Pininfarina

Pininfarina logo.

Pininfarina (short for Carozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian design firm and coachbuilder in Turin, Italy, founded in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina (Following the company, his surname became Pininfarina in 1961, as a result of combining his nickname and surname).

Over the years the company has been employed by many automobile manufacturers, notably Ferrari, Maserati, Cadillac, Nash, Peugeot, Jaguar, Volvo, Alfa Romeo and Lancia. Since the 1980's Pininfarina has also provided industrial design and interior design consultation to selected corporate clients.

Today Pininfarina is run by Battista's grandson Andrea Pininfarina. The Pininfarina Group currently employs over 3,000 people in subsidiary company offices throughout Europe, as well as in Morocco and China.

Pininfarina in the USA

After World War II, a number of automotive manufacturers were interested in working with Pininfarina. In 1952, Pininfarina visited the United States for the unveiling of his design for the Ambassador. In addition, the Nash-Healey sports car was built in limited numbers from 1952 to 1954 at Pininfarina's Turin facilities. The work with Nash, which resulted in high-volume production of Pininfarina designs, provided a major entree into the U.S. market, and as a result of Nash's marketing efforts, Pininfarina became well-known in the United States. In the late 80's Pininfarina designed (and partially assembled) the Cadillac Allanté for General Motors. The car's bodies were assembled and painted in Italy before being flown to Detroit for final vehicle assembly.

Pininfarina Sverige

The 2006 Volvo C70 will be the first car built by Pininfarina outside Italy. The cars will be built in Uddevalla, Sweden by the purpose-founded company Pininfarina Sverige AB. This joint venture is owned by Pininfarina and Volvo Cars in a 60/40 split.

Custom and Prototype Vehicles

In addition to production vehicles, Pininfarina creates prototype, show and custom vehicles, for auto manufacturers as well as private clients. Most prototypes have served solely as concept cars, although several have become production models, including the Ferrari 612 and Ferrari F50. A recent privately-commissioned custom example was the Ferrari P4/5 of 2006, a one-car rebody of the Ferrari Enzo according to the client's specifications.

Pinifarina Extra USA Corp

Pininfarina extra, that work in industrial design, is also present in the USA.

Notable designs

1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300

1936 Lancia Aprilia

1938 Lancia Astura

1952 Ferrari 250

1952 Nash Ambassador

1952 Nash-Healey

1955 Ferrari 410 Superamerica

1955 Nash Pininfarina Speciale

1955 Nash Palm Beach

1956 Austin A40 Farina

1957 Lancia Flaminia

1960 Peugeot 404

1964 Ferrari 275

1965 Dino 206

1965 MGB GT

1966 IKA-Renault Torino

1966 Alfa Romeo 1600 Spider Duetto

1966 Ferrari 330 GTC

1966 Fiat 124 Spider

1966 Fiat Dino Spider

1967 Proposal for replacement for BMC 1800 (ADO17)

1967 Proposal for replacement for BMC 1100 (ADO16)

1968 Ferrari Daytona

1968 Peugeot 504

1971 Fiat 130 Coupe

1973 Ferrari 365 GT4 BB

1975 Lancia Montecarlo

1975 Rolls-Royce Camargue

1978 Jaguar XJ-S

1984 Ferrari Testarossa

1985 Alfa Romeo 75

1986 Peugeot 205 Cabriolet

1987 Alfa Romeo 164

1987 Cadillac Allanté

1987 Ferrari F40

1989 Ferrari Mythos

1994 Fiat Coupé

1996 Lancia Kappa SW

1997 Peugeot 306 Cabriolet

1997 Peugeot 406 Coupé

1999 Peugeot 406 Berlina

1999 Songhuajiang Zhongyi Hafei

1999 Mitsubishi Pajero

2000 Daewoo Tacuma

2000 Ferrari 550 Barchetta

2000 Hispano Habit

2001 Citroën Osée

2002 Ferrari 575M Maranello

2002 Enzo Ferrari

2002 Daewoo Nubira

2003 Maserati Quattroporte

2005 Maserati Birdcage 75th

2006 Volvo C70

2006 Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina

2007 Ford Focus CC by Pininfarina

2008 Maserati GranTurismo

Gallery

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External links

• Official site
• BMC 1800 & 1100 - detail on these extremely influential design proposals
• Some private photos of Pininfarina cars on Flickr