Sergio Pininfarina, the Italian designer whose name is inseparable from Ferrari, recently died in his hometown of Turin.
He was originally called Sergio Farina and was born in Turin on September 8, 1926.
Sergio graduated in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic of Torino in 1950, and then he began his career in the family firm, Carrozzeria Pinin Farina.
In 1960, he became general manager of the firm. In 1961 he also became managing director, and in 1966, at his father’s death, he took over the chairmanship of the company. In 2006 he became honorary chairman.
In 1961, the President of the Italian Republic, Giovanni Gronchi, changed by decree the name Farina into Pininfarina to honour the family company and to mark Sergio’s personal contribution to Italy.
The President of Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo, said that Sergio Pininfarina not only just designed classic Ferrari models, he also played a major role in transforming Italy’s post-war image and developed its global reputation for design excellence.
“Sergio was one of the most important advocates of 'Made in Italy all over the world, a man who gave Italy' credibility,” says Luca di Montezemolo.
Di Montezemolo went on to say that Pininfarina was known for his civic duties as much as his great passion for his country. Pininfarina was the President of Confindustria, a member of the Italian parliament and became a Senator for Life in recognition of his contribution to the social fabric of Italy.
“Calling his relationship with Ferrari legendary is insufficient,” says di Montezemolo.
“First with Enzo, and then with me, he planned some of the most iconic models, such as the Testarossa or the Enzo, just to name two. We worked together on the Maserati Quattroporte, which remains one of the most beautiful cars ever built.
“Sergio was a great advocate of Italian design, thanks to his sense for elegance. He was part of Ferrari’s board of administration for many years which is I wanted to dedicate a model to him and his son Andrea: the SA Aperta.”
All Ferrari production road cars Maranello, from the 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Cabriolet, have been designed by Pininfarina in Turin, where Sergio became President in 1966 following his father Battista. It was Sergio who, in 1965, persuaded Enzo Ferrari to build his first mid-engined car, the Ferrari Dino 206 GT.
The unique collaboration produced innovative and elegant cars for more than 60 years. Pininfarina was not only responsible for the serial production cars – such as the 1958 250 GT Coupé, the 1968 365GTB4 “Daytona” or the 1984 Testarossa – but also for one-off models and such produced in limited editions, starting with the 375MM commissioned by Roberto Rossellini for Ingrid Bergman in 1954 and the 2002 Enzo Ferrari.
The company Pininfarina SpA was founded in 1930 by Sergio’s father, Battista “Pinin” Farina and quickly developed a unique and worldwide reputation for design, not just of cars but also a wide range of industrial design products. The first car designed by the company was the 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300, and its most recent was the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta, while other products designed include high-speed trains, trams, domestic appliances, drinks dispensers and the 2006 Olympic Torch. Today the company employs more than 3500 people around the world.
