Italians are renowned for their obsessive attention to the aesthetics of pretty much everything. As a result, the country enjoys a reputation for style and flair that the marketing teams of brands like Alfa Romeo or Maserati waste no opportunity to exploit to their advantage.

Yet, few would argue that, when it comes to car design, that reputation was mainly established between the 1950s and the 1980s, the golden era of the Italian “Carrozzieri.” These were a handful of small firms located around Turin that, at the height of their creative powers, managed to exert an outsize influence on the aesthetic development of the automobile worldwide.

But it’s plain to see that those days are gone. Bertone is no more, ItalDesign is an outpost of VW, and if you want your new car to come with a Pininfarina badge, your only choice is the Battista hypercar.

So, what went wrong?

The question may be simple, yet the answer is anything but. The downfall of Italy’s famed design houses wasn’t triggered by a single event or circumstance. Instead, it was a gradual process characterized by multiple contributing factors. But to understand what knocked the likes of Pininfarina and Bertone off their perches, we first need to look at how they got there in the first place.

The postwar years weren’t kind to the European coachbuilding industry. The sector’s traditional client pool was dwindling, and as the continent’s automobile industry embraced unibody construction, so was the supply of suitable donor chassis to work on.

By 1955, many prestigious Italian names from the pre-war era, such as Castagna and Stabilimenti Farina, were gone. The few coachbuilding firms that survived this tumultuous period were those with closer ties to the local automakers. These were the strongest, most resourceful outfits that could work with unibody structures and take care of small production runs—all while serving as actual design partners, too. Genuine one-stop shops that, on short notice, could ease the pressure from an automaker’s factory and design office.

That’s because while the switch to chassis-less construction made for lighter, more efficient cars, it also made tooling up for low-volume derivatives like coupès or convertibles significantly more expensive. And that’s where companies like Pininfarina and Bertone entered the picture. Outsourcing their design and production allowed Fiat, Lancia, and Alfa Romeo to offer sporting derivatives of their regular models without investing in additional production capacity. This became even more critical by the second half of the 1950s, as a booming Italian economy sent the demand for new cars through the roof.

By the mid-’60s, these lucrative contract manufacturing arrangements had transformed Pininfarina and Bertone into small industrial empires. Both companies built car bodies by the thousands, yet their fortunes depended as much on ideas as they did on sheet metal. Being perceived as the cutting edge of automobile design was crucial to keep commissions coming in, so wowing the crowds at the Turin, Paris, or Geneva motor shows with sensational show cars was an integral part of these firms’ business. And the results were as spectacular as the cars themselves: Design commissions came pouring in from France to Japan and everywhere in between. It seemed the Turinese masters could do no wrong, but their success was due in no small part to favorable circumstances.

As we intend it today, car design was practically invented in Detroit in the late 1920s when GM established its “Art & Colour” section. It didn’t take long for each of the Big Three to have a well-funded and fully-staffed design department. But, strange as it may sound to our modern ears, during the ’50s and ’60s, most European automakers had yet to realize the essential role design played in market success. If they had an in-house design team, it was often understaffed and placed under the engineering department’s thumb. Management frequently had little understanding or appreciation for design matters and, lured by their flashy dream cars, didn’t think twice about handing the job to the Italians.

Of course, that’s not to say these people weren’t good. Unencumbered by the internal pressures the home teams were subjected to, the Italian studios repeatedly delivered the freshest, most original proposals. Sometimes, when one particular automaker was stuck in a dangerous creative rut, that outside input—think Giugiaro’s work for VW in the 1970s, for example—could even prove vital. But nothing lasts forever, and as the 1980s gave way to the 1990s, dark storm clouds were already looming on the horizon.

The first cracks began appearing right in the contract manufacturing business that had served Bertone and Pininfarina so well. Quality standards across the industry increased, while more advanced, flexible production methods allowed different cars to be made on the same line. As a result, automakers lost the incentive to outsource the production of lower-volume models. Moreover, if an international customer faltered, falling back on Fiat’s shoulders was no longer possible. Italy’s former industrial giant was all but broke heading into the turn of the new millennium and could no longer offer the support that had been so crucial four decades earlier. Few things can dig a larger hole in a company’s finances quicker than an idle factory, but the problems didn’t stop there.

By the time the last 747 full of Cadillac Allantés left Turin’s airport, design culture was much more widespread worldwide. Automotive executives were now acutely aware of design’s importance, and wanted to keep tighter control over it. Consequently, manufacturers invested heavily in their own design studios and often had multiple ones on different continents. With that, any incentive to involve third parties in the process was gone.

Especially when said third party counted most of your competitors among its customers. In an excellent biography published a few years ago, the legendary designer Ercole Spada shared a poignant anecdote from his time at BMW. He recalled how the company routinely asked each of Turin’s most prominent studios for proposals despite not intending to pursue any. But, since Pininfarina, Bertone, and ItalDesign all worked with BMW’s rivals, having these companies “compete” against its own design studio was, for the Bavarian firm, an indirect way to get a glimpse of its rivals’ general direction.

Last but certainly not least, complacency set in. There may still have been a space for Turin’s storied design firms in the modern era if they had kept their foot hard on the accelerator and their gaze locked on the horizon. Perhaps even more than in their 1960s heyday, being at the forefront of automobile design was a matter of life or death. Yet, one look at Bertone’s post-2000 output is enough to see why their phone stopped ringing.

Of course, Pininfarina is still around. Its latest work, the lovely Morgan Midsummer, shows that the company hasn’t lost its touch. But the days in which every Ferrari and every Peugeot on sale was a Pininfarina design are gone, never to return.

Nevertheless, it can be argued that what was created all those years ago in Turin continues to wield a certain influence on automobile design today. As a part of our shared cultural heritage, it’s in the back of every car designer’s mind, providing inspiration and being reinterpreted in novel ways. There are many examples out there, but the best one may be Hyundai’s brilliant Ioniq 5. It’s a resolutely contemporary and highly distinctive design, yet its design language’s roots are in Giugiaro’s “folded paper” cars from the 1970s.

Ultimately, the tale of Turin’s fallen design giants is as much about their amazing cars as it is about the fleeting nature of success. Left behind by the industry they once ruled, what’s left of the Italian “Carrozzieri” currently faces an uncertain future. What is certain, however, is that their massive legacy will stay with us for a very, very long time.

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Out of all the world’s automobile brands, British boutique manufacturer Morgan might be the last anyone would associate with cutting-edge design. Fundamentally, the company’s cars have looked more or less the same for nearly a century. So I’m sure I wasn’t the only one caught off-guard when, last November, the firm announced it was partnering with the famed Italian design house Pininfarina for a future vehicle project. That partnership birthed the Morgan Midsummer barchetta (which Hagerty covered here).

As a former vehicle designer, I was intrigued by what could result from such an unlikely duo, so I must admit that I found the new Morgan Midsummer somewhat underwhelming at first glance.

However, it didn’t take long for me to realize that my mild disappointment had little to do with the car itself but rather stemmed from my unrealistic expectations about it.

This is a relatively simple and pure sports car built by a niche manufacturer steeped in tradition. The Midsummer is the kind of “fun” project that would have had me jumping in excitement back in my car designer days: few requirements to satisfy, only a handful of people to please, and none of the bureaucracy that comes with a regular automaker’s various layers of management. Sign me up!

But make no mistake: designing for a manufacturer whose annual production tally would be a rounding error on Toyota’s balance sheet is fun, but it comes with its own unique set of challenges.

What you gain in creative freedom with a vehicle like this you lose in resources. Morgan makes between 800 and 850 cars per year, largely by hand. This puts clear and very stringent limits not only on what the company can do in terms of technology and facilities but also on how much it can spend to get there. And, with an annual turnover of around 35 Million, Morgan likely spent less on the Midsummer project than GM does maintaining the Tech Center’s coffee machines.

Once I approached the Morgan Midsummer in this light, I finally started to appreciate the subtle brilliance in Pininfarina’s work here.

The first significant limitation that Pininfarina’s designers had to deal with is evident at first glance: the Midsummer isn’t a brand-new car, but rather a comprehensively remodeled Plus Six.

I must now confess that, although I’ve always liked a good ol’ classic Morgan roadster, the latest crop of models based on the “CX” platform has so far left me cold. Yes, the classic look is still there. But the proportions always seem to be ever so slightly off, and some detailing, particularly the front valance and the air outlets behind the front wheels, look downright jarring.

The Midsummer, though, is on a completely different level.

Cynically, one might consider it little more than a rehash of the Plus Six. But thanks to Pininfarina’s deft tweaks to the vehicle’s proportions, sculpture, and detailing, the Midsummer has gained the kind of grace and panache the rest of Morgan’s range could only dream of.

Let’s start with the proportions. The youngest stylists in Pininfarina’s studio may not remember who Harley Earl was, but they sure know how to apply his old mantra, “longer, lower, wider,” to the best possible effect.

First, designers eliminated the windscreen, creating an unbroken horizontal beltline that emphasizes the car’s length and transforms its proportions compared to the Plus Six. Second, they lengthened the Midsummer’s rear overhang, balancing out the long front end and allowing the tail to taper much more gracefully than that of the Plus Six.

Once it fixed the vehicle’s proportions, Pininfarina gave the Midsummer a lovely new set of fenders. Compared to those of the Plus Six, the Midsummer’s fenders have a sharper, more contemporary surface treatment and extend deeper at the front to neatly integrate with the redesigned, full-width front valance.

Then there’s the detailing, in which Pininfarina evidently took inspiration from yacht design. After all, most owners will likely use their Midsummer to drive to and from the posh marina of a suitably exclusive coastal town, so leaning on that aesthetic makes perfect sense.

The chrome trim on the lower portion of the Midsummer’s body is clearly part of this “nautical” theme, but that’s not its sole purpose. In fact, giving the lower part of a car’s body a different finish is a classic designer’s trick. It visually elongates a car by slimming down the painted surface on the bodyside. At the same time, the exposed marine-grade wood that contours the cabin further underscores the design’s marine theme while paying homage to Morgan’s long tradition of using this material in its vehicles.

Last but definitely not least, the Morgan Midsummer has a killer stance. Its chunky wheels sit flush with the arches, and there’s so little space between the low-profile tires and the fenders that the rubber almost kisses the body—just as in a designer’s sketch. 

Moreover, I really dig the minimalist design of its 19-inch rims, which makes them look even larger and nicely complements the car’s overall design. After all, the Midsummer is far too elegant a conveyance to show off its brake rotors and calipers, and these rims’ visual weight contributes to making what ultimately is a tiny car look more substantial.

In conclusion, the Morgan Midsummer is the best-looking thing to come out of Malvern in a long time.

If there’s one thing I would have done differently, it’s the doors, which have been carried over unchanged from the Plus Six. I would have doubled down on the yachting theme and deleted them for a cleaner look. The average age of Morgan’s customers may not be the lowest in the business, but the Midsummer seems to sit low enough for most people to step over its sides without embarrassing themselves or pulling a muscle.

Nonetheless, the Midsummer is perhaps the first Morgan I’d like to own. That will never happen, of course, given that the planned run of 50 cars is reportedly sold out already, at around $250,000 a pop. But if I were in Morgan CEO Massimo Fumarola’s shoes, I’d waste no time letting Pininfarina work its magic on the rest of the marque’s catalog.

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Matteo Licata received his degree in Transportation Design from Turin’s IED (Istituto Europeo di Design) in 2006. He worked as an automobile designer for about a decade, including a stint in the then-Fiat Group’s Turin design studio, during which his proposal for the interior of the 2010–20 Alfa Romeo Giulietta was selected for production. He next joined Changan’s European design studio in Turin and then EDAG in Barcelona, Spain. Licata currently teaches automobile design history to the Transportation Design bachelor students of IAAD (Istituto di Arte Applicata e Design) in Turin.

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Midsummer in the English countryside. The smell of fresh-cut grass hanging in the air and the buzz of pollinators zipping through brightly-colored fields. It’s a time of balmy evenings, chilled cider, and warm conversations at the local pub. It was on just such an occasion that the idea of a collaboration between Morgan, the 115-year-old British sports car maker, and Pininfarina, the nonagenarian Italian design house and coachbuilder, was born.

In all those years Morgan had never looked beyond the picturesque Malvern Hills for inspiration, but with recently-installed Italian CEO Massimo Fumarola at the wheel the timing was perfect.

“Massimo was formerly at Ferrari, and he had a good working relationship with Pininfarina so he arranged a visit,” explains Morgan design boss Jonathan Wells. “The Chief Design Officer at the time was a British guy who lived near Malvern but had never been to the factory. He visited with some of his young design team and we spent the day walking around the factory with my designers and his team. His designers loved to see how my designers interface with the guys in the shop floor. We started talking about what could we do together? How would we approach it? What can we celebrate? And we went out that evening to the pub (to discuss further).”

“They then returned the favor and Massimo and I went over with our designers to Pininfarina. We saw how they practice car design and use digital environments. They operate with mixed reality and for my guys it was amazing to see design best practice.

“I like to think we were both offering each other something throughout the journey. And it really was a collaboration, they came to the project with an eye on where we were going. And we decided in those two visits to work on what we believe is the sweet spot for the traditional open roadster. We wanted to make it all about driving experience which lends itself to a barchetta.

“Every Morgan has a very cab-rear seating position, you look through the windshield down the bonnet at the louvres and you can see the top of the wheel arches. We wanted to really embellish that driving posture and experience, but, moreover to celebrate coachbuilding. We obviously use a wooden frame today, which dictates the form of the aluminum body panels. But that wood often gets hidden and you don’t see a large element of craftsmanship in the final aesthetic. So a big driver for us was to expose some of these core elements of coachbuilding in the aesthetic as well.”

The new model’s name, Midsummer, comes not just from the time of year best suited to driving a barchetta but also from the nearby Midsummer Hill—used by HFS Morgan in the earliest days of the company to test his vehicles up its steep incline.

It’s an evocative moniker for an evocative Morgan. Pininfarina’s input is subtle, but the more you look the more you see. The swooping fenders are re-profiled to make them appear wider and more purposeful, yet the effect contains no added aggression. There’s a revised grille and a totally new take on the traditional hood louvers. The tail is longer, angled more gently and its surface curved instead of being flat.

Of course, the most obvious feature is the beautiful, exposed wood throughout the cockpit. Whereas a traditional ash frame is hidden beneath the aluminum curves, what’s open to the elements is marine-quality teak, made by hand from hundreds of laminate layers by Morgan’s in-house artisans to replicate the prototype parts 3D-printed by the designers.

There’s no weather protection, save for two small aeroscreens, but Pininfarina’s aerodynamicists have carefully managed the airflow to reduce buffeting while also using it to help stick the car to the ground.

Sitting on Morgan’s now tried-and-tested aluminum CX platform—with BMW’s 335-hp, 3.0-liter inline-six and eight-speed automatic from the Plus Six—the Midsummer has been designed to be a real driver’s car, despite the lack manual shifting. Weighing in at just 1000 kg (2200 pounds) and fitted with Nitron adjustable dampers and the lightest wheels Morgan has ever made, sublime handling is promised to the fortunate 50 customers who have put their names down.

With a price north of £200,000 ($251,700) depending on how each Midsummer is specified, it’s Morgan’s most pricey model to date. The barchetta sold out of its 50-unit run immediately, and that customer response will lead the way for further developments, says CEO Fumarola. (None of the 50 customers are in the U.S., but the Midsummer is eligible for import as a Show or Display car limited to 2500 miles per year.)

