Pininfarina - beauty is born there

The Apennine peninsula has been the cradle of style masters since antiquity. In addition to architecture, sculpture and painting, the Italians are also leaders in the world of automotive design, and its undisputed king is Pininfarina, the stylistic center of Turin, which celebrated its anniversary at the end of May. 

Origin Carrozzeria Pininfarina

He in May 1930 Battista Farina he founded his company, he went a long way, which from the very beginning was connected with the automotive industry. He was born the tenth of eleven children of the vintner Giuseppe Farina. Due to the fact that he was the youngest son, he was given the nickname Pinin, a small one that remained with him until the end of his life, and in 1961 he changed his surname to Pininfarina.

Already in his teens, he worked in his older brother's workshop in Turin, which was engaged not only in mechanics, but also in sheet metal repair. It was there that Battista, watching and helping his brother, learned to use cars and fell incurably in love with them.

He received his first design commission at the age of 18, when he was not yet in business. It was a radiator design for the Fiat Zero, produced since 1913, that President Agnelli liked more than the suggestion of the company's stylists. Despite such success, Farina did not work at a car factory in Turin, but decided to leave for the United States, where he observed the dynamically developing automotive industry. Returning to Italy in 1928, he took over his older brother's factory, and in 1930, thanks to family and external funding, he founded Body Pininfarina.

The aim of the investment was to turn a thriving workshop into a factory producing custom-designed bodies, from one-offs to small series. There were many such companies throughout Europe, but in subsequent years Pininfarina received more and more recognition.

The first cars drawn by Farina were Lancias, which is no coincidence. Vincenzo Lancia invested in his company and became a friend over time. Already in 1930, Lancia Dilambda was introduced with a slender body called a boat-tail, which won the hearts of spectators and experts during the Italian competition of elegance di Villa d'Este, and soon attracted the powers that be. Among other things, a Lancia Dilambda body made by Farina was ordered. king of Romania, and Maharaja Vir Singh II ordered a body in the same style, but built for the Cadillac V16, then one of the most prestigious cars in the world.

Farina built and presented at elegance contests and car showrooms projects not only on the basis of Italian cars (Lancia, Alfa Romeo), but also on the basis of Mercedes or the extremely luxurious Hispano-Suiza. However, the early years were most closely associated with Lancia. It was there that he experimented with aerodynamics, introducing Dilambda and later the next incarnations of Aurelia and Asturias. Rounded body parts and slanted windows have become the hallmark of the studio.

The pre-war period was a time of development, employment growth and more and more new projects. World War II stopped work at the Turin plant, but when the unrest ended, after the plant was rebuilt, Battista and his team returned to work. Shortly after graduating in 1950, he was joined by his son Sergio, who signed on to many iconic projects. Before that happened, it was introduced in 1947. Cisitalia 202, the first road sports car from the Italian racing stable.

The new design of the workshop stood out against the backdrop of pre-war achievements. He gave the impression of one lump, slender, not marked by joints and curves. If at that time one did not know about the reputation of the Pininfarina, then at the time of the debut of this model, one could not have any illusions. The car was as amazing as the best Ferrari designs later on. Not surprisingly, in 1951, he entered the New York Museum as one of the most beautiful cars in the history of the automotive industry and was called a sculpture on wheels. Cisitalia 202 went into small-scale production. 170 cars were built.

Prestigious collaboration between Pininfarina and Ferrari

Relationship history Pininfarini z Ferrari it started as a kind of dead end. In 1951 Enzo Ferrari invited Battista Farina to Modena, to which he himself replied with a counter offer to visit Turin. Both gentlemen did not want to agree to leave. Perhaps the collaboration would not have started if it were not for Sergio Pininfarinawho proposed a solution that does not reveal the status of any potential contractor. The gentlemen met at a restaurant halfway between Turin and Modena, resulting in the first Ferrari with Pininfairny body - Model 212 Inter Cabriolet. Thus began the history of the most famous collaboration between a design center and a luxury car manufacturer.

Initially, Pininfarina did not have a Ferrari exclusive - other Italian ateliers, such as Vignale, Ghia or Carrozzeria Scaglietti, prepared the bodies, but over time this has become increasingly important.

In 1954 he made his debut Ferrari 250 GT with Pininfarina bodylater 250s were built. Over time, the studio became the court designer. From the hands of Turin stylists came supercars such as Ferrari 288 GTO, F40, F50, Enzo or lower location Mondial, GTB, Testarossa, 550 Maranello or Dino. Some cars were even produced at the Pininfarina factory (name since 1961). These were, among others, various Ferrari 330 models assembled in Turin and taken to Maranello for mechanical assembly.

