Pininfarina cars

2013 BMW Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupé Concept

Every time we see Pininfarina make the news with a new concept it’s developing, we can’t help but get excited about what the Italian coachbuilder has in store for us.

Well, it looks like Pininfarina is preparing something; a concept, it appears, that will make its debut at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este later this month.

The concept, which has been dubbed as the one-off Pininfarina Gran Lusso Coupe, was designed and collaborated with BMW and comes as a notable successor to the BMW Z4 Zagato Coupe that BMW and Zagato also introduced at last year’s event.

Not much is known about the model except that it’s going to be a huge luxury sedan in more ways than one. Aesthetically, it will be feature a long wheelbase, a stretched bonnet, short overhangs and a set-back greenhouse with a smoothly sloping roofline. Thinking about these descriptions it’s easy to be reminded of the German automaker’s 8 Series line.

Actually, the connection to those 8ers from past decades doesn’t just end with its looks. The Gran Lusso Coupe is also reported to carry a monster V-12 engine that will be based on the 6.0-liter turbocharged engine that produces an output of 535 horsepower.

That’s as much as we can tell you because that’s the limited information BMW and Pininfarina have released. In the meantime, click past the jump to revisit the car the former brought to the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este last year: the Z4 Zagato Coupe

Pininfarina Sergio Concept Could Head to Production in Limited Quantities

When Pininfarina debuted the Sergio Concept at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, a lot of people thought that the car would only be there as a show car.

But now, it looks like the company is doing an about-face with plans of building a limited number of models, each priced at around €3 million (roughly $3.89 million at the current exchange rates). Pininfarina CEO, Silvio Angori, made the announcement, telling Automotive News Europe that the company is "considering a very limited run of five to six units."

This latest developments comes a surprise to a lot of people considering the rather extreme design of the Sergio, which, in concept guise, won’t meet a lot of European safety standards.

But Pininfarina already has a plan to work around the car’s concept design to make it a street-legal model, including the installation of a windshield to comply with European homologation rules. "We already know how and where to modify the Sergio concept car to make it into a compliant, street-legal model," Pininfarina chief designer, Fabio Filippini, also told Automotive News Europe.

Should Pininfarina succeed in turning the Sergio Concept into a full-fledged road goer, albeit extremely limited model, there’s still that matter of price. Last we checked, €3 million don’t grow on trees and it might be a hard sell, awesome as the car is, to convince somebody to fork over that much money.

Then again, that’s exactly the amount Lamborghini charged for the Veneno hypercar. And all three models are already accounted for.

2013 Sergio Pininfarina Tribute Concept by Pininfarina

Sergio Pininfarina, the former chairman of the legendary Italian design firm, Pininfarina, passed away last year after creating amazing cars for over 40 years. Now, Pininfarina announced it will unveil a very cool concept car as a tribute to this amazing man. The concept was officially unveiled today at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show, and just like the man that inspired it, it is simply astonishing.

The new Sergio concept was developed on a Ferrari 458 Italia chassis and is a two-seat barchetta that was inspired by the Ferrari models from the ’60s and the ’70s. It combines a very simple and clear style, with a front end that features a semi-floating development.

On the interior, the cockpit features an aerodynamic deflector that serves as a virtual windscreen. In order to provide the greatest aerodynamics, even the smallest detail of the concept - including the rear-view mirror - features a fluid form.

Under the hood, the concept keeps the same V-8 engine as the Ferrari 458 Spider, but thanks to its more aerodynamic body, the new Sergio concept will go from 0 to 60 mph in just 3.4 seconds and up to a top speed of 198 mph.

Ferrari opens Museum to pay tribute to Sergio Pininfarina

For true Ferrari enthusiasts that are planning to visit Italy during the Winter holidays, Ferrari has a treat in store for you.