“We have lots of projects in the pipeline, a very detailed plan,” he says. “It paves the way for new things as well, for sure. It really represents a moment in time that I think will become clearer over the next five years. You’ll soon see how it all ties in.”

Fumarola says that among those plans he’s open to further collaborations with Pininfarina. In which case, no doubt, they’ll be back to the pub.

***

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From Italian sports cars like the Testarossa to Coca-Cola machines to battery-powered road missiles, Pininfarina has proven itself to be a design firm that won’t shy away from the unconventional. Its latest creation, however, might just be the coolest of them all.

Behold, the Zamboni ZX5, which debuted earlier this week at the FSB 2023 Trade Fair in Cologne, Germany. The ZX5 is a new collaboration between Zamboni (yes, that’s actually the name of the company; it’s a bit of a Kleenex situation) and Pininfarina, and it looks … well, like a very tastefully sculpted machine for resurfacing ice rinks. It’s also the first Zamboni model to originate from the pen of a third-party design house, which is neat.

“We are honored to partner with Zamboni, a family brand with a strong heritage focused on relentless innovation that has become synonymous with its own product category,” said Paolo Trevisan, vice president of design for Pininfarina of America. “Our shared vision has led to the birth of the ZX5, a pure representation of Zamboni’s DNA project to the future thanks to this innovative and intuitive design.”

Early versions of the ZX5 will be powered by dual electric motors that use lithium-ion batteries, chargable with either 110V or 220V power. (Most ice resurfacers in use today burn propane gas.) Those motors generate 27 horsepower each, for a total of 54 hp. For a machine that chugs along at perhaps 5 mph tops, that’s plenty. Pininfarina also claims that its Zamboni has a tighter turning radius than older models.

A host of optional features, including neat bits like an on-board edger and a quick-change blade system, ensure that no matter your rink’s demands, you can have it looking glassy smooth in no time. Some of the main features like the flood water control and the towel lift (the rag that drags behind the Zamboni and flops quick-freezing water onto scarred ice to restore its smoothness) are now automated on the ZX5.

Zamboni says that the ZX5 is capable of resurfacing a sheet of ice up to 200×100 feet, a tad larger than the standard NHL rink size of 200×85 feet. The snow tank, essentially a storage compartment that stores all of the scraped-off ice, can hold 125 cubic feet of compacted snow. The onboard water-tank holds 200 gallons, plenty to rectify even the gnarliest of frozen surfaces.

Things sure have come a long way in the world of ice resurfacing since Frank Zamboni first debuted his frankensteined Ford Model A in southern California in 1949. To see a design house like Pininfarina hop into the Zamboni game is quite fun, if a bit off-the-wall. We dig it.

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Have you been down the urban exploration (aka “urbex”) wormhole on YouTube? There are plenty of faded monuments to retailing, manufacturing, and civil infrastructure for anyone to enjoy. Apparently, urbex is a bonafide career for YouTubers with a large following: These content creators are nothing like the looters, copper-wire thieves, and general miscreants that do terrible things to abandoned buildings. While Detroit, for well-documented reasons, is a hotspot for urbex adventurers, an abandoned Pininfarina factory in San Giorgio, Italy is indeed a rare treat.

Skip to the 0:50 mark if you’d prefer to avoid the contextual history lesson. This particular Pininfarina factory was built in 1986 as part of the GM/Pininfarina partnership to produce the star-crossed Cadillac Allanté. Like many buildings of the era, it was made in the brutalist style: poured concrete walls, often with small, decorative stones added to the mix.

Aside from the stylish and beneficial waffle ceiling in the cafeteria (go to the 9:00 mark), the building’s most eye-catching feature is the sheer volume of machinery that remains on the factory floor. More to the point, it appears that most of the assembly line remains intact, seemingly unable to find a new home at another factory.

Aside from the imagery of that factory floor, there’s nothing terribly outstanding about the building presented in this urbex adventure. Instead, consider it as a place of automotive dreams, one that once built the cars we aspired to own.

But it is one thing to discuss the starting point of a limited-production vehicle made by Pininfarina for Cadillac or for Ferrari. If you lived in Europe at the time of this factory’s heyday, and were shopping San Giorgio’s less exotic products, you might have fallen in love with another Pininfarina design: This achingly beautiful, two-door Peugeot.

Indeed, the Peugeot 406 Coupe is a whole ‘nother ballgame: The Italian design firm took a mundane French family sedan and made something absolutely beautiful in the process. At roughly $57,000 in today’s money, the 406 wasn’t cheap, but you would be wiser to spend that money on the Peugeot than on the majority of impractical, coupe-like CUVs currently available on the market. (I’m looking at you, BMW X4.)

After the 406 Coupe, Pininfarina made the similarly approachable-yet-exotic Alfa Romeo Brera and Spider models. The party ended shortly after the subprime mortgage crisis between 2007 and 2010. While it is possible that modern CUVs and EVs could be made at this San Giorgio factory, they would have to be low-volume models—and even if a market for one-off creations could exist again, Italy may no longer be the place for it. Which is a shame, but history should never be sanitized: It should be documented, warts and all. We are lucky that urban exploration allowed us to see this lost era in automotive design.

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Italy’s Automobili Pininfarina is building its future as a fully-fledged car maker on its storied coachbuilding past. As an all-electric Luxury Utility Vehicle, the company’s new PURA Vision concept is the most advanced car it’s ever shown, but it is claimed to carry 94 years of design DNA.

More specifically the designers of the unusual, high-sided, glass domed, gullwing-doored, and wide-haunched coupe-SUV looked back to the 1947 Cisitalia 202 for inspiration for its low hood and high fenders, and to the 1955 Lancia Florida for pillarless “lounge doors”. The Cisitalia was the first motor vehicle to go on display at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, while the Florida was said to be one of founder Battista Farina’s favourite designs.

“PURA Vision previews an exciting future and shows what can be achieved if we apply our PURA design principles to an entirely new kind of vehicle,” says Pininfarina CEO Paolo Dellachà. “Much more important than simply a concept previewing one forthcoming vehicle, PURA Vision presents a sharp, modern design philosophy inspired by the rich heritage of Pininfarina and defining an unmistakable recipe for a collection of beautiful new luxury cars.”

Inside the clear dome of the cabin there’s a nautical theme, with floating front seats said to be suspended like the foil of a racing yacht, and the center console taking the shape of a sail. A central touchscreen and head-up display feed information to the driver, while those relaxing in the rear seats can enjoy a chilled glass of Prosecco from the integrated wine cooler. Every occupant can choose the soundtrack to their road trip as the semi-aniline leather seats each feature individual headrest speakers. Carbon fiber, wool, and recycled polyester and aluminum add to the ambience.

The PURA Vision will be on display during Monterey Car Week where Pininfarina will also introduce its next full production model to line up alongside the wild Battista electric hypercar.

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Toyota extends GR Corolla Circuit production after high demand

Intake: Toyota has decided to produce the hot GR Corolla Circuit Edition for 2024, even before the 2023 model hits the market, which will be this spring. “We are seeing a ton of enthusiasm and excitement for the GR Corolla, especially the Circuit Edition,” says Michael Tripp, Toyota’s vice president of Marketing and Communications. “When Toyota GR fans speak, we listen and our plans are to increase GR Corolla volume and continue offering the Circuit Edition as part of the GR Corolla lineup in 2024.” The 2023 GR Corolla Circuit Edition’s standard features will include a vented bulge hood, forged carbon fiber roof, gloss black rear spoiler, front and rear Torsen limited-slip differentials, and red-painted GR logoed calipers. There will be around 1,500 Circuit Edition cars produced for the U.S. for model year 2023. Production of the Circuit Edition model for 2025 and beyond is still under consideration, Toyota says.

Exhaust: The 300-horsepower GR Corolla is the car Toyota enthusiasts have been waiting years for, and a large aftermarket accessory market has already sprung up for the car. The Circuit Edition should be a great starting point for a genuinely potent track-ready car. — SCS

Automobili Pininfarina Battista Hyper GT claims two world records

Intake: The $2 million Automobili Pininfarina Battista Hyper GT has snagged the quarter- and half-mile records for a production car. Automobili Pininfarina is a Germany-based subsidiary of Indian automotive manufacturer Mahindra & Mahindra, best known for tractors and its SUVs, who purchased the Italian car design firm Pininfarina SpA. The 1900-horsepower Battista GT, at a track in India, ran the quarter-mile in 8.55 seconds, and the half-mile in 13.38 seconds. The car began production last year and will soon be delivered to customers.

Exhaust: This and the electric Rimac Nevera are the future of supercars, like it or not. We’ve experienced the neck-snapping acceleration of the Nevera, and all that’s missing is an exhaust note. — SCS

Report: VW’s Scout may be assembled in the U.S.

Intake: Automotive News‘ European sibling publication Automobilwoche, citing company sources, reported that Scout, which Volkswagen acquired in 2021 with plans to relaunch it as an electric light-truck brand, will begin production in 2026 from a VW Group-built plant in the U.S. Volkswagen had considered contracting manufacturers Foxconn and Magna, but decided to build the plant on its own. “The decision to build the plant ourselves is available as a draft resolution and has thus been taken,” company sources told Automobilwoche.

Exhaust: The Scout is expected to be a direct competitor for the Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco. The fact that it might be built in the U.S., in its own plant or a new plant shared with Audi, is good news. — SCS

Hyundai divests interest in plant which may have violated child labor law

Intake: Hyundai has told shareholders that it would divest its controlling stake in a major Alabama auto parts plant where Reuters last year documented that children as young as 12 were working. In a letter to shareholders from Hyundai Chief Executive Jaehoon Chang, the company said recent audits at 29 of its direct suppliers across Alabama made it confident they are “now in full compliance with underage labor laws.” Hyundai also told investors it was implementing extensive new corporate measures, including a training program for its parts suppliers to begin next month in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Labor, to prevent future child labor violations.

Exhaust: Reuters’ award-winning series on American child labor violations was compelling. Hyundai appears to have done the right thing when confronted with the issue. —SCS

Lordstown pauses production and deliveries citing quality issues

Intake: Electric pickup manufacturer Lordstown Motors announced yesterday that it would halt production and deliveries of its Endurance pickup truck due to performance and quality issues with certain components, according to a new report from Automotive News. The EV maker said in a statement that it has filed paperwork with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for a voluntary recall of the Endurance to remedy an electrical connection issue that could result in a loss of propulsion while driving. The company began production of the Endurance pickup in September of last year with a goal to deliver 50 vehicles last year, plus more this year out of the first batch of 500 planned units.

Exhaust: It’s starting to become a common story among these fledgling automakers hoping to jump into the fray during the shift to EVs: Startup automaker reveals interesting component, gathers hype, holds an Initial Public Offering (IPO) of stock to raise funds, then hits the skids once production ramps up. Shares of Lordstown fell more than 8 percent in trading before the bell yesterday and continue to take a hit today. Let’s hope it can get the issues resolved in short order. — Nathan Petroelje

No more Mini Clubman after 2024?

Intake: Citing a Mini-centric website called Motoring File, Car and Driver is reporting that the Mini Clubman won’t be back after 2024. Citing disappointing sales—from 12,204 units in 2016 to just 2469 last year, becoming the worst-selling model in Mini’s lineup—there’s no point in continuing production, which will apparently end the first quarter of 2024. Mini declined to comment on the rumor.

Exhaust: Too bad; the Clubman has been one of our favorite Mini models, but you can’t argue with those sales figures. — SCS

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Car enthusiasts are accustomed to aspirational names on vehicles: “Le Mans” on workaday Pontiacs; “Cougar” on mild-not-wild Mercury station wagons, and “Falcon” on a Ford economy car that could not fly—these are but a few examples.

Cashing in on a brand name is standard practice in the auto industry. For many years after WWII, two Detroit brands repurposed names of renowned coachbuilders to give high-line models an extra dose of dash. In some cases it was marketing sleight of hand, suggesting coachbuilt construction that was more homage than anything else.

Rare today, “coachbuilding” was a not-uncommon practice among luxury makes before WWII. The automaker would provide a rolling chassis with running gear to a design and body specialist house, giving elite clients a dose of exclusivity and class over standard-issue models. As Hagerty editor-at-large Aaron Robinson put it: “Coachbuilders delivered a few handmade bolides produced by irreplaceable craftsmen using ancient tools and techniques, while mass production harnessed unskilled labor and mechanized automation to deliver millions of identical vehicles at an affordable price.”

While the practice largely faded in the post-war era, the status that came with a designer label remained powerful. Cadillac leveraged this name equity with Fleetwood-badged models and Chrysler did so with the LeBaron-badged Imperials. Both names had originated from pre-war designer/body-makers that were later acquired by their largest customers.

From Italy came big names like Pininfarina, Vignale, and Ghia. That last name had perhaps become best known in America for the 1955–1974 Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia, or as a trim badge on 1970s Fords. Ghia, however, had an illustrious history that included building Chrysler concept cars and limited-production specials in the ’50s and ’60s.

Gradually, these designer badges lost their meaning and connection to their history. One even became the butt of a joke in American comedy. How did things go so far downhill?

Let’s have a look at Fleetwood, LeBaron, and Ghia.

Born in Fleetwood, Pennsylvania

Perusing some car auction catalogs and websites, you might see references to “Body by Fleetwood” or even “Coachwork by Fleetwood” for Cadillacs from the 1950s–1970s. It’s not the real deal, so treat these models with an asterisk that nods to genuine coachbuilding history. Fleetwood, you may not know, was there near the start of the automobile’s story in America.

At the turn of the 20th century, it was popular for automakers to subcontract body design and manufacturing. The Fleetwood Metal Body Company of Fleetwood, Pennsylvania, sixty miles outside Philadelphia, supplied several makes, including the General Motors brands. Around the same time, Fisher Body Company (founded in Detroit in 1908) innovated and supplied closed auto bodies for GM and others.

Consolidation within the auto industry made big players bigger. GM bought 60 percent of Fisher in 1919. Six years later, Fisher bought Fleetwood and moved the Pennsylvania operation to its Fort Street factory in Detroit, renaming it the Fisher Body Fleetwood Plant. GM bought out Fisher in 1926 and essentially married Cadillac to Fleetwood.

A successful union

Cadillac deftly adapted Fleetwood’s design and construction expertise, not to mention the cachet of its name. Fleetwood Cadillacs from the ’30s could stand up to any coachbuilt cars of the period. By the late ’40s, the Fleetwood name had come to identify Cadillac’s long-wheelbase sedans and factory limousines. Some Cadillacs wore “Body by Fisher / Interior by Fleetwood” tags.

Curiously, the limited-production $13,000 1957–1958 Eldorado Brougham, whose construction required much hand work, did not use the Fleetwood name. Its fender tag, however, discreetly indicated “Body by Fleetwood,” meaning it was built in Fisher’s Fleetwood plant, along with other Cadillac bodies. It seems fair to call this example a bit of understated semi-coachbuilding.

Cadillac, meanwhile, had built a relationship with Italy’s Pininfarina. After creating a series of one-offs on Cadillac chassis, the Italian firm best known for design and bodywork for Ferraris won the contract to build the Cadillac-designed 1959–1960 Eldorado Brougham. These were genuine coachbuilt cars, with just 200 made. (The Pininfarina-built Cadillac Allanté from the 1990s was a whole other story.)

