Ferrari

Ferrari and Pininfarina are doubtless the best known names in the automobile world each of theme in its field of activity, the construction of superlative cars and the design and building of bodies of exemplary functionality and beauty. When both names are united in a single product, as it happens since 1952 we are witnessing the peak reached by the automobile industry.

Ferrari has celebrated recently its 50 years of activity and Pininfarina has reached 70 years since its birth, 48 of which have been devoted to building pratically all the production models and designing those that Ferrari would build itself. Add to that many prototypes: it is an unequalled synergy with roots to be found in the meeting of two extraordinary characters whose parallel lives developed in a growing Italy that they helped to grow.
Enzo Ferrari was born in 1898 and in 1929 founded his scuderia that would become the basis of his enterprice but only in 1947 could align his first car on the starting grid. Battista "Pinin" Farina was born in 1893 and founded his own Company in 1930 becoming soon famous in his own right but specially getting to think that the coachbuilder should no longer build specials for the very rich but to transform the special into a limited production to let a larger number of customers enjoy it.
This issue of Ferrari Story runs through the way both Companies have run together from the first cabriolet to the fantastic Rossa on the cover and other new types as well.

Enzo Ferrari and Battista “Pinin” Farina are two fundamental characters in the history of the Italian automobile industry at the time when the motor car was becoming an important industrial asset. Ferrari was born in 1898 and founded the “Scuderia” in 1929 to become a car manufacturer in 1947.
Enzo Ferrari and Battista “Pinin” Farina are two fundamental characters in the history of the Italian automobile industry at the time when the motor car was becoming an important industrial asset. Ferrari was born in 1898 and founded the “Scuderia” in 1929 to become a car manufacturer in 1947.
Pinin Farina was born in 1893 and founded his “Carrozzeria” in 1930 so that in the year 2000 we celebrate 70 years of activity. It is worth recalling that the nickname Pinin has become part of the family name because of the merits acquired and by a decree by the Italian republic president.
In 1952 the two great men nave met and their trademarks, already famous on their own nave given birth, together, to the most beautiful motor cars of all time following an evolution that lasts since nearly 50 years and shows no signs of slowing down as it is easy to see by leafing through the pages of this catalogue.

The grand touring automobiles, the sport cars, and the special prototypes clothed by Pininfarina taken together do create a phenomenon that is unique not only because of the technical and styling features but also for the continuity in time that has no match in the hundred and ten years of automotive history.
As far as the mechanic part is concerned it is clear that the Ferrari cars nave always been at the forefront: this is so because their sporting heritage has led to make them faster but also safer and more reliable.
On its part Pininfarina has searched the shapes and the features better suited to customers’ cars be they one off or production models; or for the racing cars or, finally, for the prototypes shown at the Motor Shows with the purpose of testing new shapes and technologies that were often far in advance of practical use.

The mechanical side of the car has undergone a continuous evolution so that from the classic 60° V 12 cylinders front engine it went to the four cylinders in line to the Dino V6, then the V8 the 12 cylinders at 180° the to central location of the engine and finally again to the front engined car.

The continuity in evolution is due to experience but also to the fact that the Pininfarina concern not only has stayed firmly in the hands of the Family but engineer Sergio, the founder’s son and present President was the man charged by his father to take care of customer Ferrari from the very inception of the co-operation and still does, assisted by his sons in their respective jobs.

It can be safely said that it is this continuity albeit with the unavoidable turn over of styling men at Pininfarina and directors and technicians in the house of Maranello that has ensured and will go on ensuring that every new car produced will nave the looks of a Ferrari along with the performance at the highest peak of the motoring state of the art.
The author has had the good luck of personally meeting Enzo Ferrari and Battista Pininfarina and the privilege of being familiar with these two extraordinary men of the twentieth century, undoubtedly the greatest in the automobile world.

They had different personalities but had the same extraordinary ingenuity and sensibility along with a way to face work with humility: they both started from scratch and they knew that results are obtained with struggle and diligence surely not by chance or shortcuts. Going back to the past it would be interesting to know in their prophetic encounter in 1952 they could nave imagined that the automobiles that were to result from their epic co-operation would become the symbol of perfection, elegance and performance.

Pininfarina used to say that a beautiful motor car was like a beautiful lady: year may go by but it would be always easy to see she was beautiful . On his part Ferrari thinking of races said that it is beautiful the car that wins. Both were following the saying of the Greek philosophers who declared that what is beautiful is also good.

The beginning of the relationship with Ferrari coincides with your personal involvement company matters.
Yes, that’s right. And it was an extremely tough beginning, because my father gave me the responsibility for developing relations with Enzo Ferrari, who was an amazing and extremely demanding man.

In functional terms what did this role signify?
I became the project manager for all bodies designed for Ferrari, and at the same time the mediator between the two companies; this meant having to maintain ongoing relations between two strong and complex personalities, my father and Enzo Ferrari.
As project manager, first with my father and then alone, I piloted and co-ordinated the entire creative process which has brought Ferrari body designs into being over the past half century.

