Pininfarina's Enigma GT is a wild concept
Hydrogen powered, 450-horsepower tourer to inspire future production cars, designers say
If you've ever wondered how a famous European design house thinks tomorrow's One Per Cent will cruise from their villa in the south of France to their yacht on the Riviera, you'll be glad to hear Pininfarina has penned a grand touring car of the future, branded the Enigma GT.
Envisioned as a 2+2 express with all the tech trappings of a modern concept car, Pininfarina says this machine could utilize a 268-hp electric motor on its front wheels, backed up by a 2.5L twin-turbo V6 mounted midship, collectively good for nearly 450 ponies. The catch is that the internal-combustion engine would be fuelled by hydrogen, theoretically reducing tailpipe emissions to near zero.
Left unmentioned are all the challenges around infrastructure for that fuel, though there's a huge argument to be made that H2 is a viable alternative in at least one parallel reality. Pininfarina claims a driving range of nearly 550 kilometres (342 miles) and a run to highway speeds from a dead stop in under four seconds.
The concept car is said to weigh about 1,680 kg (3,700 pounds) thanks to prodigious use of carbon-fibre materials. Gear such as active grille shutters, tapering rear bodywork, and a phalanx of air deflectors apparently contribute to a 0.24 coefficient of drag. In comparison, the one-of-250 Volkswagen XL1, arguably one of the most aerodynamic cars ever built, had a 0.19 coefficient of drag.
The mid-engine layout permits a huge cabin, enabled by enormous
wraparound windows which are actually part of a canopy system that can be raised for maximum effect when arriving at an expensive restaurant in Saint Tropez. A flight-offancy dashboard and square steering yoke have been ripped straight from the pages of Tomorrow's World, as has the imagined digital overlay suggested to appear on the Enigma GT's front windshield whilst using navigation tools.
As you've surmised by all the hedging in this post, Pininfarina is unlikely to produce this precise vehicle at any point in the future. Indeed, the company says this car will be “fully realized” with a “new interpretation” showing up sometime in the 2025 calendar year.