The Fleetwood flame burned on

Perhaps setting the stage for the ultra-distinctive and front-drive 1967 Eldorado on the horizon, Cadillac applied the Fleetwood badge to its DeVille-based Eldo in 1965, and it stuck around for more than thirty years. The nomenclature far outlasted the final Cadillac body from Fisher’s Fleetwood plant, which was the D-body 1987 Brougham (formerly the Fleetwood Brougham). That car was essentially the rear-drive 1977–1984 DeVille, rebadged simply as the Brougham after the DeVille and Fleetwood name moved to a front-wheel-drive platform for 1985. Cadillac moved Brougham production to the Arlington, Texas plant in 1988, where the 1993–1996 redesign, called the Fleetwood, would be built. (Cadillac was not about to call it the “Arlington.”)

The Fleetwood name took its final bow with a bit of irony. For 1998–1999, Cadillac commissioned a sort-of coachbuilding project when it issued a specially built long-wheelbase version of its front-drive DeVille, dubbing it the Fleetwood Limited. Superior Coach Company in Lima, Ohio, did the conversions on about 800 cars, closing the book on the Fleetwood story for good.

Chrysler and LeBaron

If the name “LeBaron” makes you think of Steve Martin and John Candy driving a semi-disguised (and ultimately burnt) 1983 Chrysler convertible in the 1987 comedy hit film Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, you’re not alone. Seven years later, another ’83 LeBaron convertible met a similar fiery fate in the Seinfeld episode, “The Mom and Pop Store,” in which it was misidentified as a 1989. The episode is known to many as “the one with Jon Voight’s car.”

In real life, however, LeBaron was no joke. Raymond H. Dietrich and Thomas L. Hibbard founded their “automobile architect” firm in New York City in 1920, calling it LeBaron Carrossiers to imply a European pedigree. Despite the marketing fluff, the company’s work spoke for itself. LeBaron would go on to create designs for Lincoln, Packard, Locomobile, Pierce-Arrow, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, Delage, Hispano-Suiza, and others. A merger in 1923 with The Bridgeport Body Co., which supplied Connecticut-based Locomobile, added body construction to LeBaron’s services.

Not long afterward, founders Dietrich and Hibbard left LeBaron to start their own separate design firms, with Hibbard joining Howard “Dutch” Darrin in Paris. LeBaron carried on with Ralph Roberts as head designer. In 1927, Briggs, which was at the time Detroit’s largest independent body maker, bought LeBaron and moved the operation to Detroit to serve as its in-house design department. Briggs mainly supplied Ford, Chrysler, Packard, and Hudson. Chrysler’s Imperials of the period wore some of LeBaron’s most revered designs.

LeBaron’s design work for Chrysler essentially ended in 1941 when it created the Imperial-based Newport dual-cowl phaeton, building five examples. One paced that year’s Indianapolis 500. That same year’s Chrysler Thunderbolt was a low, aerodynamic aluminum roadster with a one-piece retractable hardtop. Five were made, priced at $8250 each (about $167,000 in 2022 dollars).

By then, Briggs’ customers were relying mostly on their own design departments. In 1953, Chrysler bought Briggs, and LeBaron effectively ceased to exist. The name, however, found a new life as the top trim level for Chrysler’s 1957–1975 Imperial, with some “coachbuilding” suggested as part of the mystique.

Coachwork, or coach-bull?

While the Imperial LeBaron touted some special features, these were merely assembly line variations, with one notable exception. The assembly plant performed a bit of coachwork on the 1960 Imperial LeBaron, which featured a smaller rear window than the base and mid-line Crown versions. Ed Micalef, an Imperial collector profiled by Hagerty, explained that line workers welded in a metal insert that partially covered the standard rear window, using asbestos rope under it and lead-filling the seams.

Micalef, who owns a ’60 Imperial LeBaron, says the time-consuming modification was prone to failure as the car aged. “The asbestos rope would absorb moisture and expand, exposing the seam,” he explains. For 1961, Chrysler invested in a separate roof pressing for the LeBaron featuring a smaller window, which was used through 1963. And that is why the model wore a “LeBaron coachwork” badge for those years only. A stretch? We’ll let you decide.

Life after Imperial

Following the Imperial’s first demise in 1975, Chrysler played musical cars with the LeBaron name. The 1977–1981 LeBaron was essentially a deluxe M-body Dodge Diplomat that also inherited the retired Imperial’s eagle insignia. The LeBaron badge jumped to a K-car in 1982, and the M-body version became the “downsized” New Yorker.

Various LeBaron-badged front-drivers would serve as Chrysler’s bread and butter for the next 13 years. The J-Body coupe and convertible were attractive bright spots in this badge-engineering morass and were the only LeBaron models to not share a body with Plymouth or Dodge. The once-storied name ended with that car in 1995.

Ghia: The Chrysler Years

Founded in 1916, Carrozzeria Ghia came to prominence with designs for pre- and post-WWII Alfa Romeos and some early Ferraris. In 1954, Ghia’s chief designer, Luigi Segre, purchased the company and put it on track for what would become a golden age. Among its many masterpieces were the “Supersonic” designs built on chassis from Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Fiat, and Jaguar.

Segre forged an association with Virgil Exner, Chrysler’s head of Advanced Design, who tapped Ghia’s coachbuilding prowess to turn his studio’s daring designs into drivable “idea cars.” The collaboration included the 1952 Ghia Special (a.k.a. Thomas Special), with Chrysler commissioning six copies. Ghia then also built another dozen.

Ghia adopted key design elements from both the Thomas Special and another Exner-Ghia collaboration, the 1953 Chrysler d’ Elegance, for the smaller-scale Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia. Karmann contract-built the car for VW.

Firebombs and Hollywood moguls

Ghia’s work with Chrysler would bear more fruit, both inside and outside the corporation’s walls. In 1956, Ghia put the Dodge Firebomb concept into limited production as the Dual-Ghia, using a Dodge chassis and engine and financial backing from American specialty truck maker Dual Motors. Just 117 were made, priced at around $7500.

Chrysler called upon Ghia’s coachbuilding prowess once again for the limited-production Crown Imperial limousine, starting in 1957. Ghia constructed each one using two bare Imperial coupe shells, a lengthened chassis, and other components shipped from the U.S., as well as fitting a handcrafted interior. It’s coachbuilding in a manner of speaking. Just 132 examples were made through 1965, and it was expensive, selling for around $15,000–$18,000. For comparison, the 1958 Cadillac Fleetwood 75 factory limo cost about $9000.

Ghia won another major project from Chrysler in 1963, building bodies for the company’s experimental Turbine car. The first five built were considered prototypes, and 50 more were used for a nationwide public evaluation campaign. Jay Leno has one of the nine still in existence.

Nineteen-sixty-seven teed up an intriguing Chrysler-Ghia coachbuilding collaboration, similar to the Dual-Ghia deal. Approached by TV producer Burt Sugarman to supply engines and drivelines for a limited-production sports car he planned to commission from Ghia, Chrysler obliged. The company shipped the Plymouth Barracuda’s 273-cubic-inch (4.5-liter) V-8 along with its driveline, chassis, and interior components, to Italy. Ghia adapted these to a proprietary frame and clothed it with a striking two-seat convertible body.

The resulting car, the 1967 Ghia 450/SS, remained a limited build, with an estimated 57 made. Chrysler had deeper involvement with this project, sending product development executive Paul Farago to Ghia to provide engineering support. Before he had emigrated to the U.S., Farago had previously worked for Ghia on the Exner concept cars. The 450/SS was the last Chrysler-Ghia mashup.

Ghia’s Road to Ford

Chrysler was, of course, not Ghia’s only client. Also in 1967, the firm’s low-volume production subsidiary, Officine Stampaggi Industriale (OSI), collaborated with Ford of Europe to design and build a coupe based on the German front-wheel-drive Taunus 20M, making about 2000 examples of the so-called OSI 20M TS.

That same year, Ghia’s destiny took another twist when Argentinian ex-racer and auto entrepreneur Alejandro de Tomaso teamed with New Jersey-based electric motor maker Rowan Industries to buy Ghia and Vignale, another renowned Italian designer/coachbuilder. The designs for DeTomaso’s Ford-powered Mangusta and Pantera sports cars emerged from Ghia, the Mangusta by Giorgetto Giugiaro and the Pantera by American designer Tom Tjaarda.

Then Ford shook things up, buying a controlling stake in DeTomaso in 1971. Ghia would go on to do design work for Ford, in Europe and America, including the 1976 Fiesta. During the Mustang II’s development, Ghia designed and built two drivable prototypes, including a notchback style that Ford had not initially planned. The final model adopted the prototype’s general form and some design features.

Meanwhile, Ford had begun using the Ghia badge to denote the premium trim line for several European models. Not surprisingly, the practice came Stateside, starting with a premium-trim 1974 Mustang II, followed by the 1975 Granada and a luxury version of its Mercury twin, called Grand Monarch Ghia. The Ghia badge continued on the Fox-platform Mustang for a few years.

After designing some Ford concept cars built in the 1990s, Ghia faded from sight, and Ford stopped using the badge on its European cars in 2008. An inquiry to Ford Motor Company in the U.S. about Ghia’s status turned up no answers. (Ghia: phone home if you’re out there!)

Epilogue

Some might say the former Big Three ran the names of great coachbuilders into the ground. However, adopting those names, even for mundane cars, kept alive at least the memory of a dying part of auto history. It gave customers a feeling they’d bought something special, which—diluted or not—is a worthy achievement.

***

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At 92 years old, Carrozzeria Pininfarina has designed the dream cars of more than a few generations. It doesn’t matter if you love the Ferrari 250 GTO of the 1960s, the Ferrari F40 of the 1980s, or the Ferrari Enzo of just 20 years ago—each is the work of the Turinese firm founded by Giovanni Battista Farina. Tenth of eleven children, he was called “Pinin” by his family, and the nickname stuck. His company created many unattainable beauties, but also some special cars that almost anyone can afford.

Those machines are special for what they are and how they drive, but also for where they come from. In the 1920s and 1930s, if you were an Italian coachbuilder, Turin was where you wanted to be. Farina’s brother, Giovanni Carlo, set up his design business there in 1906. He would come to employ more than a few influential stylists. Felice Mario Boano, who drew the VW Karmann Ghia and the Lancia Aurelia, worked for him until 1930. Alfredo Vignale, later of the eponymous coachworks, started under Giovanni as well, as did Giovanni Michelotti, the man behind too many Ferraris, Triumphs, Lancias, and Maseratis to name.

Still, Pinin would take the surname the furthest. The younger Farina set out on his own, building bodies for Hispano-Suiza, Fiat, Rolls-Royce, and others. A partnership with Lancia helped his company become one of the first coachbuilders to master unibody construction. When World War II destroyed Pinin’s factory, he started over with a will. He rebuilt his facilities from scratch and set about growing into Turin’s premier coachbuilder.

The early days, or How to Get Into MOMA

The little Cisitalia 202 coupe is probably the single most important design in Pininfarina history. Its smooth and elegant lines evoke the 1950s, but the shape was born at the end of 1945. The 202 was the firm’s most famous work but hardly a commercial success—Cisitalia would go bankrupt less than 20 years later—but its design and quality workmanship established Pininfarina’s bona fides. To this day, a 1946 Cisitalia 202 GT lives in the permanent collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art.

Even more of an upset was the 1946 Alfa-Romeo 6C 2500 roadster that Farina drove to the Paris Motor Show that year. Built on one of just six prewar Alfa Romeo chassis to survive the bombing of the Turin factory, the car’s streamlined body was stunningly avant-garde. What Farina did with it upset the French greatly.

Italian automakers were banned from the Paris show, but Farina turned up anyway. He parked the Alfa directly across from the show’s front doors, complete with a little Italian flag on the hood. Show organizers went nuts, but their fury was mere encouragement: The next day, Farina parked the car in front of the doors again. French newspapers and magazines ran angry comment, but the emotion just seemed to spur him on.

The Ferrari years: A delicate balance

In 1961, Pinin and his brother, Sergio, legally changed their surnames to Pininfarina. The move was telling; in a few short years, their company had become near shorthand for the best in Italian styling. Much of this was due to the Farina family relationship with Ferrari, which meant, of course, a relationship with Enzo Ferrari, the carmaker’s legendary founder.

As Sergio told it, the dance between Battista and Enzo was delicate. Here were two great men, but also two great egos. Would Mr. Farina come to Modena? He would not. Would Mr. Ferrari deign to visit Turin? Forget about it. The two men had first met at the 1950 Turin auto show, where they basically just stared at each other over lunch. There was a mutual respect, but neither wanted to be the first to reach out.

Sergio labored to solve this. In concert with a veteran Maserati racing driver working on behalf of Ferrari, he arranged a meeting. Farina and Ferrari came together at neutral ground, at a restaurant equidistant from the headquarters of each. An agreement was made. On the drive back to the office, Battista put Sergio in charge of the new partnership.

The first Pininfarina Ferrari was the elegant little 212, unveiled in 1951. The relationship that created it would continue through six decades and dozens of new Pininfarina-styled Ferraris, ending only in 2012. In that time, there were Pininfarina Ferraris of both heart-stopping elegance and forgettable shape, but every one of those machines carried a bit of Battista’s magic.

The standouts became watermarks, cultural touchpoints whose elegance and influence are still discussed today. In the 1960s, it was the 250 GT Lusso. Into the 1970s, there was the 365 GTB/4 Daytona. In the 1980s and 1990s, Pininfarina gave us the Testarossa and the F40.

But again, that age came to an end. The last Pininfarina-influenced Ferrari was the F12berlinetta, produced from 2012 to 2017. Behind the wheel, Ferraris are still as vicious as ever. But they are arguably no longer as pretty.

The Italian-American highlight reel

Let’s rewind a little. In the years immediately following World War II, many partnerships were formed between American carmakers and Italian coachbuilders. Ghia would come to have huge influence at Chrysler, for example. But America came knocking at Pininfarina’s door as well, and she did so more than once.

The first collaboration was with the oft-overlooked Nash-Kelvinator. In the mid-1950s, that company—the result of a merger between automotive firm Nash and appliance maker Kelvinator—would absorb the American carmaker Hudson to become the conglomerate known as American Motors Corporation, or AMC. Before that, however, it was simply a small and slightly wacky corporate tie-up whose product line included a car called the Rambler and a refrigerator dubbed Foodarama.

Pininfarina helped with a number of Nash designs, most notably the small and elegant Nash-Healey Roadster. Built from 1951 to 1954, these open-topped sporting machines beat the Corvette to market by a couple of years and are generally seen as the first postwar American sports car. Nash-Healeys were never built in America—assembly took place in either England or Italy, depending on model year—but they were a valiant effort in the field, competing at both Le Mans and the Mille Miglia.

Speaking of Corvettes, General Motors did commission from Pininfarina a one-off example of the model, built in 1963. The Chevrolet Corvette Rondine Concept is the work of American-born Tom Tjaarda, who worked for Pininfarina during the first half of the 1960s. (Among other Tjaarda efforts: the DeTomaso Pantera and the Ferrari 365 California.)

General Motors would again turn to Pininfarina for the two-seat 1987–1993 Cadillac Allanté convertible, one of the most accessible Pininfarina works. During production, those cars were famously flown between Turin and Detroit at ruinous expense. Like so many things Italian, that arrangement was a debacle at the time but later made a fantastic story.

The way in: Affordable Pininfarina classics

It might seem odd, to go from groundbreaking four-wheeled museum piece, to million-dollar Ferraris, to a 1990s Cadillac coupe. But that’s is the great thing about Pininfarina: A piece of the house is within reach of almost any enthusiast.

Take the MGB GT—a two-door, fixed-roof British sports car made from 1965 to 1980. Like the MGB roadster it was based upon, the GT was affordable when new and remains so today, but the coupe is weathertight and more elegant. You need to know your way around a wrench to keep any MGB on the road, but the GT’s classic looks are right up there with any expensive coupe of the 1960s. Solid driver examples can still be had for four figures.

