Pininfarina
Pininfarina was founded on 22 May 1930 in Turin by Battista “Pinin” Farina — the youngest of the Farina coachbuilding family, who had trained at his brothers’ firm, Stabilimenti Farina, before striking out independently with financial backing from his wife’s family and, by some accounts, from Vincenzo Lancia. The nickname “Pinin” (Piedmontese dialect for “little one” or “the youngest”) had been Battista’s identity his entire life; in 1961, by presidential decree, it was formalised as the legal surname of the entire family, who became the “Pininfarina” family. The company had already been trading under that name for years. From its first season, Pininfarina attracted clients well beyond what a new coachbuilder might expect — Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Isotta Fraschini, Hispano-Suiza, Fiat, Cadillac, and Rolls-Royce all placed orders in the 1930s, a roster that spoke to Battista Farina’s personal reputation in a trade where reputation was everything.
The relationship with Alfa Romeo developed its defining character through a series of landmark commissions. In 1946 — when Italy was banned from the Paris Motor Show — Battista and his son Sergio drove two of their latest designs from Turin to Paris and staged them at the entrance to the Grand Palais. One was an Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 S; the Parisian press called it “the Turin coachbuilder’s anti-salon,” and the cars drew more attention than most official entrants. In 1955, Alfa Romeo ran a design competition for the new Giulietta Spider, pitting Pininfarina against Bertone. Pininfarina won. The car launched at Turin in 1955 and became one of the definitive Italian sports cars of the post-war era; more than 17,000 Giulietta Spiders and nearly 10,000 of the subsequent Giulia Spider variant were produced, and Pininfarina built a new factory at Grugliasco specifically to make the bodies. The Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto, which debuted at Geneva in March 1966, was the last car that Battista “Pinin” Farina personally designed and approved; he died shortly after the car’s public debut. Its 28-year production run — the Duetto platform remained in production until 1993 — became his monument. In 1987, Pininfarina designed the Alfa Romeo 164 — the last Alfa developed with full continuity from the pre-Fiat era — with the exterior work led by designer Enrico Fumia. The 164 was widely considered one of the most elegantly resolved executive cars of its generation, though its underlying Type Four platform was shared with the Lancia Thema, Fiat Croma, and Saab 9000; design elements influenced Peugeot’s 405 and 605 families.
The other great Pininfarina relationship ran in parallel with Ferrari. In 1952, Battista Farina met Enzo Ferrari at a restaurant in Tortona and the two struck an agreement that defined both houses for the next sixty years. The Ferrari 250 series, 275 GTB, 365 GTB/4 Daytona, Dino, Testarossa, F40, F50, and Enzo were all Pininfarina designs. The partnership ended in 2013 when Ferrari brought design fully in-house; the LaFerrari was the last Pininfarina-designed Ferrari. In December 2015, the Indian industrial conglomerate Mahindra Group acquired 76.06% of Pininfarina S.p.A. for approximately €168 million, securing the company’s future as a design consultancy and coachbuilder. Sergio Pininfarina — Battista’s son, who had run the company and served as a Senator of the Italian Republic — had died in 2012, three years before the acquisition.
Connections
- Alfa Romeo — long-term coachbuilding relationship from 1930s; Giulietta Spider, Spider Duetto, 164, source: wikipedia.org
- Alfa Romeo Spider Duetto — last car personally approved by Battista “Pinin” Farina (died 1966), source: stellantisheritage.com
- Alfa Romeo 164 — designed by Enrico Fumia of Pininfarina, 1987, source: wikipedia.org
- Alfa Romeo Giulia 1962 — Pininfarina built the Giulia Spider on the 105-series platform, source: wikipedia.org
- Bertone — competed with Pininfarina for the Giulietta Spider commission (1955); Pininfarina won, source: hagerty.com
- Fiat — Alfa Romeo under Fiat ownership; 164 was the transition-era model, source: wikipedia.org