We know by now that the makers of the world’s supercars, led by Porsche, have turned their design and engineering skills to the SUV. This is not a new trend, and while it initially horrified purists, most car lovers would say it’s a positive thing.

Still, it was a bit bracing a few years back to see Maserati introduce its SUV, the Levante—maybe it’s just easier to imagine the Germans as makers of a practical car than the Italians. Perhaps more surprising still was to see how elegantly Maserati has handled the translation of its design aesthetic into the SUV format, where so many cars simply feel like variations on a predictable theme.