics that will put a smile on your face, says marketing chief Enrico Galliera.

This sports car just looks a little different from the rest, then. And, in truth, the Purosangue makes the case for being a different kind of sports car with some seriously impressive technology and clever engineering. We won't drive it until later this year, but on Ferrari's current form the Purosangue should have engineers at Aston Martin, Lamborghini, and Bentley worried. It promises to be a benchmark car.

Let's cut to the chase: The Purosangue has the perfect engine for a continent-crushing four-seat Ferrari. Despite lots of speculation to the contrary, under the hood is yet another reworked version of Maranello's legendary naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V-12. Codenamed F140lA, it develops 715 hp at 7,750 rpm, and 528 lb-ft of torque at 6,250 rpm. Crucially, 80 percent of that peak torque is available from just 2,100 rpm.

The F140lA features cylinder heads derived from those used in the 812 Competizione, and the intake, timing and exhaust systems have been completely redesigned to deliver the broad torque curve needed to cope with the Purosangue's mass and cope with a duty cycle that's expected to consist of a lot of low- and medium-speed driving where a highly-strung V-12 is the last thing anyone needs.

"It's close to the limit in terms of torque," admits chief product development officer Gianmaria Fulgenzi. "It took all our competency to deliver this engine." But it was an engineering challenge that had to be met: "Our existing clients wanted a V-12," says Enrico Galliera. "Once we announced to them it was a V-12, interest exploded."

What Purosangue buyers will get is an engine capable, Ferrari says, of hurling the 4600-pound four-door to 60 mph in less than 3.3 seconds, to 124 mph in 10.6 seconds, and to a top speed of almost 200 mph, leaving the likes of Aston Martin's DBX 707 and Lamborghini's Urus rocking gently in its wake.

But it's not just what the engine will do, says Gianmaria Fulgenzi. It's how it will do it. A lot of time and effort has been put into ensuring the F140lA has that feel of endless acceleration that's the hallmark of a great Ferrari V-12, and of course, a spine-tingling soundtrack all the way to its 8,250-rpm(!) redline.

The Purosangue's body structure is, unsurprisingly, all new. The lower elements are all made from high strength aluminum, with extrusions and castings and load-bearing aluminum sheet metal used to create a space-frame upper structure to which aluminum, carbon fiber and high-strength steel body panels are bolted.

The roof is a single shell carbon-fiber panel with integrated sound proofing that Ferrari says delivers the rigidity of a glass roof while weighing 20 percent less than a sound-proofed aluminum roof. Compared with the GTC4Lusso, Ferrari's most recent four-seater (albeit with only two doors), the Purosangue has 30 percent better torsional rigidity and 25 percent better stiffness, thus delivering improved NHV and comfort.

Look under the hood and you can only see the first six cylinders of the engine; the V-12 is mounted way back in the chassis, with the front of the block virtually over the front axle centerline. The other six cylinders you can't see? They're hidden away under the cowl and the base of the windshield. That explains the Purosangue's imperious dash-to-axle ratio, and its ideal 49/51 front to rear weight distribution.

Ferrari has taken an unconventional approach to configuring its first-ever four-door. The rear doors are rear-hinged, and open to 79 degrees. That's not just for sidewalk showbiz, says Fulgenzi: Rear doors hinged on the B-pillar would have required a longer wheelbase. Not that the Purosangue is a shrinking violet: It's 195.7 inches long overall, 79.8 inches wide, 62.6 inches tall, and measures 118.8 inches between the axles. It is the largest, tallest Ferrari ever made.

"We developed the Purosangue especially for performance on paved roads,' says Gianmaria Fulgenzi. "The off-road capability of the car is higher than a normal Ferrari, but for sure it's not a Jeep."

The V-12 drives all four wheels via an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission mounted at the rear axle, and an updated version of the GTC4Lusso's power-takeoff drive system, which is mounted at the front of the engine. The power take off system sends drive to the front wheels in first, second, third, and fourth gears at speeds up to 124 mph.

Ferrari heavily redesigned the dual-clutch transmission, which features a more compact clutch assembly that shaves 0.6-in off its installed height in the car, lowering the center of gravity, and can handle up to 885 lb-ft of torque during shifts. Revised hydraulics mean shifts times are shorter than in the previous seven-speed transmission, and the tall eighth gear allows for more relaxed freeway cruising.

The multi-link suspension front and rear features steel springs and fast-acting Multimatic active shocks that use 48-volt motor actuators and a twin-ball screw system to apply force in the direction of each shock's stroke to control the body motions in response to data from an array of sensors and accelerometers mounted on the suspension links and the body at all four corners of the car.

Under orders from the Purosangue's sophisticated new Side Slip Control (SSC) 8.0 intelligent dynamics system, the system will automatically lower the car up to 0.4 inch from its standard 7.3-inch ride height in corners to effectively reduce the roll center once lateral acceleration loads exceed 1 g. An optional lift setting will allow the ride height to be raised by 1.2 inches to 8.5 inches at speeds up to 50 mph.

Though it eliminates the need for anti-roll bars, Ferrari's active suspension requires its own 48-volt battery, and adds about 110 pounds to the car's overall mass. Wouldn't an air spring set up have been simpler? "It's too slow," says Stefano Varisco, the dynamics wizard who has helped develop Ferrari's brilliantly holistic SSC system, the first iteration of which appeared on the 458 Speciale in 2015.

