Ferrari Pinin
Ferrari Pinin
This dramatic 1980 saloon was Pininfarina’s 50th birthday present to itself, and also marked the first departure from Ferrari’s founding design brief since the mid-engined revolution. However, that wasn’t even the most important thing about it.
The idea of a Ferrari four-door seems controversial even today, but Sergio Pininfarina was keen to build a riposte to the Maserati Quattroporte and Aston Martin Lagonda, and Enzo Ferrari was irritated by Fiat Group chauffeurs turning up at Maranello in 131s. But it was sleekness, lights and glass that made the Pinin special.
Under Fioravanti’s direction, Diego Ottina based it on a Ferrari 400 chassis. However, the existing 4.8-litre V12 wouldn’t fit under the dramatically low, flat bonnet he devised for it. The show car ended up with a mocked-up model of a 512BB’S flat-12 instead. In order to maintain its low nose without resorting to pop-up headlamps, Pininfarina tasked Lucas with creating a new kind of low-profile headlamp. New ground was broken at the rear too, Fioravanti commissioning Carello to create a new kind of rear light cluster with a body-coloured finish. Indicator, reversing and braking lights seemingly glowed from the sheet metal itself.
There were some innovations to detract from the number of doors cut into the Pinin’s flanks too. A dramatic notched line running the length of the car encompassed the door handles, reducing their punctuating impact. And rather than insetting the side windows, they ran flush with the bodywork, the glass sitting on top of the A- and B-pillars, creating an unbroken coupé-like sheen.
Despite it touring the world’s motor shows to great acclaim in 1980, Enzo Ferrari was unconvinced by the Pinin’s business case and it remained a model. But by 1987 its themes started appearing in other Pininfarina designs. Ottina worked the sleek headlamps and body-length notch into the Peugeot 405, while fellow Pininfarina 405 collaborator Enrico Fumia applied most of the Pinin’s design language to the 164 saloon of 1987.