Ferrari has opened an exhibition to pay tribute to the late Sergio Pininfarina and the not-to-be-forgotten Pinin Farina, by showcasing every model that has been designed by the man himself and his team. The idea behind the exhibition is to show the public the exemplary creations that came out from the Pininfarina drawing board. The exhibition includes 11 models that are divided between the front-engined berlinettas, such as the 1964 275 GTB4 and the Spider version of the legendary Daytona, the mid-rear-engined models, notably the milestone BB, and the contemporary creative evolution which encompasses, amongst others, the Testarossa and the 599 SA Aperta, the latter a homage by Ferrari to Sergio and Andrea Pininfarina. The highlight of the exhibition is the famous Modulo concept which previously was an unseen exhibit from the Pininfarina family’s private and company collections.

This exhibition was opened on October 27th and it will remain open until January 7th, 2013. So, anybody who is going to Europe, or Italy in that matter, can visit that museum before January 7th and behold the Italian passion that emanates from every single Pininfarina-designed Ferrari on display.

Legendary Ferrari designer Sergio Pininfarina dies at age 85

Sergio Pininfarina, the former chairman of the legendary Italian design firm, Pininfarina, has passed away at age 85 at him home in Turin, Italy on Tuesday.

The Italian design firm formed in 1930 by Sergio’s father, Battista “Pinin” Farina, has designed many of the classic Ferrari’s throughout the decades, with the recently retired 599 GTB Fiorano and the present 458 Italia both being created by the firm.

A host of other Italian cars have also been designed by Pininfarina, including the Alfa Romeo Brera still in production with Pininfarina’s very first mass-produced design being the Alfa Romeo 8C 2300 of 1933. Since then, the company has gone on to bigger and better things, despite the brand having to recently stop producing cars and instead focus solely on the design side of affairs. Other notable companies affiliated with Pininfarina include Cadillac and Volvo.

Sergio Pininfarina took over as chairman of the company in 1966, after his father’s death, and he’s survived by his wife of 60 years and their two children.

2008 Rolls Royce Phantom Drophead Convertible Hyperion by Pininfarina

Way back in 2008, Pininfarina – a custom coach builder – took a look at the $400K Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe Convertible and simply thought it just wasn’t good enough. So Pininfarina took this nearly half-million-dollar machine and created a one-off custom vehicle out of it. The maker then dubbed it the Hyperion, which was taken from an Ancient Greek Titan.

Much like its closest competitor, Bentley, Rolls-Royce has always been one of those car companies that you either loved or hated, mostly due to their gaudy exteriors and even more outlandish pricing. For those that love them, but just need a little something extra, there is no shortage of custom car builders that will customize them to your liking.

Despite the number of custom car builders modifying these ultra-luxury cars, none can touch the uniqueness and flashiness of the Hyperion. Pininfarina took special care to closely integrate a vintage look – taking styling cues from the 1930s and 1940s – with modern technology and feel.

This monster of a luxury car originally debuted at the 2008 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. It then made an appearance at the 2008 Geneva Auto Show before going off to its rightful owner, Roland Hall.

Let’s take a look at how the 2008 Pininferina Hyperion stacks up.

Click past the jump to read the full review.

2012 Geneva Motor Show: The Concept Cars

Concept cars have always been an integral part of any major auto show. These events give automakers an opportunity to showcase some of the most outlandish and over-the-top vehicles we’ll ever see.

Now that doesn’t mean that these concepts will translate to production. Actually, very few do with most of them forgotten long after the auto show ends.

At the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, we saw a lot of concept cars that piqued our curiosities one way or the other. Some were fancy, some were strange, and some just completely blew us away.

In the end, the concept cars at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show delivered on the promise of providing some edge and flavor to the proceedings. On the list below, we’ll show you all of the concepts that caught our eye, and if we do say so ourselves, some of those are just too awesome to not be sent to the production line.

Check out the concept cars from the 2012 Geneva Motor Show after the jump.

2012 Pininfarina Cambiano

Looking ahead to the 2012 Geneva Motor Show this March, Italian coach builder Pininfarina has officially unveiled the first teaser image of their latest ground-breaking creation: the Cambiano.

As is the case with a lot of teasers coming out these days for Geneva, Pininfarina is keeping a closed lid on any information surrounding the Cambiano, opting only for a few descriptive sentences to kick-start our imaginations into complete overdrive.

