Italian Car Designer Pininfarina

Continuing in our series on car designers, the Pininfarina clan is one that sticks out above the rest. Started by Battista Pininfarina, but elevated by his son Sergio who had a very special relationship with Ferrari.

Enzo and Sergio in 1966

Born on September 8th, 1926 in Turin, Sergio attended the Turin Polytecnic where he studied mechanical engineering, and later joined the family business at Carrozeria Pininfarina. The always charming and full of wit Sergio was key in getting Ferrari's business as Enzo himself told Battista that he could design for Ferrari only if Sergio was the main contact between the companies.

the 1965 Dino Berlinetta Speciale

Over the years the relationship between Sergio and Enzo remained close and since the former had an uncanny ability to positively influence just about anyone he encountered, he was able to get Ferrari to adopt new ideas quicker than before. A good example of this is how quickly Ferrari followed Lamborghini in introducing mid-engined cars in the mid-sixties. In spite of the Miura's success, Enzo believed a mid-engined Ferrari would be unsafe in the hands of his customers, but Sergio Pininfarina was able to convince him to adopt it for a new model. It made its debut at the 1965 Torino show, but the still cautious Enzo ordered the car to be badged Dino, and not Ferrari. For the following year, Pininfarina designed a more refined Dino 206S, which got a very good reception from the public. A now convinced Enzo Ferrari allowed the car to go into production but with the more conservative V6 engine, which he figured should keep his customers out of trouble. The rest is as they say, history. As the saying goes: Ferrari made them fast, Pininfarina made them beautiful.

Sergio (r) with his Father Battista

Over the years, Sergio continued in his father's footsteps, growing the company through superb leadership and technical innovations. He made sure the company stayed at the forefront of the industry, and in 1972 it opened Italy's first full-scale wind tunnel, one of a few in the world back then.

Sergio was a man ahead of his time. Back in 1963 and decades before the rest, he created a series prototypes called Sigma with both active and passive safety features.He also advocated for many of the industry standards that are followed today, such as: environmental issues, reducing emissions and increased fuel economy and car safety.

After an amazing career at Pininfarina Sergio made way for his son Andrea to take over the reigns in 2001, but an accident cut short his life. He was succeeded by his brother Paolo who remains CEO to this day. To watch an interview with Sergio, please click here.

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Source: Petrolicious,
Photo credit: Tuttosport, Motortrend