Beautiful history of Pininfarina collaboration with Ferrari It is probably coming to an end as Ferrari currently does not offer cars designed in Turin and Ferrari's Centro Stile is in charge of all the brand's new designs. However, there is no official position on the termination of cooperation.

The world doesn't end with a Ferrari

Despite working closely with Ferrari for sixty years, Pininfarina did not neglect other clients either. Over the next decades, she produced designs for many global brands. It is worth mentioning such models as Peugeot 405 (1987), Alfa Romeo 164 (1987), Alfa Romeo GTV (1993) or Rolls-Royce Camargue (1975). In the new millennium, the company began cooperation with Chinese manufacturers such as Chery or Brilliance and Korean ones (Hyundai Matrix, Daewoo Lacetti).

Since the late 100s, Pininfarina has also designed locomotives, yachts and trams. Their portfolio includes, among other things, the interior design of the new Russian airliner Sukhoj Superjet, Istanbul Airport, which opened in April this year, as well as the design of consumer electronics, clothing, accessories and furniture.

Not only a design studio, but also a factory

With the international success of Cisitalia, Pininfarina's recognition spread beyond Europe and began working with American manufacturers Nash and Cadillac. The Italians helped the Americans design the Nash Ambassador, and in the case of the Nash-Healey roadster, Pininfarina not only designed a new body for the roadster that had been produced since 1951, but also produced it. It was the nail in the coffin for the project itself, because the car began its history in England, at the Healey factory where the chassis was built, and it was equipped with an engine sent from the USA. The partially assembled car was transported to Turin, where Pininfarina assembled the body and shipped the finished car to the States. The difficult logistical process resulted in a high price that prevented it from selling well in the competitive American market. General Motors made the same mistake a few decades later, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Nash was not the only American manufacturer interested in Pininfarina's manufacturing capabilities. General Motors decided to build the most luxurious version of Cadillac, the Eldorado Brougham model, built in Turin in 1959-1960 in small batches. In both years of production, only about a hundred were built. It was the most expensive item on the American brand's price list - it cost twice as much as a regular Eldorado, making it one of the most expensive cars in the world. The halo of luxury, combined with a logistics operation that included US-Italy-US shipping and the hand assembly of each car, made the Cadillac Eldorado Brougham not the smartest choice when looking for a roomy limousine.

In 1958 of the year Pininfarina opened a plant in Grugliasco that could produce 11 cars per year, so production for American customers was too small to support the plant. Fortunately, the company was in perfect harmony with domestic brands.

In 1966, the production of one of the most important cars for the company began, Alfie Romeo Spiderwhich was the second largest production car built by Pininfarina. Until 1993, 140 copies were produced. In this regard, only the Fiat 124 Sport Spider was better, produced in 1966, 1985 units in - years.

The eighties is the time when we can return to American carving. Then General Motors decided to build the Cadillac Allante, a luxury roadster that was body-built at a joint plant in San Giorgio Canavese and then airlifted to the US to be connected to the chassis and powertrain. The overall performance negatively impacted the price and the car remained in production from 1986 to 1993. Production ended at over 23. copies.

However, the new plant was not empty; the Pininfarina company built on it. Convertible Bentley Azure, Peugeot 406 coupe or Alfa Romeo Brera. In 1997, another factory was opened, in which Mitsubishi Pajero Pinin, Ford Focus Coupe Convertible или Ford Streetka. The Italians have also established partnerships with Volvo and they built C70 in Sweden.

today Pininfarina has closed or sold all of its factories and no longer makes cars for any manufacturer, but still provides design services for various brands.

Economic crisis and recovery

Financial problems caused by real estate developments and long-term loans have not only negatively affected large corporations, which had to close entire factories and even brands to protect themselves from collapse. Pininfarina was in big financial trouble back in 2007, and the only salvation was to look for ways to cut costs and attract investors. In 2008, the struggle with banks began, the search for investors and restructuring, which ended in 2013, when the company did not suffer losses for the first time in almost a decade. In 2015, Mahindra emerged and took over Pininfarinabut Paolo Pininfarina, who had been with the company since the XNUMXs, remained president.

Most recently, Pininfarina I am not idle. She is responsible for the updated Fisker Karma, i.e. Karma Revero GTpresented this year. In addition, the Pininfarina Battista hypercar, named after the company's legendary founder, is on the way, combining timeless styling with Rimac electric drive, delivering a total output of 1903 hp. (4 motors, one for each wheel). The car is expected to go on sale in 2020. The Italians plan to release 150 copies of this supercar, capable of accelerating to 100 km / h in 2 seconds and reaching a speed of 349 km / h. The price was set at 2 million euros. Much, but Pininfarina is still a brand in the automotive world. The Italians report that 40% of the total production is already reserved.