For smaller pistons but just as much fun, try importing (or purchasing from an importer) a Honda Beat. This Japanese-market “kei” machine, built from 1991 to 1996, is a mid-engined, folding-roof sports and city car of just 656 cc. It offers a hummingbird’s thirst for fuel and was one of Pininfarina’s first properly mass-produced designs. Like any small Japanese car, a Beat is proof that engine size and entertainment don’t always go hand in hand. Solid examples already in America are priced about like a good used Honda Civic.

Want an Italian car from Italy’s best-known coachbuilder? You have a host of options. The 1966 Alfa Romeo Duetto Spider was Battista Farina’s last design work before changing his last name. The car was unveiled only a month before the great man’s death, but the Spider remained in production into the 1990s. Late examples are more comfortable and practical than early ones (the tradeoff is a bit more curb weight), and good runners can still be found for under $5000.

Last but not least, even more accessible fare came from Pininfarina’s partnership with Fiat. A 1969–1977 Fiat 130 coupe is not an easy car to track down, but it’s a visual sibling to the 1980s Ferrari 400. The 1966–1985 Fiat 124 Sport Spider offers true coachbuilt flair for the masses. Also freshly importable is the Fiat Coupé of 1993 to 2000; the visuals of that revolutionary front-drive wedge are an acquired taste, but the car is an excellent example of 1990s Italian futurism.

That, then, is the magic of Pininfarina—the firm’s stylists put just as much thought and heart into a Fiat coupe as they did a Ferrari Lusso. The exotics are beautiful, of course, and we love to see them on posters or at shows. But as the saying goes, great design is egalitarian. The dream of art, available for all.

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If you’re able to stroke a check for $2 million, an Italian couturier with nearly a century of design hits will build you a svelte, graceful, and opulent two-seat sex wedge with almost 2000 horsepower. Its acceleration, quoted as “less than 2.0 seconds” to 60, will be dangerous to cardiac patients and send major organs yo-yoing on their strings. Wherever one of the 150 planned copies goes, there will be curiosity, questions, and admiration. And once again there will be proof that the world never stops running out of good reasons to be rich.

You remember the Pininfarina badge from your favorite Ferraris of yore. Founding father Battista “Pinin” Farina formed his illustrious carrozzeria in 1930 and got down to business with Ferrari starting in the early ‘50s. Well, the glory days of independent Italian design houses is well past—Ferrari stopped putting Pininfarina badges on its cars with the 2012-2017 F12—and those that survive are now scrambling for a buck doing whatever consulting and design work they can lay hands to.

As of 2015 a subsidiary of the Indian industrial conglomerate Mahindra, Pininfarina spun off a separate company in 2018, Automobili Pininfarina, based in Munich (and also primarily owned by Mahindra). The mission is to build and sell cars bearing the Pininfarina badge right on the nose, rather than down at the sides where bodymakers traditionally get their stamp. The move into whole-car production is seen as the final fulfillment of Pininfarina’s original vision. “Battista always wanted to make his own cars,” says Automobili Pininfarina chief design officer Dave Amantea. “He was once offered a job to head design at Ford, and he turned them down to pursue his dream.”

However, Battista, for whom the new car is named, never quite got that far, spending his years bejeweling the showrooms of other automakers. And these days it’s no small trick to produce a reliable and legally compliant car. For one thing, it pretty much has to be electric; that is the way the whole automotive industry, and especially the hypercar niche, is headed. Unless you’re Gordon Murray and then you can do whatever the hell you want. But the V-12-powered, manual-transmission T.50 aside, it’s now obvious to everyone that electrics will drop-kick any internal-combustion car into next week on acceleration, and let’s be honest, hypercars are all about the fast.

This one may even sell out fast. Pininfarina says its nine dealers in the U.S. and Canada have already packed the order book. The first five retro-themed blue-and-white Annversario cars are taken, and interested parties are encouraged to “be quick if you want one,” as the whole 150-car run is expected to be done by 2024.

To get a car out so quickly after the company was formed, Automobili Pininfarina inked a co-development deal with Croatia-based Rimac, the electric supercar startup that last year embarked on a joint venture with Volkswagen and Porsche AG to take over the Bugatti brand. Despite the pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and all the other upheaval since, the two companies, Rimac and Pininfarina, have produced effectively one car in two versions.

The similarly expensive (and heavy, at over 5000 pounds) Rimac Nevera and the Pininfarina Battista start in Croatia as a common chassis with a carbon-fiber tub, T-shaped 120 kW/hour battery said to be good for 300 miles, four-motor torque-vectoring drivetrain, and electrical architecture. From there they diverge, embryonic Battistas heading to Pininfarina’s operation in Cambiano, near Turin, for the company’s special slathering of opulence, Italiano-style. Customers are invited to come to Cambiano and personally customize their Battistas with help from the firm’s designers, creating their own interior and exterior color combinations, materials, engravings, and appointments. Amantea figures there are 128 million possible combinations, meaning no two of the 150 cars will be alike unless it’s done on purpose.

Pininfarina furnished us to drive for a few hours in the car pictured here and painted a shade of opalescent green it calls “verde paradiso.” The color is “inspired by the color of Lake Como,” according to the car’s chief production and engineering officer, Paolo Dellacha. The shape, which includes a rear wing that deploys at speed to augment the car’s downforce-producing aero, is a touch generic. At a quick glance it reads like any one of several mid-engine pop-rockets that you can buy from Ferrari or McLaren. Which feels like a missed opportunity considering the car bears prominently the name of an illustrious carrozzeria that designed everything from pre-war Lancia stunners to the Ferrari Modulo. No doubt the firm’s hands were tied somewhat by its relationship with Rimac and the need for common hardpoints.

The Battista’s cockpit shows more adventuresome thinking with its brace of info screens and machine-milled rotary knobs for the PRNDL and drive-mode selection. As you would expect, the detailing is exquisite, down to the orderly herringbone pattern of the naked carbon fiber and the unusual stitch patterns in the chairs (if you don’t like them, opt for something else). Entering and exiting is fairly easy; the door swings up and out on a wide arc revealing a relatively slender sill to slide over.

Once ensconced, however, the visibility to the rear quarters is virtually non-existent. (Surprising, given there is no engine and associated plumbing behind you to cloud the view.) Backup and surround-view cameras, which were non-functional on the prototype we drove, will be vital tools to preserving the paint job. There is a small cargo area in back; opting for Pininfarin’as bespoke luggage is essential, as it will drop in more neatly than your battered American Tourister.

The four UK-sourced permanent-magnet AC electric motors deliver a combined 1726 pound-feet of torque, but each turn a wheel separately. That offers virtually unlimited fore-aft and side-to-side torque adjustment as well as torque vectoring and, ideally, ultra-refined stability management. Want to go sideways, but only just so much? Or horribly overcook a corner but still stick the apex? This system should be able to do it at the push of a button. Welcome to the future, where everyone is a robot-assisted Fangio.

The driver can select a flavor of power delivery, as well as steering and dampener stiffness, from one of five modes with increasing levels of spiciness. There’s Calma (calm), Pura (pure), Energica (energetic), Furiosa (just guess), and Caratterre (character). The latter offers individual settings for the stability control, steering heft, and damper stiffness as well as noise. There’s both an interior and exterior sound system, the former to provide the driver some aural feedback—sound, the engineers feel, is a sense that is important, even necessary, in driving—and the exterior to warn pedestrians and give the car a curbside personality. Kneel down by the bumper and you’ll hear hidden speakers pulsating at “idle,” emitting a combination of simulated turbine whoosh and a rhythmic thump-thumping that the designers liken to the beating heart of an animal. A finely-tuned exhaust sound has been a trademark characteristic of hypercars, and so will it be in the future, albeit with speakers and custom programming.

The Battista defaults to Pura on startup and that’s a fine mode to do most of your driving in, though the regen is still fairly aggressive and one-pedal driving is possible. If you need to stab the brake, 15.4-inch Brembo carbon-ceramic discs are at the pedal’s command, waiting patiently for those pull-downs from 200 mph that will come but rarely in a Battista’s life. Most of the time they’ll be four stone-cold plates in city traffic as the motors efficiently eat up the car’s kinetic energy and convert it to juice for the pack.

The car has plenty of road-hugging weight, as they used to say, but in typical EV fashion it’s relatively low in the car, acting as more of a keel than a pendulum against excessive roll. Thus, despite the extra 1500 or so pounds over a comparable McLaren, the Battista eats a twisty road with reactive steering responses and plenty of grip, the suspension controlling the motions of all that avoirdupois with commendable restraint. Any deeper investigation of the promised torque-vectoring capability would have required some track time; if it was working, it was mostly transparent to the driver.

We found the car’s controls overly assisted and the steering remote. Not much feedback comes up the column and it’s easy to overcorrect in the normal course of trying to keep the car between the lines. On a particularly tight and gnarly stretch of canyon road, we switched into Furiosa and felt the front end go completely light, the turning grip seeming to have melted away. It caught us by surprise, given that’s supposed to be the corner-killer mode, so we quickly went back to Pura, our favorite. Maybe the torque vectoring wasn’t so transparent after all, and perhaps the software in that mode is still being baked.

You can’t give this thing much more than 20 percent accelerator unless you’ve sent a police escort up the road in advance to block intersections and clear away any nuisance traffic. Car writer types have been trying to come up with superlatives to describe fast acceleration since the Hudson Hornet—and have generally failed to produce literary achievement. So there’s no point in attempting to break a record here. However, if you’re familiar with the acceleration of a 1-liter superbike, in which it takes mere half-seconds to fling past a car on a two-lane, then the Battista is as quick or even quicker. It should be, with all things being equal (about 2 to 2.5 pounds per hp, give or take), as it possesses the advantage of four-wheel-drive and more tire on the road, plus instant torque and no transmission to shift. We used to think the 1200-hp Bugatti Veyron Super Sport was fast; it seems like a beached jellyfish compared to the Battista.

You have to warn your passenger before opening it up, lest their head get smacked from behind by the seat hard enough to erase memories. The fact that the Michelin Pilot Sport Cups can even hold on enough to transmit the Battista’s torque is a miracle of tire science. Don’t expect the rubber to live long if you’re heavy of foot. With electric cars, and hypercars in particular, we are approaching the point where more power simply can’t be transmitted to the asphalt to increase acceleration. Pininfarina’s eventual Battista replacement may have 1 million horsepower, but without rocket bottles it likely won’t be any quicker to 60. If it is, its occupants will be passed out.

Pininfarina and Rimac still have some work to do on the car. The electronics are not completely sorted on this very ambitious undertaking, and they need to be considering the car’s power source. Rimac is supposedly tied down by an exclusive development agreement with Porsche once the Battista production run is finished, so Pininfarina will have to grow its next car internally or seek another partner. Let’s hope the styling is a bit more adventurous. It seems right that if any car should break a mold or smash a convention, it should come bearing the badge of a famous Italian design house.

2023 Pininfarina Battista

Price: $2M+

Highs: Brutal acceleration, gorgeously detailed interior, 150-unit production limit ensures exclusivity.

Lows: Electronics need refinement, as does dynamic handling in certain modes. Styling is a little anodyne, especially for Pininfarina.

Takeaway: Like Brad Pitt or Jessica Chastain, nice to look at but the most interesting things are inside.

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392-hp Ranger Raptor lands in U.S. next year

Intake: 12 years after the full-size F-150 Raptor bared its off-roading talons, Ford is bestowing the coveted off-road-oriented performance and cosmetic package upon its midsize Ranger pickup. Ironically, the birthplace of the Raptor phenomenon won’t get access to this compact, open-bed Raptor model until next year. Soon to be released in Europe, Asia, and Australia, the Ranger Raptor sports a twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6, a reinforced chassis, Fox shocks, electronic front and rear differentials, multiple terrain modes, active exhaust, and 17-inch wheels with optional beadlocks clad in BFGoodrich all-terrains. Exterior upgrades include items like the famous Raptor-style grille, thicker skid plates, and wider fenders with functional vents. Upgraded seats, unique orange interior trim and a 12.4-inch infotainment screen are some of the changes headed internationally, and odds are that all these goodies will make it to the U.S.-spec Ranger Raptor in 2023.

Exhaust: It was only a matter of time before the off-road engineering and design goodies bestowed upon the Bronco made it to sistership Ranger. (The Raptorized Bronco, unveiled last month, is due this summer.) For those who always wanted a Raptor model with a bed but needed something smaller than an F-150, the Ranger Raptor promises to be Ford Performance’s perfect package.

BMW uses foam, fleece to shush the electric 7-Series

Intake: At BMW’s research and innovation center in Munich, Germany, engineers working on the upcoming, battery-powered i7 sedan are going to extremes to keep the cabin ultra-quiet. Details such as foam inside the tires (not new, but still impressive), flush underbody structure to smooth airflow and the accompanying noise, special motor mounts, window glazing, fleece linings in the doors, plus high-tech materials for the door seals, and body pillars all help achieve maximum cabin zen. Additionally, through electronic countermeasures, BMW says the i7 will absorb outside noises—from wind, snow, or construction sites and passing vehicles—and counter their sonic frequencies, ensuring they don’t reach the occupants. Engineers also been testing out the new model’s resistances to electromagnetic spikes, which can hinder the reliability of all of the electronically controlled hardware in these new machines—in this era, that’s everything from suspension to navigation.

Exhaust: BMW is clearly determined to make the i7 a whisper-quiet contender in the burgeoning world of high-dollar BEV saloons—think Lucid Air, Mercedes EQS, and Tesla Model S. It’s wild to think about all the noises and outside interferences from which we expect a luxury ride to insulate us. On the flip side, that last bit about zapping the i7 with electromagnetic fields sounds like BMW is trying to protect you from a Matrix-style attack. These days? Who knows, maybe that’s smart. 

Lotus is planning to go public with a stock market float

Intake: Lotus is looking to float its Technology division on the stock market, valuing the business between £5 and £6 billion ($7B–$8B). The stock market launch is expected to come within the next two years, but whether Lotus shares will sell in the Asia, London, or New York markets has yet to be decided. Lotus Technology is majority-owned by China’s Geely and has bold plans to sell 100,00 cars a year by 2028. Some 90 percent of those models will be electric SUVs and sedans produced in a new plant in Wuhan, China, with the remainder being sports cars made in the U.K by Lotus Cars, which is 49 per cent owned by Malaysian firm Etika Automotive and not part of the planned IPO.

Exhaust: The ambition is admirable. Geely has already invested more than $2 billion in upgrading Lotus’ home in Hethel and added a new technical hub in Frankfurt, Germany, while spending a further $1.2 billion on the new Wuhan factory. If successful, the transformation from small but storied sports car maker to a global player would be seriously impressive. 

Mazda’s newest five-seat SUV is priced like an Outback

Intake: Maybe you’re a fan of the CX-5, but wish it had a more adventurous personality. Perhaps you’re eying the venerable Subaru Outback—but you hesitate at its clunky styling. Another option has entered the ring: Mazda’s CX-50. Despite the “5,” this five-seater is based on the Mazda3 platform and debuted this past November with standard all-wheel-drive and burly plastic bits. Mazda has now released pricing, and, while it can climb above $40K, the SUV starts at $28,025 (designation included). Standard equipment includes: wireless CarPlay, LED headlights lights, and the 2.5-liter turbo four that, in the CX-5, makes 250 hp. Mazda offers no fewer than five trims (which thankfully stack on each other) based on this 2.5 S base model, ranging from the $1400 Select to the $9600 Premium Plus. We’d opt for the $7600 Premium package, which adds a moonroof, a 12-speaker Bose stereo, and the pretty terracotta interior. 