In the case of this intriguing concept, Pininfarina has bared this nugget of information describing the car: "it is an elegant and refined sport sedan, conceived with great attention to the environment, both as to the engine and as to the materials’ choice."

Reading between the lines, it appears that the car could be some sort of hybrid sports car that carries the company’s distinctive and provocative styling. Consider us intrigued. As far as the name of choice is concerned, Pininfarina chose Cambiano as a tribute to the city hosting the Pininfarina Group’s headquarters. It’s also no coincidence that the car is being prepared as a celebratory model of sorts to honor of the 30th anniversary of the Styling Center and the 10th anniversary of the Engineering Center, two branches of Pininfarina that have played critical roles in the design and build of a lot of their ultra-exclusive exotics.

We’ll have more info surrounding the Cambiano in the weeks and days leading up to the Geneva Motor Show. For now, you can ogle over the teaser image of the car, which is what we’ve been doing for some time now.

UPDATE 01/13/2012: Pininfarina has unveiled the second teaser for their Cambiano concept; an image that reveals part of the side of the vehicle. It looks as though the Cambiano will have a short bonnet and a set of large alloy wheels. There also seems to be no air inlets, leading us to believe this could be a full-electric vehicle.

UPDATE 01/19/2012: We are getting one step closer to the official opening of the Geneva Motor Show and Pininfarina is offering us a new teaser image of their Cambiano concept. This was shows off the intricate detailing of the roof. Enjoy!

UPDATE 02/06/2012: Pininfarina is continuing its teaser session for the Cambiano concept with a new video of the car set to be released at the Geneva Motor Show. Enjoy!

Pininfarina stops producing cars; will instead focus on design

Pininfarina, the epic auto design and coachbuilding company responsible for the likes of Ferrari and Maserati models, is taking its breakdown to the next level by announcing that it will no longer be producing cars. This news comes about two years after the company sold its auto assembly and painting business. From now on, Pininfarina will only be in the automotive design business.

"Unfortunately we are having to stop our production activities, given the way the car market is. So we are focusing on design and engineering," a Pininfarina spokesman said. Since this decision was made, Pininfarina has already begun laying off the first few of the 127 employees that will be losing their jobs, a task that is costing them a total of 2.9 million euro ($3,900,000 at the current exchange rates)

It didn’t seem as though Pininfarina had much choice in the matter considering their business had plummeted since the beginning of the economic crisis in 2008. There was a time when Pininfarina produced 40,000 vehicles in one year, and in 2010, that number dwindled down to 7,000. Now that their only focus will be on design, we expect to see great things from the Italian company.

2012 Pininfarina Coupe Concept

While Pininfarina is busy designing models for Ferrari, concept designer Peter Norris is taking a break from his job in the video games and entertainment industry to design a future luxury sports car concept that is "clean, unfussy, elegant and fast." These attributes led him to the Pininfarina Coupe Concept, a front engined model combined with a rear wheel drive system.

Norris’ design inspiration for the Pininfarina Coupe Concept came from the love of his very own Fiat Coupe 16v Turbo with some Ferrari lines thrown in to polish it over. The Pininfarina Coupe’s look is characterized by the ultra low roofline and the accentuated front and rear fenders. The sleek profile is exaggerated further with large wheels that visually shorten the height of the sports car. At the back of the Pininfarina are a set of C-shaped LED taillights.

When talking about his concept, Peter Norris said: "much of my work is focused strongly on science fiction and the distant future, but with this project I wanted to create an elegant and unfussy design with classic lines that could be on the road today."

“The Pininfarina styling inside as much as outside just oozes with Italian flair and really was, and still is different to anything else on the road. Some people have referred to it as a “baby Ferrari”.

Somehow we don’t see a luxury sports car like this toting around the 190 HP 2.0L 16V Turbo engine as seen on the Fiat Coupe, but since the Pininfarina Coupe Concept was also inspired by Ferrari, we’d love to see something along the lines of the 458 Italia’s 570 HP 4,499 cc V8 engine. Not a likely scenario, but we can dream.