HERITAGE
COLLABORATIONS
Alfa Romeo
Almost seventy years of collaboration between Pininfarina and Alfa Romeo.
A collaboration that has quite naturally extended to all the key features of Pininfarina’s activities: the construction of one-off specials to the order of individual customers, ad vanced styling research, design and the production of special low-volume models, all in keeping with and sometimes way ahead of the firm’s gradual development.
Alfa Romeo was already a marque with a striking image, one that had come of age and trodden the first of its peaks of fame – a hat trick of outright firsts in the old Mille Miglia – when the stripling Pininfarina was given the chance of adding the supercharged 6C 1750 Gran Sport to its sheaf of prestige creations, along with those for Hispano-Suiza, Isotta Fraschini and Lancia.
FERRARI
“Ferrari and Pinin? It won’t last. It’s like putting two Prima Donna in the same opera”. This was the general opinion bandied round the automotive environment in the Fifties. Rash forecasts subsequently belied by facts. Since these two giants met, their combined marques have defined some of the most beautiful cars ever built in a constantly evolving relationship that has now lasted for 60 years and shows no sign of ending, as confirmed by the around 200 Ferraris designed by Pininfarina to-date. Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898 and founded his Scuderia Ferrari in 1929, starting to build cars in 1947.
FIAT
The 1999 marks a significant anniversary: Fiat’s Centenary.
To celebrate the anniversary Pininfarina played an active part in the project organized by Italian Coachbuilders, displaying 70 of the cars that best represent the historic relationship with the Fiat Company on two of Turin’s most beautiful squares, in July 1999. Pininfarina also intended to pay homage to Fiat realizing Wish a research prototype built on the mechanical of the new Fiat Punto.
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GM
During the 30’s, car body makers often are called upon to design one-of-a-kind custom models. In 1931, Pininfarina produced one such unique model as a spider version of a V16 Cadillac for the Maharajah of Orccha. This is the first contact between the car body maker and General Motors. General Motors means the United States, and Pinin has had his eye on the New World automobile companies for a long time. For him they represent the future of the industry. Pinin Farina quickly wins international fame for his car bodies.
LANCIA
Lancia and Pininfarina: a couple that made their combined debut in 1930 as a result of a long antecedent. Vincenzo Lancia, a successful entrepreneur, had been a regular customer at the Stabilimenti Farina over the two previous decades as Battista Farina. Lancia decided to back it up through his own direct involvement as a minority partner. This explains why so many Lancia Dilambda Pininfarina car models began to appear within a few months of the inauguration of the new bodybuilding concern: a massive commitment, not least in financial terms, which perhaps Pinin would not have been able to cope with if left to his own resources.
MASERATI
Maserati Quattroporte, with bodywork created and designed by Pininfarina, marked a new step of the prodigious rebirth of the Trident Brand fostered by the Ferrari-Maserati Group and a new phase of the historic cooperation between Maserati and Pininfarina. With Maserati Quattroporte, presented in 2003 at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Maserati reaffirmed its renewed image, in step with leading edge technology and in line with its own historical past. The Quattroporte represents a cornerstone of this great tradition, having been an important element in Maserati production since 1963.
Peugeot
Peugeot and Pininfarina have been working together since 1951 when Peugeot decided to call in an independent design house to create its new 403 Saloon with the aim to createa distinctive lasting look.
It opted for Pininfarina, a design house with an established international reputation for a style that combined classicism, inventiveness and personality.
The new Peugeot saloon which came out in 1955 was a bigger success than the French firm had ever dreamed of, in the end over a milion units were produced, an unimaginable figure for the period.
