Italian Car Designer Sergio Pininfarina Passes Away

Legendary Italian car designer Sergio Pininfarina, who was responsible for the sleek designs several Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, Maseratis and many other sports cars, has died. Pininfarina reportedly was ill for some time and died overnight at his home in Turin. He was 85.

Tributes poured in for the man who was described as an “ambassador of Italian style,” by Turin daily, La Stampa.

Turin Mayor Piero Fassino, hailed the part played by Pininfarina in the history of the automobile and the history of the city. “A man who through creativity that was universally recognised, made industrial design one of the hallmarks of Made in Italy” products, Fassino said.

Pininfarina was born on September 8, 1926, as Sergio Farina in Turin, home to car giant Fiat and capital of Italy’s automobile industry. He joined the family firm after graduating in mechanical engineering from Turin's Polytechnic University, became Chief Executive in 1961 and then Chairman when his father Battista “Pinin” Farina, a coachbuilder-turned-car-designer died in 1966.

By that time the brand name Pininfarina, had become closely associated with the elegant and also futuristic shapes of some of the country’s famous sports cars. The family's prestige in Italy was such that it was allowed to change its name to Pininfarina from the original Farina - Pinin, meaning "the little one" in Piedmont, was Gian Battista's nickname - with a presidential decree in 1961. The ground-breaking 1947 Cisalfa coupe, designed by Gian Battista "Pinin" Farina after World War Two, now sits in New York's Museum of Modern Art. It was one of Sergio's favourite models.

In his half-a-century reign at Pininfarina, the company's automobile production rose from 524 units per year to more than 50,000. Besides the historic partnership with Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, Pininfarina also designed cars for Rolls-Royce and other non-Italian brands.

The 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Rondine, 1986 Cadillac Allante, the 1995 Bentley Azure and the 1996 Peugeot 406 Coupe (designed by Sergio) all wore the Pininfarina badge. Sergio also designed the 1986 Fiat 124 Spider, the 1984 Ferrari Testarossa, the 2002 Ferrari Enzo, the 2003 Maserati Quattroporte and the 2004 Ferrari Scaglietti.

Pininfarina also oversaw the company’s expansion and technological innovation including the construction at its plant in Grugliasco near Turin of one of the world’s first wind tunnels to aid aerodynamic design.

Named Life Senator by Italy’s then-president Carlo Azeglio Ciampi in 2005, Pininfarina in later years increasingly left the running of the company to his son, Andrea.

But tragedy struck in 2008 when the younger Pininfarina, then 51 years old, was killed when a scooter he was riding was hit by a car on a road outside Turin. Andrea’s younger brother, Paolo, subsequently took over as Pininfarina Chairman.