Pininfarina
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- See also Battista Pininfarina, founder of the company, his son Sergio Pininfarina and grandson Andrea Pininfarina.
Pininfarina (short for Carozzeria Pininfarina) is an Italian car 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 1980s 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 employs more than 3,000 people in subsidiary company offices throughout Europe, as well as in Morocco and China.
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[edit] Pininfarina in the USA
After World War II, a number of automotive manufacturers were interested in working with Pininfarina. Cooperation with Nash Motors resulted in high-volume production of Pininfarina designs and provided a major entree into the US market. In 1952, Pininfarina visited the United States for the unveiling of his design for the Nash Ambassador line. In addition, the Nash-Healey sports car body was assembled in limited numbers from 1952 to 1954 at Pininfarina's Turin facilities. As a result of Nash's marketing efforts, Pininfarina became well-known in the United States. A similar arrangement was repeated in the late 1980s when 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.
[edit] Prototype and Custom 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.
[edit] 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
- 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
- 1983 Peugeot 205
- 1984 Ferrari Testarossa
- 1985 Alfa Romeo 75
- 1985 Peugeot 205 Cabriolet
- 1987 Alfa Romeo 164
- 1987 Cadillac Allanté
- 1987 Ferrari F40
- 1987 Peugeot 405
- 1989 Ferrari Mythos
- 1994 Fiat Coupé
- 1995 Alfa Romeo GTV & Spider
- 1995 MG F - Roof Structure only.
- 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 Ferrari Rossa
- 2000 Hispano Habit
- 2001 Citroën Osée
- 2001 Hyundai Matrix
- 2002 Ferrari 575M Maranello
- 2002 Enzo Ferrari
- 2002 Daewoo Nubira
- 2003 Maserati Quattroporte
- 2004 Peugeot 407
- 2005 Maserati Birdcage 75th
- 2006 Volvo C70
- 2006 Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina
- 2007 Ford Focus CC by Pininfarina
- 2008 Maserati GranTurismo
[edit] See also
- Car design
- Car safety
- Hispano Carrocera
[edit] External links
- Official site
- BMC 1800 & 1100 - detail on these extremely influential design proposals