Need more power? Jump to the turbocharged powertrain for $36,400 and get a 3500 (rather than 2000) pound tow rating plus a dedicated Towing mode (added to the standard Sport and Off-road). The only bad news: That cool model with the roof rails and matte hood appliqués—the first CX-50 Mazda showed us—will be pricey. We don’t know exact numbers, but the “Meridian Edition” will be based on the Turbo model. We’re guessing just under $40K … Outback Wilderness money. 

Exhaust: This isn’t a replacement for the CX-5: Mazda’s giving its largest single market more of the vehicle class it loves most. The CX-50 is the first of three new SUVs bound for the U.S. It will be followed by the two-row CX-70 and the three-row CX-90, both of which will be based on a longitudinal architecture and offer both inline-six and plug-in hybrid powertrains. 

The world’s only Pinin Farina Jaguar is up for grabs

Intake: A 1954 Jaguar XK120 SE Coupe with unique bodywork by Pinin Farina is to go under the hammer at Bonhams’s Amelia Island Auction on March 3. The car’s origins remain a bit of a mystery, however. It left the Jaguar factory with pastel blue paint and a French grey soft top, being shipped to New York dealer Max Hoffman, and a year later it was on display at the Turin Motor Show having been completely rebodied by the Italian artisans. According to a contemporary report in The Autocar, the work was done for “an American enthusiast,” whom Bonham’s believes was Hoffman himself. We don’t know to whom Hoffman sold the car, but it was spotted in Canada and Massachusetts over the next few years. In 1972 it was discovered, abandoned, in a field in Connecticut and given a renovation before being sold to a collector in Germany. It was bought by its current owner Peter Neumark in 2015 and was subject to an incredible 6275-hour, nut and bolt restoration, winning the International Historic Restoration of the Year Award in 2017. Unsurprisingly, the car is estimated to sell for between $900,000 and $1.3 million.

Exhaust: This Anglo-Italian special looks set to become the most expensive XK in history. According to the Hagerty Price Guide, a #1 (Concours) condition XK120 SE drophead coupe would be worth $173,000, which is a mere fraction of the auction estimate.

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Many of Jaguars’ designs are routinely honored as classics. However, their sultry sheetmetal didn’t stop Italian coachbuilders and styling houses from attempting to improve upon British perfection.

The movement began as far back as the early 1950s. The 1960s and ’70s, in particular, witnessed the release of several memorable makeovers, some of which had arbiters of beauty championing their cause far and wide. Others, by contrast, were poorly received— often with good reason. Yet none were boring, which gives car enthusiasts like us plenty to talk about.

What follows is a rundown of the better-known Giaguari Latini, and a few that have long since been forgotten by history. The real shame is that Italian coachbuilding is now facing extinction, so there may never be another masterpiece of this kind. The cars featured here serve as a reminder of how good—or, at the very least, memorable—it was while it lasted.

Frua E-Type, 1966

Frua’s best-known Jaguar remodeling was more of a restyle than a complete overhaul. It was completed at the behest of well-known dealer John Coombs. The sometime-race entrant envisioned selling specially tailored Jaguars to a discerning clientele, the prototype being displayed at the 1966 British International Motor Show at Earls Court.

Some 250 mm (9.8 in) was removed from the nose, while the power bulge was replaced with an air scoop. A new grille was also substituted. The rear end was similarly truncated. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the popularity of the standard E-Type, there were no takers and accordingly the car remained unique, much like the Frau S-Type (below). It was later lightly modified by Italsuisse—a firm with whom Frua collaborated closely—which added a rather boxy, full-width rear bumper. The car was offered recently on the auction platform Collecting Cars, but the auction ended with the car unsold.

Frua S-Type, 1966

Pietro Frua’s bulging resumé included several landmark classics. Milan Jaguar concessionaire, Faltori and Monanti, commissioned the build of a custom-bodied S-Type in 1965. A rolling chassis was dispatched to Turin in December of that year, and remarkably the prototype was completed in time for its big reveal at the March 1966 Geneva motor show. Whether it was always going to be a one-off, or if Frua’s intention was to create replicas, is a source of debate among historians. What is beyond doubt is that the car remained unique. The Frua S-Type remained unsold for several months until it was acquired by the Italian gentleman Francesco Respono. He, in turn, moved it on to former motorcycle racer Hans Haldemann.

Bertone FT, 1966

Following up a XK150 rebody was no easy task, and Bertone’s next “boutique” Jaguar was surprisingly sober-looking by comparison. The marque’s Italian concessionaire, Ferruchio Tarchini, commissioned the Turinese styling house to construct a four-seater Gran Turismo based on the 3.8-liter S-Type saloon in time for the 1966 Geneva motor show.

Marcello Gandini was tasked with creating an all-new outline, the intention being to create a car for the Italian market only. Tarchini would be the sole distributor for this coachbuilt strain that was to be dubbed “FT” in his honor. However, it wasn’t warmly received following its unveiling. Nevertheless, Tarchini pressed ahead and commissioned a second car, this time based on a 420 platform.

Bertone Pirana, 1967

The next Bertone Jaguar was infinitely sexier and well-publicized in period. That is understandable given that it was conceived by The Weekend Telegraph’s editor, John Anstey, and his staff. It presented their idea of the perfect GT car. Nuccio Bertone was quick to come onboard, agreeing to complete the coachwork in time for the Pirana’s debut at the October 1967 British International Motor Show.

Bodied in steel save for the aluminum bonnet, and styled by Gandini, the resultant creation cost a rumored £20,000 to build—nearly £400,000 today (over $500,000). There was never any intention of building even a small run of replicas. The Pirana’s outline proved influential, however, in that it provided reference points for the Lamborghini Espada.

Bertone Ascot, 1977

Gandini’s follow-up was diametrically opposed in terms of styling. The shy artiste was at the height of his “folding paper” powers when he styled the brutally angular Ascot. Based on a shortened XJ-S platform, complete with 5.3-liter V-12, it was created at a time when Bertone was pitching to shape mainstream production cars for Jaguar.

What the creative types in Browns Lane made of the Ascot remains unrecorded, but this most serrated of big cats was nothing if not noticeable. Sharing styling cues with another Gandini creation, the Ferrari-based Rainbow, it was unveiled at the 1977 Turin motor show. The public greeted it with muted praise, which would explain why the Ascot remained a one-off.

Bertone B99, 2011

Scroll back to 2011 and Bertone had been in a precarious state for much of the previous decade. The arrival of this beautiful concept car at that year’s 2011 Geneva Motor Show proved that this hardy legend still had the ability to surprise. What’s more, it was styled by a Brit—the talented Adrian Griffiths.

While Jaguar was keen to distance itself from anything remotely retro, here was a styling masterclass that appeared classic without being clichéd. The B99 concept was also touted as a hybrid, with both a combustion engine and electric motors. Not only that, it was displayed next to a mocked-up racing version, complete with the mother of all rear spoilers. However, it came to nothing.

Italdesign Kensington, 1990

Styling great Giorgetto Giugiaro had high hopes for the Kensington when it was released in 1990. The Italdesign principal opined in period that Jaguar was too rooted in the past, and that he was keen to move the marque’s design language forward.

The most controversial part of the XJ12-based Kensington was the high-sited rear three-quarter treatment, but it proved influential. Many well-known designers freely admit to having been inspired by this one-off, but Jaguar, which didn’t sanction the build, was sniffy about it. Giugiaro has rarely been one to let things go to waste: He subsequently reworked the outline for several Italdesign-shaped cars wearing Lexus and Daewoo nameplates, among others.

Pininfarina XJ Spider, 1978

Of the many 1970s concept cars, few tugged on the heartstrings quite like this exquisite XJ-S-based creation. This shapely machine was strictly a standalone gig with no official factory involvement save for the contribution of a well-used XJ-S test hack which acted as a donor car. By the time the Turinese artisans were finished, all that remained was the bare floorplan, the new body being fashioned in metal and aluminum under the direction of Lorenzo Ramaciotti.

First seen publicly at the 1978 British International Motor Show, it caused a furor, but sadly, tragically even, it remained only a prototype. Pininfarina was responsible for the third-generation XJ6/12 makeover, though.

Pininfarina XJ220

The most recent Pininfarina Jaguar remains shrouded in mystery. It wasn’t publicized by the firm in period, that’s for sure, nor does it appear in most books on the subject. The Sultan of Brunei was once a highly valued customer, and in 1995 he requested a customized XJ220.

The regular car’s outline, the work of Keith Helfet, remained, only with fixed headlights in place of the concealed items, the rear end being reworked to accommodate different light clusters and a larger spoiler. The interior was also altered. However, the task of building the car was subcontracted to Sergio Coggiola’s eponymous carrozzerie. Whether the Italian reinterpretation was an improvement over the Coventry original depends on your artistic bent. [Ed: You know the drill … Let us know in the comments below.]

Zagato Jaguar XK140/XK150

Milanese coachbuilder Zagato created several significant designs during the 1950s, but its take on the XK-series remains a subject of confusion and conjecture. It was once widely held that three cars were made, but some historians have adopted the view that only two were so bodied.

The first example was built on an XK140 platform at the behest of Italian playing card manufacturer, Guido Modiano, who had crashed the donor car. The finished article was displayed at the 1957 Paris motor show. A second example, based on XK150 running gear, was then fashioned for a Swiss Jaguar dealer and exhibited at the 1958 Geneva Motor Show. A third car was purportedly built, based on an XK150 SE.

Via Hagerty UK

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The Pininfarina Battista is the first vehicle in the Italian styling house’s 75-year history to be produced fully under its own name. As the Battista edges closer to customer driveways, it provides an opportunity to reflect on Pininfarina perfection—not only the stunners, but also the everyday heroes that don’t always get their fair share of the limelight.

Though many superstar cars have been shaped by Pininfarina for the likes of Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Ferrari, it’s the more humble cars, sculpted for mainstream manufacturers including Peugeot, BMC, and Austin, whose influence reaches the furthest.

Along the way were there have been a few misfires—the Ford Focus Coupe Cabriolet and Mitsubishi Colt CZC probably won’t be featuring in any classic design books, and the Cadillac Allanté will always be, er, divisive—but we won’t dwell on those.

Here, then, are ten of our top Pininfarina pinups and humdrum heroes.

Pininfarina Battista

Pininfarina has been under the ownership of India’s Mahindra Group since 2015, but it was to Croatia that the company turned for the underpinnings of its first own-brand hypercar. Beneath the Italian lines of the Battista is Rimac technology. With four electric motors and 1900 hp it’s said to be faster than a Formula 1 car, accelerating from 0–62 mph in less than two seconds, yet still able to cover more than 300 miles on a charge. Only 150 Battistas are to be built, priced at $2M apiece.

Lancia Aurelia Spyder

Long before Lancias were seen flying through forests of the world’s rally stages, Pininfarina was tasked with crafting a convertible version of the 1954 Aurelia. Just 240 examples were made, with wonderful wraparound windshields and cute quarter bumpers.

Alfa Romeo Spider

Pininfarina first helped Alfa Romeo to be roofless back in 1947 with the 6C Super Cabriolet, and then in the mid-1950s along came the original Spider based on the Giulietta platform. However, it’s the beautiful boat-tail, Dustin Hoffman-driven Duetto of 1966 that everyone immediately thinks of when you say “Spider.” Amazingly the car stayed in production until 1993, albeit with numerous updates which could never improve on the original.

Ferrari 250 GT SWB

Pininfarina’s relationship with Ferrari began in 1952 with the 212 Inter and ended with the last F12. As front-engined Ferraris go, the short-wheelbase 250 GT of 1959 has to be one of the best Pininfarinas ever created. Just 176 bodies were made in both steel and alloy, and today even recreations are worth a fortune.

Ferrari Testarossa

Prancing horses with engines amidships also made fine fodder for Pininfarina, with the curvaceous Berlinetta Boxer and 308 GTB starting the trend by looking sexy in the ’70s. The 1980s required something a little more showy, however. The Testarossa of 1984 did not disappoint and its sensational side strakes literally defined the decade in automotive design.

Austin A40 Farina

Post-war Britain was an austere place. Food rationing only ended in 1954, so it’s not surprising that the first British car to be styled by Pininfarina was rather less flamboyant than its continental counterparts. Still, the 1956 Austin A40 Farina was a smart-looking sedan, even available as a hatchback. It proved hugely popular with Brits hoping to add a dash of Italian flair to their gray lives.

BMC ADO16

The British Motor Corporation certainly made the most of Pininfarina’s “Landcrab” ADO16 design. From 1962 it was available as an Austin, MG, Riley, Morris, Wolseley, and Vanden Plas. With so many different versions available, it’s no wonder this became one of Britain’s best-selling cars of the 1960s.

Peugeot 504

The first Pininfarina Peugeot was the 403 of 1956, but it’s the 1968 504 that provided the most work for the Italians. Having first penned a stylish sedan and estate station wagon, Pininfarina then created a pretty coupe and cabriolet. The design was a timeless classic and lasted into the early 1980s.

Peugeot 205

The Peugeot 205 was the most chic city car to drive in Europe in the 1980s. Pininfarina’s 1983 design was so simple and pure that even the base models cut quite a dashing figure on the streets of Paris, Milan, and London. When the GTi arrived, it became the hottest hatch available.

Mitsubishi Shogun Pinin

We’ll end on an oddity. Apart from a brief dalliance with Honda for the Beat of 1991, Mitsubishi has been the only Japanese carmaker to call upon Pininfarina’s services for cars such as the 2017 Lancer and the best-forgotten Colt CZC of 2006. However, we do rather like the peculiar Shogun Pinin, which was essentially a shrunken version of Mitsubishi’s swanky Shogun 4×4. Rugged, cute, and posh all at the same time.

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In an area thick with Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Porsches, one of the most popular automobiles at The Quail this year looks more like a boat than a car.

A 1957 Fiat 600 Eden Roc—built on a Fiat 600 Multipla chassis and styled by Pinin Farina—received a steady stream of curious admirers at the posh gathering of beautiful cars and beautiful people at The Quail Lodge and Golf Club in Carmel-By-The-Sea, California.

“So many people have been coming over to see this thing—all with smiles on their faces,” said Doug Delano, one of two caretakers of the Robert M. Lee Automobile Collection in Sparks, Nevada, where the Fiat resides. “It’s been getting a lot of attention, that’s for sure.”

That’s because the Fiat is unlike anything most people have ever seen. Starting with a ’57 Multipla—an Italian microvan that seats six and is powered by a rear-mounted 633cc four-cylinder engine—Pinin Farina’s namesake design house hacked off the top and slightly widened the body to turn the once ordinary vehicle into a seaside convertible. The rear seating was reconfigured into a U shape, much like you’d see on a pleasure boat, and designers played up the nautical theme with the liberal use of teak wood, inside and out—a tribute to Italy’s gorgeous Riva wooden boats.

“People ask if it floats. No, it doesn’t float, and it doesn’t have a propellor,” Delano says. “But it’s perfect for six friends and cooler.”

Pinin Farina (in this case the design house, but both the business and the man later changed names to Pininfarina) created the Fiat 600 Eden Roc for Gianni Agnelli, Fiat’s principal shareholder, who wanted a fun ride for guests who visited his massive property on the French Riviera. Upon completion, the Eden Roc was unveiled at the 1956 Turin Motor Show.