SSC has a lot more to process on the Purosangue. In addition to accurately monitoring and controlling each wheel, SSC 8.0 also analyzes data from, and sends instructions to, the rear E-diff, the F1 Trac traction control system, the grip estimation system (which calculates the level of grip between the tire contact pact and the road surface, even when the car is not being driven at the limit), the standard rear-wheel steering system, and a new ABS system that's capable of handling low grip surfaces.

Speaking of brakes, the standard rotors are meaty 15.7 inches in front and 15.0 inches in back and carbon-ceramic. The Purosangue also runs on a staggered wheel and tire combination, with 255/35 tires on 22-inch rims up front and 315/30 items on 23-inch rims at the rear.

The Purosangue looks taut and compact, more like a hot hatch on steroids than a big, high-riding luxury crossover. Ferrari design chief Flavio Manzoni's team have done a remarkable job of disguising the car's size and height. And though its format is unfamiliar, it's unmistakably a Ferrari. "We don't use the family feeling strategy on our cars," says Manzoni, "but there are some design elements that are part of the Ferrari language, a kind of vocabulary that we use."

There's lots of clever details in the design, but the cleverest—and the key to making the whole car work visually—are the deep fissures above the wheel openings, which make it look as if a muscular and voluptuous sports coupe is floating over the technical bits that enable it to tackle all roads in all weathers. As the conceit relies heavily on the fact the Puroganue's lower elements are painted black or finished in dark carbon fiber, it may not be as successful on a car with black bodywork. We'll wait and see.

Thanks to its long experience in Formula 1, Ferrari knows a lot about bleeding-edge aerodynamic theory and practice, and the Purosangue bristles with all manner of wind-cheating hardware designed to reduce drag and increase downforce.

For example, what look at first glance to be headlights high on the fenders are in fact vents bifurcated by daylight running lights that double as turn signals (The headlights are tucked away in the big vents either side of the central air intake.) The upper vent helps manage the airflow through the front wheel wells and around the base of the windshield, where what Ferrari calls aerobridges on either side of the hood reduce the negative impact of turbulence at the base of the windshield. The lower vent channels air into the brake cooling system.

Ducts from the front bumper direct air towards the outer edge of the front tires which is then turned towards the rear of the car to create an air curtain over the front wheels, helping to reduce drag. Small vents on the trailing edges of the wheel openings front and rear help extract high pressure air from the wheel wells. There's even a flap on the lower front suspension arms to direct unwanted air away from the wheel wells.

At the rear is a diffuser that's more than just a design element to reduce the visual mass at the rear of the car. It's been shaped to not only provide downforce, but to also maximize the extraction of hot air from around the rear-mounted transmission, and the exhaust system. Ferrari says the Purosangue's rear screen doesn't need a wiper, as air directed over the glass keeps it clean.

You sit in the Ferrari Purosangue, not on it, despite its overall height and ground clearance. Behind a redesigned steering wheel that includes all the touch controls for the "hands on the wheel, eyes on the road" philosophy seen on the SF90 Stradale, Ferrari Roma, SF90 Spider and 296 GTB, is Ferrari's excellent configurable instrument panel. Ahead of the front seat passenger is a 10.2-inch screen that can display most of the same data the driver sees, should they want it, along with all the infotainment menus.

The Purosangue is strictly a four seater, mainly because of the large transmission tunnel that runs through the cabin and will eventually also be used for packaging batteries for the hybrid and BEV versions of the car that Ferrari insiders refuse to confirm or deny are coming.

A variety of trims will be available, including a new dark brown semi-aniline leather for the seats, carbon fiber with fine copper wire threads woven into it, and floor covering made from a bullet-proof ballistic fabric used in military uniforms, but Ferrari says 85 percent of the trim on the car shown here has been sustainably produced. This includes the recycled polyester roof lining, carpet made from recycled fishing nets, and a special version of Alcantara also made from recycle polyester.

And the answer to the question you're all asking? Yes, the Purosangue will comfortably accommodate four six-foot adults, with head, knee, and foot room to spare for the rear seat passengers. They'll all have to travel with soft bags if a long trip is in the cards, however—the rear load space is shallow, and offers a relatively modest, midsize-sedan-like 16.7 cubic feet of capacity.

Leave aside the pearl clutching about what to call it: The Purosangue looks to be first and foremost a real Ferrari. It's been created with the same care and attention to detail by the same designers and engineers responsible some of the greatest Ferraris yet made. And that's a key point.

The Purosangue name, Italian for thoroughbred, was adopted during the car's development to remind everyone involved in the project that it should be born of the Ferrari bloodline. "We gave the green light to do the car only when we had the technology to do it as a Ferrari," says Enrico Galliera. "We didn't want to just do a four-seater. And from the beginning we didn't want to develop an SUV."

And as a further pushback against the supercar-maker-does-SUV orthodoxy, Galliera says Purosangue sales will be restricted to no more than 20 percent of Ferrari's total annual volume. Ferrari is determinedly not following the model, so successfully established by Porsche with the Cayenne and emulated by the likes of Lamborghini, of using four- or five-seat SUVs or crossovers as high-volume cash cows whose profits fund the development of the sports cars.

That partly explains the Purosangue's stratospheric price. When the first cars arrive in the U.S. in the fourth quarter of next year, buyers won't get much change from $400,000.