Love at first sight is always suspect. Heated glances across a crowded cocktail party, or parking lot, raise the pulse, but best to date for a while—you know, run up and down the rev range and through a variety of conditions, to stress-test the systems a bit, and then finally introduce your friends and family and gauge their reactions too. This is why carmakers lend us their babies for a week at a time—so the novelty can fade and their true nature shine through. 

 After a week, I’m still at least partly blinded by the shine that comes through here, even though I regard these so-called SUV “coupes” as answers to a question no one asked. The only coupe-like element is their fastback rooflines, which just reduce rear-seat headroom and cargo capacity, and usually make the vehicle look constipated. However, Hyundai—that is, its Genesis design and engineering teams—has drawn this roof in an especially harmonious curve, one that both delights the eye and does scant damage to the space beneath. The two back seats both rake and recline electrically and there is generous knee, leg and luggage room. A family of four might prefer the full-size, three-row GV80 SUV (December ’21), but as an empty-nest Boomer, my choice is the two-row Coupe. 

 Unlike the SUV, the Coupe is not available with a 4-cylinder base engine; instead, buyers get a choice of two 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged V-6s. The standard motor, which is part of the SUV’s upgrade package, is rated for 375 horsepower; the one in our Coupe, a $5,800 option, has a 48-volt electric supercharger that boosts output to 409 horsepower and 405 pound-feet of torque. The power is never more than a millimeter of toe travel away, and—with sound enhancement switched on—this E-SC engine delivers a decorously muted V-8-style throb under pressure. 

 The transmission is an 8-speed automatic that shifts nearly imperceptibly. Shift paddles are provided, but really, why bother? All-wheel drive is standard and there are the expected Eco, Comfort and Sport modes, working together with an electronic self-adjusting suspension. The E-SC also has a Sport+ setting, but again, why? The GV80 Coupe is more about grace and space than mere pace. There are manic SUVs from Germany that will creditably rip up a racetrack, but none of them offer the GV80 Coupe’s blend of elegance and seeming simplicity. 

 The cabin is beyond luxurious; it is clean, harmonious and utterly comfortable. Again unlike many upper-end German cars, which can overwhelm with screens and inscrutable controls, the GV80 front office seems simple. In fact, the GV80 takes a back seat to no vehicle in comfort, convenience, safety and luxury features, but it presents them with unusual clarity and accessibility. Making complexity appear simple is difficult; Genesis has done it admirably here. 

 Presently, every Genesis vehicle packs the sort of multi-dimensional esthetic punch that the first Lexus, the LS400, did on its debut in 1989. Like everyone, I was tremendously impressed by that pioneering Lexus, although it was too big, too luxurious and too refined for a 39-year-old petrolhead with a hopped-up Saab Turbo in the garage. Time changes everything. Now my wife laughs and says, oh, you are getting old—you like this kind of car now! 

 Yes, I do. The GV80 Coupe is a paragon that I think I could happily drive every day for the rest of my life, or until the DMV yanks my license or gasoline is no longer available. There is but one obstacle to this fantasy: This specific example, which I reckoned cost somewhere in the mid-sixties, lists for eighty-seven thousand, seven hundred and eighty dollars. The power-door-closure feature should have tipped me off. I am crushed. 

 Next week: Hyundai Sonata