Among those who were drawn to Pinin Farina’s creation was Henry Ford II, who just had to have one. The Deuce’s version is slightly different from Agnelli’s. For instance, the front seat and the location of the steering wheel are different, and there are no Pinin Farina badges in script on the sides—only the designer’s crossed flags logo. That’s the one in the Lee Collection.

Lee, founder of the equipment supplier Hunting World, was an avid car collector and concours regular who amassed 200 or more cars before his death in 2016.

“Sometimes I’d come home and there would be something new,” says his wife, Anne Brockington Lee. “He had an amazing eye for cars, and the car world was our life.”

Lee was friends with the man himself, Battista “Pinin” Farina, which made the purchase of Henry Ford II’s Fiat 600 Eden Roc even more special. It is one of many smaller vehicles in the Lee Collection, which includes an Isetta, Autobianchi, Topolino, Jolly, Goggomobil, and a Nash Metropolitan.

Another (larger) member of the collection was also on the lawn at The Quail on Friday, a one-off 1937 Horch 853 that won Best of Show at the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. As gorgeous as it is, however, the Horch probably received less attention from show-goers than the little beach car that was once owned by the Deuce.

“It’s a real crowd pleaser,” Anne Brockington Lee says of the Fiat. “It’s wonderful.”

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Ford’s new GT Heritage Edition pays tribute to the prototypes that started it all

Intake: Ford is sending its GT supercar off with a bang for its final year of production. Meet the 2022 Ford GT ’64 Prototype Heritage Edition, a modern tribute to the slinky concept that started it all. A select few buyers will get a new GT wearing the same Wimbledon White body/black hood combination as chassis #GT/105, the sole remaining GT prototype from the mid-’60s to still wear a period-correct livery. No changes were made to the contemporary GT’s 3.5-liter, 660-hp twin-turbo EcoBoost V-6 or its seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Although there’s no set production limit, Ford spokesperson Jiyan Cadiz noted that most of these Heritage Editions don’t constitute more than 50 units, so we’d expect a similar number to be offered here.

Exhaust: Who doesn’t love a good nostalgia play? Though it’s a bit long in the tooth, Ford’s modern GT is still breathtaking. When your corporate annals are chock-full of great stories written by this nameplate, it’s only logical to burnish that halo with some special editions. There is no official word on pricing yet (remember that these GTs are only available to purchase new for buyers who have been approved by Ford) but we’d expect each to command a premium over the $500,000 base price of a normie GT.

Dodge’s first PHEV could be an Alfa-built, Wrangler-powered SUV called the Hornet

Intake: Last month, in a slew of announcements titled EV Day 2021, Stellantis finally broke its silence about the company’s EV future. The biggest news concerned the 2024 arrival of Dodge’s first EV muscle car, but now we have more short-term information thanks to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. While presenting financial results for the first half of 2021, Tavares revealed the above timeline for plug-in and battery-electric debuts. We’ve previously reported on Jeep’s first EV, due in 2023, but we’re quite curious about this plug-in Dodge apparently due next year. Mopar Insiders reports that said PHEV will be a Compass-sized, all-wheel-drive SUV called the Hornet and based on Alfa Romeo’s Euro-market Tonale. This two-row would most likely use Chrysler’s ubiquitous 2.0-liter turbo-four and could easily adopt the PHEV system the Wrangler 4xe uses to supplement the same powerplant.

Exhaust: Dodge’s current lineup of SUVs—even after axing the Journey for 2021—is woefully outdated.  Hopefully this platform-sharing effort helps Stellantis stay competitive in a critical segment, generating some cash flow to fund the tire-smoking “electric muscle car” that Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis has been teasing.

Think this restomod Mini looks good? Wait for the VTEC to kick in

Intake: Making small waves on the California coast this week is the Spectre Vehicle Design Mini Type 10, which makes its debut at Monterey Car Week. The Canadian company’s take on Britain’s best-loved city car replaces the cabin with an interior decorator’s dream. The centerpiece is a white ash dashboard with three Smiths instruments, fixed Tillett carbon seats, and carefully considered leather and chrome trim. Mechanically, Spectre has gone to town, ditching the Mini’s front-engine and front-wheel-drive layout in favor of a Honda K20 mounted in place of the rear seats. The 230-hp motor sends power to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual transmission and a limited-slip differential. New trailing-arm suspension hides behind the Type 10’s ten-inch wheels, which are a hefty six inches wide to house bigger, four-piston disc brakes. The price is reckoned to be a not-so-mini $180,000.

Exhaust: The Spectre Type 10’s price makes the David Brown Mini‘s $100K sticker look dainty, but we can’t help but admire the maximum effort that has gone into creating this marvelous Mini.

John Bronco rides again with a birthday sequel

Intake: Apparently enough people streamed the first John Bronco mockumentary to justify creating another episode. The original 40-ish minute affair set up the life story of John Bronco (played by Walton Goggins) with classic rise-fall-redemption story, but the teaser video is purposely unclear as to how John will celebrate the 56th birthday of the Ford that bears his name.

Exhaust: It’s nice to see that the story of John Bronco had an audience larger than Ford loyalists with a Hulu subscription. However, celebrating the Bronco’s 56th birthday suggests John lives in our current day. How will he survive, and did he have to wait in the same line everyone else did to get his hands on a new Bronco?

This replica GT40 from Ford v Ferrari is on the block

Intake: One of six Ford GT40 lookalikes, recreated for the 2019 blockbuster movie Ford v Ferrari, will go up for auction in September. The car featured in two scenes, running as the #3 Dan Gurney at Le Mans and as the #88 William Wonder machine for the 24 Hours of Daytona. The car is said to have been built to the same specifications as a real 1966 GT40, albeit with a 5.7-liter V-8 and a six-speed manual transmission, and has a VIN number and title so it’s even road-legal. It’s set to go under the hammer on September 11 at Mecum’s Dallas auction.

Exhaust: It may only be a “fraud” GT40 and not the movie’s hero car, but this is still one faithful recreation. Mecum sold the similar Ken Miles star car back in January for $484,000 including fees, but we’d expect this piece of Hollywood history to be a little easier on the wallet.

The post Ford’s GT gets nostalgic (again), Dodge taps Alfa for ’22 PHEV, Canada’s ballsy VTEC Mini appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Welcome to The Manifold, our fresh daily digest of news and what’s happening in the car world.

Watch the Ferrari SF90 Stradale set a new lap record at Indianapolis

Intake: A Ferrari SF90 Stradale Assetto Fiorano is now the fastest road car ever to lap the Indianapolis road course. With a time of 1:29.625 over the 2.439-mile circuit, the 986-hp hybrid hypercar lapped quicker than any other streetable machine. Reaching a peak speed of 174.6 mph and aided by 860 pounds of downforce, this prancing horse was definitely at full gallop. In Assetto Fiorano specification the SF90 Stradale gains Multimatic shock absorbers, titanium springs, a titanium exhaust, and carbon-fiber door panels and underbody trays to save around 66 pounds in weight. It also wears Michelin Pilot Sport Cup 2 R tires which, judging from the onboard video, are seriously sticky.

Exhaust: The most powerful production Ferrari ever made now adds America’s most famous track to its list of lap records. The SF90 Stradale was already the fastest car to lap the Top Gear test track and, unsurprisingly, Ferrari’s own Fiorano. Nürburgring next?

Tom Cruise’s Risky Business Porsche is for sale

Intake: Just yesterday we saw how Tom Cruise hoons the latest Porsche 911 GT3, but it was back in 1983 that he first took to the wheel on the silver screen—and he wasn’t quite so handy. In Paul Brickman’s Risky Business, Cruise’s Joel Goodsen takes his dad’s Porsche 928 for a joy ride, only to leave it parked on a pier at Lake Michigan. The pier collapses, sending the 928 into the murky waters and leaving Joel in potentially serious trouble with his old man. His fundraising effort to repair the Porsche is the Risky Business to which the film’s title refers and, well, if you haven’t seen it, let’s simply say it’s best not discussed on a family-friendly website. Coming up for sale at Barrett-Jackon’s Houston auction is, thankfully, not the car that got submerged, but one of the action vehicles driven by Cruise and co-star Rebecca de Mornay. Cruise apparently first learned to drive a manual in this 1979 five-speed 928, which has since been displayed at the Petersen Automotive Museum and Porsche Cars North America. Signed by several cast members, it was even the subject of its own documentary, The Quest for the RB928. The car has always been stored in climate controlled garage and is said to have been meticulously maintained.

Exhaust: “There’s a time for playing it safe and a time for risky business,” says the film’s strapline. With this car’s incredible provenance, though, snapping it up does look like a pretty safe bet. As Cruise himself notes, “Porsche. There is no substitute.”

Tesla to share Supercharger network with other EVs in 2021, Musk tweets

Intake: According to a tweet from Elon Musk, Tesla plans to grant other EV owners access to its DC Superchargers. The network is comprised of over 25,000 chargers globally and, thanks to a maximum charging rate of 250 kW, a Supercharger can zap your EV with 200 miles of range in 25 minute. That’s assuming compatibility, of course—which is one of the biggest questions begged by Musk’s tweet.

Exhaust: Details remain exceedingly scarce: Which OEMs will be allowed access? When, exactly? Will increased competition for Superchargers tarnish the experience of current Tesla owners? How will Tesla and other manufacturers ensure non-Teslas have the right charging adaptors?  (The lack of PR department at Tesla isn’t helping.) As of now, Teslas can use adaptor cables to charge at non-Tesla stations, but the reverse isn’t true. As with most of Musk’s declarations, we’ll simply have to wait and see.

A new high-end configurator headlines Aston Martin’s 2022 MY changes

Intake: Aston Martin has announced the changes that lie in store for its 2022 model-year product lineup. All DB11s equipped with the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V-8 gain 25 additional horsepower, bringing that figure up to 535 ponies and increasing the top speed to a blistering 192 mph. The flagship DBS Superleggera is dropping the latter part of that name, now going by just DBS. Vantage and DBS models will offer new 21-inch wheels, and the DBX SUV can now be had with new Sport Plus seats and wireless charging. All these changes are ready to explore with Aston’s new online configurator, which has ultra high-def 3D rendering tech.

Exhaust: After what feels like a lifetime of shaky footing, Aston Martin sort of kinda maybe feels headed in the right direction. Aston noted that its involvement with Formula 1 has bolstered interest around its road cars, noting that every time a Vantage safety car appears on screen, organic search around their brand (and that car specifically) spikes. These are small changes for 2022, but the configurator in particular should help with brand awareness and, ultimately, sales.

First $2.5M, 1900-hp Pininfarina Battista flaunts red, white, and blue getup

Intake: The first Pininfarina’s all-electric “hyper GT” has made its appearance before the public eye. This Battista is one of 150 units planned, a total which excludes various and sundry special editions that the design house may add. Each one posts power figures to match its eye-popping $2.5 million price tag: 1900 hp and 1696 lb-ft of torque courtesy of four wheel-mounted motors fed by a 120-kWh battery pack with a projected WLTP range of 310 miles. This particular Battista wears a red, white, and blue color palette inspired by New York City: The exposed carbon-fiber bodywork is shot with a blue thread and complemented by a red “Exterior Jewelry Pack” and lots of black carbon accents. The interior features black leather seats with blue Alcantara inserts, white seat belts, and brushed aluminum trim finished in red.

Exhaust: With a new purpose-built Atelier space in its Cambiano facility, Pininfarina hopes to refashion its reputation for bespoke creations in an electric age. All we can say is: For this much scratch, you’d better be getting exactly what you want.

The post Ferrari smashes Indy road car record, a <em>Risky</em> Porsche for sale, Aston Martin’s 2022 lineup appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Welcome to The Manifold, our fresh daily digest of news and what’s happening in the car world.

Elantra N splits the difference between GTI and Type R

Intake: After much teasing and hyping, the Hyundai Elantra N is here. Joining the sensational Veloster N and higher-riding Kona N, the Elantra N is the first U.S.-market sedan for the young performance sub-brand. At its heart is a 276-hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder turbo engine with 289 lb-ft of torque. The engine is capable of 20 seconds with 286 hp from overboost on dual-clutch-equipped examples, while the standard gearbox is a six-speed manual. Dual-clutch models also get a launch-control function that serves up 5.3-second 0-60 sprints, and the top speed is 155 mph. An electronically controlled limited-slip differential is standard, as are 19-inch wheels with 14.2-inch front brake rotors and Michelin Pilot Sport 4S tires all around. As with the Veloster N when it was refreshed mid-cycle, the Elantra offers an optional N bucket seat for extra support, and track fans will appreciate the digital lap timer integrated into the infotainment system.

Exhaust: The $30,000 mark is where the Elantra will face off with the new Mk. 8 Volkswagen GTI, but once again, Hyundai’s ambition seems to be to split the difference between the 241-hp GTI and the 306-hp Civic Type R. In any case, it’s obvious that Hyundai is serious about picking up where Ford’s ST brand left off. There aren’t many brands left that serve performance enthusiasts looking for a competent, relatively affordable daily-driver sports car, and as long as you don’t need a hatch, the Elantra N should be a compelling new choice that at the very least appears to offer more visual excitement than the GTI-based VW Jetta GLI. If the Elantra N drives sweetly as the Veloster on which it’s based, the sedan might be the pick of the litter. Maybe that wing can be deleted, though?

Pininfarina Teorema is an autonomous lounge with a crazy canopy top

Intake: Italian styling house Pininfarina has just reinvented the way to get in and out of a car. Its Teorema concept car has a fighter jet-like canopy which opens to reveal a single rear door aperture for all five occupants to enter or exit. Once inside there’s a range of seating options. In Drive mode the three front seats face forward, with the driver in the middle McLaren F1-style. In Autonomy mode the front seats rotate to provide a sociable lounge-like space where all passengers face each other, and in Rest mode the passenger seats go flat to create a pair of lie flat beds. Underpinning the Teorema is an electric skateboard chassis from Benteler, and the huge canopy by Continental uses Intelligent Glass which can go opaque at the touch of a button to give passengers privacy or cut out light for a daytime snooze. The Teorema also uses Augmented Reality to project information on traffic and the local environment on the windscreen.

Exhaust: Pininfarina’s Chief Creative Officer Kevin Rice says, “Teorema wants to give people back the pleasure of living the car, driving and traveling, without the frustrations of increased congestion and other compromises, all while integrating AI, 5G and the latest technology to drive passengers towards new incredible experiences along the journey.” Starting with the way you get in, it would appear.

This Lamborghini Miura SVJ is so rare it was never officially sold

Intake: One of only three Lamborghini Miura SVJs ever made is for sale by Swiss classic and supercar specialist Kidston. The SVJ was a development of the one-of-a-kind Lamborghini Jota which met a fiery end in 1971 and was built for a Corsican millionaire, with the other two cars going to the Shah of Iran and a property developer in Haiti. According to Kidston, all three still survive and chassis number 5090 was the final car built. Kidston oversaw a painstaking three-year restoration of the car led by Luca Salvioli of Top Motors who handled the mechanical side and Pietro Cremonini who took car of the bodywork and painting. As you can see from the video it drives just as good as it looks and may well be worth more than the island of Corsica itself.

Exhaust: Lamborghini built 120 Miura P400 SVs and, according to our valuation tool, they’re worth $2.7M apiece in Concours condition. Kidston doesn’t list a price for the SVJ, probably because no matter how high, there’s someone willing to go higher for this incredibly rare machine.

Production-spec Valhalla is a 937-hp movie machine made real

Intake: Aston Martin’s first series production mid-engine supercar, the Valhalla that’s set to appear on screen in the forthcoming Bond movie No Time to Die, made its official debut today with some fresh specs. The hybrid will source an AMG V-8 engine for its new PHEV powertrain, ditching its internal crossbred V-6. This 4.0-liter, twin-turbo, flat-plane crank V-8 sends power exclusively to the rear axle, while two supplemental electric motors assist the front and rear axles. Inside the eight-speed DCT transmission, both electric and ICE inputs are capable of controlling different gears simultaneously for a wild 737 lb-ft of max torque. The 150kW/400V plug-in battery system is responsible for 201 of the total 937 horsepower on hand. All told, the Valhalla flaunts a top speed of 217 mph, while completing a zero-to-62-mph run in just 2.5 seconds.

Exhaust: The imprint of former AMG frontman Tobias Moers is clearly visible here in the final iteration of Aston Martin’s latest and greatest hypercar. “With Valhalla not only have we stayed true to our commitment to build a world-beating supercar, but we have exceeded our original aims. The result is a pure driving machine—one which exists right at the cutting edge of performance and technology yet allows the driver to feel the emotion and thrill of complete connection and control.” British supercars using foreign V-8 engines is nothing new, and if you’re gonna pick one, AMG’s Biturbo is damn near one of the best.  

Jeep adds top and door options for Wrangler

Intake: In its ever-evolving plan to keep Jeep buyers satiated with customization options, Jeep Performance Parts has added a bevy of top and door options for the Wrangler JL and Gladiator. Now buyers can opt for a Sunrider Flip Top that allows for a quick open-top experience without the need to stow the hard-top’s removable front panels elsewhere. MSRP is $895. Jeep has also released pricing on the new half doors, which start at $2350 for two-doors and $3995 for four-doors. Those come with zippered plastic windows, optional premium windows add about $200 for the two-door and $400 for the four-door. There are also tube doors, with optional mesh wind screens, and hardware that allows for side mirrors to be installed when the factory doors are removed.

Exhaust: Jeep continues to offer buyers unique ways to enjoy their favorite off-roader. This latest move addresses an area of criticism by presenting a solution to retaining side mirrors when the doors are removed. Some of these options have been available from the aftermarket, but now buyers know they’ll be getting genuine Jeep parts. 

The post Elantra N packs 286 hp, Pininfarina reinvents the car door, all hail Valhalla appeared first on Hagerty Media.

German Nick Heidfeld is no stranger to speed, having spent over decade in Grand Prix racing, but even he was taken aback by the pace of the 1900-hp Pininfarina Battista.

“It’s out of this world, like nothing I’ve experienced before,” says the man who raced for Prost, Jordan, Williams, Sauber, and Lotus in Formula 1, and narrowly missed the podium at Le Mans.

Heidfeld has been involved with the Battista since the beginning of the project, but a recent outing at the high-speed Nardò test track in Italy was his first time behind the wheel of the all-wheel-drive electric hypercar.

“What really surprised me was how natural the Battista feels on the track,” says Heidfeld. “We are creating a hyper GT to be enjoyed at all speeds, yet here in Nardò the cornering control and speed we achieved were exceptional. Minimal traction control and torque vectoring are active at this stage of prototype development, yet there is so much grip to exploit. The acceleration of Battista is on another level to even the world’s fastest road cars.”

“I have to say, that very honestly, driving the Battista prototype far exceeded my expectations. It’s like nothing I have experienced ever before. I can’t wait to try the Battista away from the track, chasing corners on mountain roads.”

The first of 150 Battistas is set to be delivered later in 2021 to buyers paying $2.5 million for the privilege. Somehow we doubt that any of them will dare drive their Battistas quite like “Quick Nick” Heidfeld.

The post Driving the Pininfarina Battista is “out of this world” says former F1 ace appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Italy’s most powerful car ever, the Pininfarina Battista, is undergoing final high-speed testing at the Nardò Technical Center. The Porsche-owned facility features a 3.8-mile handling circuit and a 7.8-mile banked oval where speeds well in excess of 200 mph can be achieved.

The all-electric Battista packs a 120-kWh battery driving four wheel motors for a total output of 1900 hp and a monumental 1696 lb-ft of torque. Hoofing it round the handling circuit allows Pininfarina engineers to fine tune the car’s sophisticated traction and torque vectoring control systems. The car offers four driving modes: Calma (calm), Pura (pure), Energica (energetic) and Carattere (character) which ramp up the performance potential in sequence.

The Battista will rocket to 62 mph in less than two seconds, which is faster even than a Formula 1 car. It will reach 186 mph from rest in less than 12 seconds and top speed is 217 mph. All these figures and more are substantiated by the testing program, which also validates Michelin and Pirelli tires offered on 20- or 21-inch forged alloy wheels, and tests the carbon-ceramic brakes and energy recovery systems.

The first customers are set to receive their $2.5 million Battistas in 2021 and no more than 150 will be made by hand in the company’s Cambiano factory.

The post Watch the Pininfarina Battista blat around the Nardò Ring appeared first on Hagerty Media.

Pininfarina has an extensive collection of cars from its 90-year heritage. We asked Paolo Pininfarina, grandson of the founder and current manager of the design business that bears his name, to select some of his favorites. Here are his picks and commentary:

1951 Nash-Healey Spider

“This is marketing Italian design for the American market. My grandfather was very ambitious. He said, ‘I want to become an international designer for the world, so I want to have a partner in the U.S.’ He succeeded with Nash, and he became the master architect in the world of Italian great design.”

1955 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider

“This is affordable luxury, the industrial realization of something that is luxurious but maybe affordable for thousands of people. The Cisitalia [1947 Cisitalia 202 Berlinetta] is for 10 people. The Nash is for 100 people. The Alfa is for 20,000.”

1968 Ferrari P6

“This is a concept, the pre-cursor to the 365 BB, the first mid-engine 12-cylinder Ferrari. It is not evaluated by the critics as much as it should be, because it’s a concept. But it was pushing the limits of the new, the architecture. The production car is better than the concept because it is real—the daughter is prettier than the mother—but this is more important.”

1983 Pininfarina (Fiat 124) Spider

“The Spider is timeless. If you look at it, you couldn’t say if it’s 1960 or 1990. We made 200,000 of these. If they made the new [Fiat 124] more similar to this, if it had been designed by Pininfarina, it would’ve been better.”

2008 Sintesi

“I am attracted by the Sintesi because it is a car of the ’30s—the 2030s. When we released it, everybody said it’s too advanced, it’s too far in the future. But now, we’re in the 2020s, and we need to reconsider the Sintesi. It reminds me of the Cisitalia in the ’40s. It is the Cisitalia of its time, a radical new shape.”

We also asked Paolo to pick some designs that were less successful. He had a harder time with this task, but eventually he settled on a few.

1968 Alfa Romeo P33 Roadster/1969 Fiat Abarth 2000

“These are a couple cars from the 1960s era that I don’t think are so much in line with the Pininfarina DNA. I think these cars are a little bit too much following the trend of the wedge design that was more in the DNA of our competitor. We should always be Pininfarina.”

1970 Ferrari Modulo

“It is fantastic, but it’s not a car. It’s a piece of radical, contemporary, futuristic art, and it’s not dynamic. It reminds me of something landing on the moon, vertically, not moving horizontally. Mr. Martin, the stylist on the Modulo, said that the owner [James Glickenhaus] should not have put in the powertrain and have the Modulo moving because it had to remain a dream, static.”

The article first appeared in Hagerty Drivers Club magazine. Click here to subscribe to our magazine and join the club. 

The post Paolo Pininfarina’s favorite designs from the family archives appeared first on Hagerty Media.

At 90, the design house famous for creating some of the most beautiful Ferraris is at a crossroads. We sit down with scion Paolo Pininfarina to hear his plans for taking the family firm to 100.

“Italian design is light, lightness,” says Paolo Pininfarina as he walks us through the headquarters of the company his grandfather founded. “Simple, essential, elegant, novel. But, more than all, light.”

Paolo Pininfarina is the fourth member of his family to run the business founded by his grandfather; Paolo’s father, Sergio, and brother, Andrea, preceded him, before their deaths. And though the company has been majority-owned by the Indian industrial conglomerate Mahindra since 2015, the role and legacy of the Pininfarinas remain key as the firm, following a separation from Ferrari, faces the daunting challenge of expanding its reach beyond its roots in the auto industry.

Pininfarina S.p.A. turns 90 this year as perhaps the best known of the famed Italian carrozzeria, or coachbuilders. The company was founded by Battista “Pinin” Farina in 1930, near Turin, close to local automakers in the Terra dei Motori, Italy’s so-called “Motor Valley” in the industrial north of the country, where many car companies, from Fiat to Ferrari, were born. Before the war, the practice for many manufacturers was to deliver to customers a rolling chassis—engine, transmission, frame, wheels, suspension—and then allow the buyers to select either an off-the-shelf or custom body from one of the carrozzeria.

The company got its start creating bodies for luxury brands such as Hispano-Suiza, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, and Isotta Fraschini, as well as the more affordable local marques of Fiat and Lancia. But it really came into its own in the post-WWII era, when it developed a partnership with Ferrari, a union that resulted in Pininfarina essentially becoming the exclusive design vendor for the Prancing Horse brand. This collaboration resulted in some of the most famous Ferraris of the mid-20th century, including the 275, 330, 365, 308/328, and 288 GTO. With the aid of the films of Federico Fellini, the clothing of Oleg Cassini, and the furniture and architecture of Gio Ponti, it also helped to bring the notion of “Italian Design” to the world.

“Pininfarina has always represented the best of a kind of timeless modernism, this kind of sporting elegance that maybe at the time doesn’t seem to be the most advanced, but as the years go on, it has this undeniable staying power,” says designer Jason Castriota, who is now global brand manager of Ford’s electric vehicles but got his start in the 2000s working for Pininfarina. “And I fully believe it stems from the Pininfarina family. There is an elegance to the family, in how they carry themselves, and they instilled in us a discipline of creating things that were Pininfarina. And that meant that it had to be beautiful and elegant, and it had to have staying power. It was just part of their company’s DNA.”

In later years, the designers at Pininfarina worked with dozens of car manufacturers and even expanded into outsourced automotive manufacturing, building low-volume models for Alfa Romeo, Mitsubishi, and others. The 1986–93 Cadillac Allanté luxury convertible is the one most people remember. Specially equipped Boeing 747s dubbed the “Allanté Air Bridge” flew GM parts 4500 miles to Turin, where they were assembled into car bodies at a new factory north of Turin built for the project. The trimmed and painted units were then packed 56 at a time into the planes for the journey back to Detroit for final assembly.

However, the brand took on too much capacity and fell on extremely hard times in the years preceding the 2008 financial crisis. Some of this strife seemed to be based in a conflict with its marquee client from Modena. “I started at Ferrari in 2002, and Ferrari didn’t have a design department then. I had to rely 100 percent on Pininfarina,” says Frank Stephenson, who was lead designer at Ferrari (and then McLaren) before starting his own design consultancy in 2017.

“Luca di Montezemolo, who was leading Ferrari at the time, was just not happy with the design quality from Pininfarina. That’s why they hired me,” says Stephenson. “They didn’t have anybody inside of Ferrari that could critique or judge or accept or deny a design from Pininfarina. Basically, they paid Pininfarina for a design, and they got back what Pininfarina gave them.” This was problematic for a number of reasons. “It seemed, for a period of time, they [Pininfarina] had slacked off a little bit and were concentrating on a lot of projects that left them a bit thin,” Stephenson says. “So we had to put the pressure on them to concentrate a bit more on making Ferraris look more like Ferraris.”

Unfortunately, at that moment, Ferrari was in the process of shifting its idea of what a Ferrari was meant to look like. The brand had made large investments in its Formula 1 team and technology, and Montezemolo wanted to see these cutting-edge advances reflected in the road cars. “So there was an interesting kind of tension,” Castriota recalls of that time, “between the desire to have what was always a Pininfarina Ferrari—something very beautiful and almost sensual, but always with some tension to it—and this more brutal, performance-oriented technology with a more aggressive aesthetic.”

This struggle lasted for years, and it eventually resulted in Ferrari bringing its design department in-house in 2012. The F12berlinetta, a two-seat front-engine GT built from 2012 to 2017, was the last production Ferrari to wear a Pininfarina badge. With a Prancing Horse-size gap in its portfolio, Pininfarina found itself foundering and required loans, debt restructurings, cash infusions, bailouts, and sales of increasingly larger shares of the business by the Pininfarina family. The company’s fiscal troubles did not truly abate until the 2015 purchase of a controlling stake by deep-pocketed Indian megalith Mahindra, which hopes to capitalize on the brand’s design, engineering, and manufacturing knowledge to help bring its own rudimentary vehicles into the modern era.

With Mahindra providing necessary funding, Pininfarina is now expanding into some new arenas, including, for the first time, developing its own car company. Automobili Pininfarina will focus on luxury and electric-powered vehicles. It has already unveiled its first planned production car, the $2.5 million Battista, of which only 150 will be made. Additional models, including a $250,000 SUV, a smaller crossover, a coupe, and a two-door convertible, will follow.

“This car, the Battista, is the future,” Paolo tells us, standing in front of the new car—and a selection of heritage vehicles—in the lobby of Pininfarina headquarters. “I’m reluctant to say that around these old masterpieces, but we need to focus on the future.”

Accolades have come in for the design of the first car, especially for its refinement and elegance in light of the more outré styling of other boutique electric super-car manufacturers like Rimac, Karma, or Lagonda. (“The Battista has that Pininfarina look, which is a bit of a Ferrari look,” says Stephenson.) And it appears possible to turn a profit in this elevated slice of the marketplace. James Glickenhaus, a film producer, car collector and builder, and owner of Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus, which produces limited-edition, mid-six-figure super-sports cars, attests to this. “If we get to 300 cars a year, worldwide—which is certainly possible with the demand we’re seeing—we’ll be very successful,” he says. “And we’ll be able to keep developing product and keep racing and enjoying ourselves.”

But with Ferrari, its biggest design client, gone, and with the industry entering a moment of great consolidation and uncertainty, Pininfarina must stake out new territory in order to survive. It has already expanded into other fields of industrial design, including public transportation, construction equipment, architecture, vending machines, and even toilets. And though it seems, with even small-scale manufacturers like Bugatti or Lamborghini housing their own design departments, that automotive work might be drying up, Pininfarina is still exploring myriad other opportunities.

One growth area for the company is in Asia, where there is a host of new—or newish—automotive brands in emergent markets, especially in Korea, China, and India. These companies are seeking the imprimatur and status of a brand with some history and quality. “There are many car companies throughout the world that don’t really have a long history of designing beautiful cars and could use some help,” says Glickenhaus. “I think that’s an incredibly viable business they have, helping other manufacturers with design.”

Paolo Pininfarina endorses this assessment, slyly. “I like to say that we are designing for the world. And the world is different now, and the players are different, and the markets are different, and those kinds of partnerships with mature brands have faded a little,” he says. “But we are here, and we are continuing to work and develop partnerships with new players.”

Pininfarina feels that its participation may be of particular service, correctively, when a new company finds itself chasing eyeballs or clicks, simply to garner a reaction. “The Tesla truck, for example, is just a provocation,” Paolo says, citing a particularly egregious example. (Stephenson called it “an abomination.”) “It was designed just to go on the media, to break the media,” he says. “And it’s so different from my feeling of Tesla design, because Tesla design is quite conservative. They have a novel package, but the exterior is conventional. This [the Cybertruck] is not the right thing to develop coherent brand strategy. It’s a little bit out of the track. The truck is out of the track.”

This same type of service is offered by Pininfarina to more “mature” brands. However, the work typically occurs behind the scenes. “Where consultancies have found their space today is to be provocative sparring partners for internal design teams,” says Castriota. “And I think they offer tremendous value, because it’s often that when you read the page too close, you no longer see the words.”

A car company’s design essence could get muddled in conversations between internal design and marketing departments, in their efforts to follow trends or chase niche consumers. A brand will thus invite Pininfarina into its design process as an external set of for-hire eyes, to insert what Castriota calls “a redacted, pure version of the brand.”

“Personally, I am a strong believer in contamination like this,” Paolo says of the process of becoming a kind of design sparring partner. “Because there is a risk, when continuing to design internally—without the provocation, without the benchmark, of a design office. And the risk is that you become too conservative.”

The company thus acts as a safeguard against group-think or brand dilution. This is especially relevant in an era in which car designers move from job to job, and country to country, with alacrity, which runs the risk of watering down or universalizing brand specificity. “You see this massive kind of globalization of design, and I think car companies can very easily lose a bit of who they are and their own personal identity, their national identity,” says Castriota. “Pininfarina will kind of strip this back and say, ‘This is what we love about the brand as an outsider, about what it represents, and here’s our interpretation of that with a Pininfarina twist.’”

Another potential avenue is the creation of singular or small-batch vehicles based on existing platforms. This process harks back to the brand’s raison d’être, but it has come back into vogue. Witness the recent growth in extremely limited-edition seven- or eight-figure vehicles like the Ferrari Monza, Bentley Bacalar, Aston Martin V12 Speedster, and Bugatti Centodieci and La Voiture Noire.

James Glickenhaus commissioned just such a vehicle from Pininfarina back in the mid-2000s, based on the Ferrari Enzo hypercar. “I wanted to make it an homage to my P3/4, but Andrea [Pininfarina] convinced me that it should stand on its own and not simply be a replica,” Glickenhaus says. “And I think he incorporated a lot of design DNA from other great Ferrari race cars. The rear window is a modification of the 512S. There’s some Dino Competitzione lines in it.”

Glickenhaus purportedly spent $4 million on the car, which was well received when it was shown at the Pebble Beach Concours in 2006. This was especially true in contrast to the rather technical, F1-inspired appearance of the Enzo on which it was based. “I’m personally sad that fewer people did not follow in my footsteps,” Glickenhaus says of his one-off commission, which he calls the Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina. “I think part of the reason is that when Ferrari saw the incredible response to it, they took all their special projects completely in-house—frankly, because they want to keep all the money.”

With the advent of the integrated battery pack and motors that make up the “skateboard” that underpins many electric cars, as well as technology like 3D printing, the creation of new, bespoke bodies could become simplified and turn into a growth industry, accessible to consumers with less than seven figures to spend. However Pininfarina’s leaders decide to focus their efforts, for now, the brand is attempting to remain optimistic about its uncertain future while projecting an air of refinement and beauty onto every consumer product that it touches.

“What is the best project for Pininfarina?” Paolo says at the end of our discussion. “The next one.”

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As the mind-blowing Pininfarina Battista electric hypercar edges closer to production, the Italian design house is charting its progress in a new YouTube series called Battista Coming to Life.

In the first episode chief product and engineering officer Paola Dellacha not only displays amazing hair and a micron-perfect beard, he also explains how the car is put together with even greater attention to detail.

The Battista’s tub is all carbon fiber, as are the body panels and the bespoke battery which all add to the car’s stiffness and strength. Pininfarina claims some simply incredible numbers for the $2.5 million EV: 0-60 mph takes two seconds, 0-186 mph takes less than 12 seconds. And yet the range is said to be over 300 miles on a charge—aided by a regenerative braking system that recovers 80 percent of the energy normally lost. Combined with specially-developed Brembo ceramic brakes, with technology straight from Formula 1, the Battista will stop just as quickly as it goes.

However, we will have to wait until the next episode to discover what that looks like. Pininfarina teases us with a glimpse of the car on track just at the end of the film. Stay tuned.

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Carrozzeria Pinin Farina was founded by Battista “Pinin” Farina on this very day in 1930, only to become a design powerhouse and industry shaper of which Italy could be proud. Despite Pininfarina being Ferrari’s series production styling partner from 1951 until the F12’s discontinuation in 2017, for its 90th anniversary, I will focus on a V-4-engined Lancia that Pinin Farina drove into the history books in 1946.

Based in Turin, the Pininfarina plant was heavily bombed during WWII, and with Italy being on the wrong side of that conflict, its products ended up banned from the first major European car show held after the war, the Paris Salon d’Automobile of 1946.

However, the Farina family just wouldn’t have that. With record attendance expected and the coachbuilder having plenty to show the world, Battista “Pinin” Farina and his son Sergio drove a pair of their sports cars from Turin to Paris, only to park them right at the entrance of the Grand Palais. The elder Farina arrived in the Lancia you see here.

After generating the desired publicity for the company, this 1946 Aprilia cabriolet was acquired by local Lancia importer Roblou. Rediscovered in northern France in 2010, the car has since undergone a restoration job back in Italy back to its original colors. Yet despite its historical significance, it only reached a high bid of $320,000, leading to a no-sale during RM Sotheby’s 2017 Monterey event (at which it carried a presale estimate of $400,000–$450,000 from RM).

Regardless of figures, this car is a stunning example of how Battista and then Sergio would predict the shape of things to come. Turning towards Turin, I say cheers to another 90, Pininfarina!

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“It’s the mother of all Berlinettas,” asserted Paolo Pininfarina, the grandson of the man who founded the company that bears his name, as he walked around the 1968 Ferrari P6 prototype.

Nearly as unknown as if it had never existed, this unique concept car is displayed in the lobby of the company’s headquarters on the outskirts of Turin, Italy. It’s the missing visual link between Dino’s shapely 206 and 246 models and boxier coupes like the flat 12-powered Berlinetta Boxer.

Leonardo Fioravanti, a designer who joined Pininfarina as a young man in 1964 and later became the head of Fiat’s Centro Stile, played an influential role in the P6’s creation. Viewed from the front, it can almost be mistaken for a regular-production Ferrari model because its sharp, elongated nose and its rectangular Carello lights accurately previewed the design language that characterized the brand’s lineup during the 1970s. Its wheel arches jut above the low hood, suggesting the engine is elsewhere.

At first glance, these styling cues set the stage for a low-slung coupe, but the rest is much more unusual. The raked windshield flows into a roof line that’s a few inches away from earning the fastback label. What immediately stands out about the P6 is that its design gives it a more restrained appearance than previous Ferrari models, which were often as flamboyant as the man whose name they wore. And yet, it’s not boring; it’s a genuine attempt at redefining the company’s design language for the disco era.

In a way, the interior previewed the automotive industry’s on-going shift towards minimalist designs with a wide, concave dashboard that emphasizes the cabin’s width and analog gauges neatly grouped into a cluster behind the steering wheel. The long, gated gear selector is right by the driver’s knee, while the center console houses additional gauges, a handful of buttons, as well as the obligatory ashtray.

Pininfarina, the company, never got around to installing a drivetrain behind the P6’s cabin; it made its debut at the 1968 edition of the Turin Motor Show as a rolling chassis. Pininfarina, the man, told me the engine bay was scaled around a 3.0-liter, 60-degree V-12 that would have sent about 400 horsepower to the rear wheels via a five-speed manual transmission. The long ducts carved into both sides would have given the V-12 the air it needed to stay cool during hot Tuscan summers, but the engine compartment would have also received air from the thin grille up front via a tunnel integrated into the underbody.

This configuration had a more lasting influence on the Ferrari line-up than any of the P6’s styling cues. At the time, Enzo Ferrari passionately loathed the idea of mid- and rear-engined cars. He described the layout as “putting the oxen behind the cart.” I can’t imagine what he must have thought about the millions of rear-engined Fiats chaotically zig-zagging across Italy, or of Porsche’s then-young 911. Many of his company’s race cars were mid-engined, but they were designed exclusively for track use. The aforementioned Dino models were too, and that partly explains why they wore a different name.

Outlandish concept cars were a dime a dozen in the late 1960s as automakers and design houses attempted to predict what the future would look like. Putting the P6 in the same basket as the Batmobile-like 1968 Dodge Charger III and the Hot Wheels-esque 1967 Ford Allegro II wouldn’t be fair, though. Pininfarina imagined it as a design study that could have morphed into a production model with only minor changes if needed. Ferrari didn’t want it, however, so it remained a one-off.

“It changed completely,” Pininfarina summed up, hinting he likes the Berlinetta Boxer better than the P6. The front end evolved, it gained a wide vent plus a pair of pop-up headlights, and its rear end got lower to achieve a sleeker profile. Significantly, the rear decklid became flat but it was bookended by flying buttresses that echoed the P6’s almost bread van-like silhouette. While a flat-12 replaced the V-12, Ferrari chose to keep the concept’s mid-engined layout, and this time it wasn’t ashamed of putting its name on it.

More than five decades later, I’m impressed by the P6’s build quality. I’ll let you in on a secret: most of the flashy concepts you see enjoying their 15 minutes of fame at auto shows around the world are normally not very well built. Keep in mind they’re one-off models made largely by hand using one-of-a-kind parts; they don’t need to withstand 200,000 miles of commuting and no one is worried about paying for warranty claims. When you catch up with them in a museum 10-plus years after their big debut, they’re often falling apart. In contrast, the P6 doesn’t feel any more or less solid than the average Italian car made in the 1960s. It’s practically begging for someone like Jim Glickenhaus to drop in a V-12 and get the P6 hustling down some country road.

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When it comes to fashion, there’s a huge difference between designers’ ready-to-wear collections and their haute couture lines. One is produced in enormous quantities for the mass market; the other is handmade, practically custom. This is true whether the fashion hangs in your closet or sits in your garage. Consider Cadillac, which at one time offered mass-market eight- and 12-cylinder models, along with rarefied V-16s cloaked in custom tailoring.

One such 16-cylinder Cadillac, a 452A Pinin Farina Boattail Roadster, won Best in Class at the 2018 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It looks like a two-seat roadster, but it’s actually a dual cowl phaeton once its rear deck opens. Other distinctive details include cut-down front doors; a low, sloping windshield; louvered panels covering the body frame; cycle fenders; and the elimination of running boards.

Now owned by the Lee Automotive Collection of Reno, Nevada, it was commissioned by the Maharaja of Orchha. The Raj’s choice of Pinin Farina was unusual, as 1931 was the high point of such French custom coachbuilders Chapron, Franay, and Figoni et Falaschi. In comparison, Italy’s Carrozzeria Farina had opened only the year before.

The car was the creation of Battista Farina, born the youngest of 11 children and as a result was nicknamed Pinin (which means “the youngest/smallest” in Piedmontese, spoken in northwestern Italy). Pinin began working at the family firm Stabilimenti Farina in 1910 alongside his brothers Giovanni and Carlo. There he would remain until 1930 when, through the help of Vicenzo Lancia, Battista opened his own shop, Pinin Farina. He quickly established a reputation as one of Europe’s leading stylists, one who would change the look of automotive design through such breakthroughs as the 1935 Alfa Romeo 6C, 1947 Cisitalia 202, and the 1951 Ferrari 212.

Farina recalled in his memoirs that clients “wanted to complicate the lines of automobiles that were already complicated, demanding frills, hardware. I did everything in my power to avoid such disasters.”

That he did, giving form to the finest Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, and Maseratis ever built. Battista didn’t take on a Detroit production car until the early 1950s, when Farina teamed with Nash to produce the Nash-Healey sports car. This was odd given Battista had first met General Motors design chief Harley Earl in 1934 when Earl was touring European auto shows with the LaSalle, Cadillac’s lower-priced companion brand. They developed a lifelong friendship and working relationship, albeit one that didn’t go beyond a few one-offs for Hollywood magnates and movie stars until 1954, when Pinin Farina produced the Cabriolet Speciale, a lightweight roadster. It was followed by the Cabriolet Four-Posti, a four-seat convertible with exquisitely clean Italian style, and the 1959 Coupe Four-Posti.

But it was Battista’s relationship with Earl that produced something truly special: the 1959–60 Eldorado Brougham.

Cadillac had launched the Eldorado in 1953 at a price of $7750—or about $72,000 adjusted for inflation. Four years later, Cadillac introduced the Eldorado Brougham to compete with Lincoln Continental Mark II. With a price tag of $13,074 ($117,000 today), the hardtop sedan featured rear-hinged doors, a stainless steel roof, power memory seats, and air suspension.

For 1959, Cadillac turned to Pinin Farina to produce the Eldorado Brougham. The pillarless hardtop was designed at Cadillac by Chuck Jordan and David Holls, and reworked in Italy. Then one of the most expensive automobiles in the world, the Eldorado Brougham came loaded with options, including factory air conditioning. It was powered by a 345-horsepower 390-cubic-inch (6.4-liter) V-8 and Hydramatic transmission.

Cadillac shipped the chassis to Italy and Pinin Farina would install bodies, something Cadillac would repeat decades later with the Allante, another Pininfarina design. Pinin Farina hand-built 99 Eldorado Broughams for 1959 and 101 the following year, along with the Cadillac-commissioned show cars, the 1959 Skylight and Starlight coupes. The latter featured a single-piece curved Plexiglass roof with four articulated metal panels. When not used, the panels can be stored behind the parcel shelf. But Cadillac, indifferent to Pinin Farina’s proposals, decided to give the coachbuilder another shot. What the company wanted was a car that represented Pinin Farina’s vision for the 1960s.

The result was the 1961 Cadillac Jacqueline, built in honor of First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. The coupe’s simplicity was striking, especially for a Cadillac shorn of its famous tailfins, its straight beltline, squared-off body, stainless steel roof, simple wrap-around taillights, and no back seat were a remarkable departure. Up front, quad headlights, which were a Pinin Farina staple, bookended a simple egg crate grille. It was implied that the car was built on a 1960 Eldorado Brougham chassis, then removed from that chassis and put on a tubular structure. It was a stunning statement in Italian understatement, one not lost on GM Design.

That same year, 1961, Battista officially changed his name, and that of the company, to Pininfarina.

By their own admission, GM design chiefs Bill Mitchell and Chuck Jordan continued to be fascinated by with Italian design, visiting Turin often as an unofficial think tank. Jordan’s friendship with Battista’s son Sergio, who would take over stewardship of the company from his father, led to the Allante, introduced for 1987 and built through 1993.

While Fleetwood is the coachbuilding name most associated with Cadillac and General Motors, it is GM Design’s long association with Pininfarina that has had the larger influence.

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From my junior year in college and right up to the present I have always had a profound respect for the Pininfarina family.

I worked for seven years at the Pininfarina company with almost daily contact with Sergio, which evolved into a lifetime friendship after I had left the company in 1967. 

Sergio was a master, as was his father, and was able to create an evolution of exquisite automotive design that penetrated almost every car company in the world. Once working on a daily basis for the company, it did not take me long to understand how they obtained this merit.

Sergio was the kind of person that a designer loves to work for in that he had a knack for guiding a project and would stand behind his decision once it was modeled into prototype form. This happened with the Ferrari 330 coupe I designed with the four headlights and a decisive style that took Enzo Ferrari three months to accept. Sergio stood behind this design, and Enzo not only eventually accepted the style but went on to use the 330 as his personal car for almost two years.

For many years after I would sometimes cross paths with Sergio, usually in the company of some VIP, but he would always pause to greet me. He had a strong and determined method for managing the company and did so without having to revert to aggressive gestures or unpleasant discussions. 

He was a true gentleman and a very creative manager. A real designer’s friend.

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