I selected the designers, I guided and encouraged their work, and I promoted innovation, at the same time as I was the guarantor of coherence and continuity. This role of management and controI of creative resources is what absorbed me most, right from the beginning.
As the go-between, I was supposed to “sell” our proposals to Ferrari, and persuade him that they perfectly matched his objectives and that they were in line with his industrial and commercial strategy.

And again, I was the one who had to relay back to our company the objections, the criticisms - which were sometimes very harsh - and the suggestions which arose from meetings with Ferrari. In fact this part of the job was made easier by Ferrari’s great intuitive capacity, and by his exceptional intelligence. He would look at a rendering and know how to read it with extraordinary perception. He immediately understood the innovations and expressive force of a project and he possessed a sure aesthetic judgement.
He hated anything that was banal or hackneyed, and he knew all the tricks of the trade. He wanted his cars to combine technical excellence with true elegance and beauty. And on this point there was spontaneous and immediate agreement between us.

And if by chance you didn’t agree, what happened?
Well, it wouId have been difficult. Both Ferrari and my father were strong personalities and both were justifiabIy fully aware of their worth.
When they had an idea, it was generally the result of strong conviction, and it was not easy to get them to change their minds.

Of course, if such a situation had arisen, I wouId have found myself between the devil and the deep blue sea... But fortunately there was never any serious disagreement. There were of course differences of opinion which were happily resolved, partly I believe because of my hard work.
It has been maliciously insinuated that your father assigned you this role not only to speed up the process of your professional training and your integration into the company, but also to reduce the possibility of conflict that might have arisen from direct contact with Ferrari...
Perhaps this is true, at least in part.
You see, I was very young then, not much more than a boy and I deeply respected and admired my father and Ferrari because of the experience of work and of life. I was convinced also that the conjunction-collision of two such lively and creative intelligences couId only lead to the best of results...
My father was perfectly aware of all this; he knew my character and trusted my common sense and my dedication.

And how did Ferrari accept your role?
At the beginning he was diffident... He saw me as an enthusiastic young man but with no experience and he was not sure of my ability. And he was used to always dealing onIy with people at the top... But he was also an anticonformist, someone who thought for himself... And perhaps the idea of having to deal with a young man, with the freshness and imagination of youth not yet scarred by the vicissitudes of life and business, perhaps this appealed to him... The fact is that, quietly, with the reserve and discretion typical of men born last century, like Ferrari and my father, he first gave me his esteem and then his affection.
At my father’s funeral, Ferrari unexpectedly said to me “From now on, we can use the “tu” form with each other.” (the familiar form of address, rather than the formal ‘Lei’). This was a very meaningfuI thing to say: more than anything else it expressed his full trust in our collaboration and in my future.

And what did it mean for you, working with these two complex and fascinating personalities, your father and Enzo Ferrari?
For me, my father and Ferrari were two of the greatest masters, both in their work and in life. I always admired their intelligence, their seriousness, their courage, their innovative daring and most of all the determination that guided them in their work, and the stubborn determination with which they pursued their objectives. These are the same values that I have passed on to my children and to the whole company.

What was Pininfarina’s contribution to Ferrari’s success?
Well I think that recognising the value and significance of one’s work should always be accompanied by a healthy dose of humility... I mean, Ferrari would always have been a great industrialist, and a top carmaker... But I think it would be true to say that Pininfarina made a significant contribution to his success. It was through our creative skilI that Ferrari found a styIistic key which has made his cars a unique phenomenon on the international manufacturing scene for half a century.
And through my father's work, my work and my collaborators' work, Ferrari's new designs have found outward form, a language of expression, and a means of being comprehensible and meaningfuI to everyone.

What made this “miracle” possible?
The fact that this extraordinary partnership was created and that, way in advance of a practice that was to become widespread onIy many decades later, a link was established between Ferrari and Pininfarina; it was a very intense exchange and form of co-operation, involving not only the form and shape of the products, but also the technical substance of the project, the vehicIe structure, some of its mechanical features, and performance...
Ferrari told me a number of times how much he appreciated the fact that we, in Italy, had built a wind tunnel which meant that we could deal with the fundamental problem of aerodynamics with scientific rigour and well in advance of most of our competitors...
But there are many other exampIes which show the extraordinary success of this joint working relationship. A good example is the development of the Dino Speciale, the prototype presented in Paris in September 1965.
And for me this is a model which has a special emotional significance: my father was very sick at this time and practically absent from Turin, and so the responsibility for this project was entirely mine.
I remember that I had to argue with Ferrari for a long time to get him to accept the midengine position, which meant a number of advantages for the body such as:

• a lower bonnet and thus better visibility;
• a lower baricentre because of no exhaust pipes below the floorpan;
• a cabin which could be better insulated because of no exhaust pipes;
• greater internal stability from better access to the gear shift because of the new layout.

Now the new layout also meant some difficulties, such as the noisiness of the engine right behind the driver and reduced rear visibility.
But it was because of the effort that we had to put into overcoming these difficulties and making the most of the advantages of the new mechanical layout, that we managed to create, in the Dino, a new type of sports car.

The Testarossa was a breakthrough car, fulI of compIetely new shapes. In this case too, the innovatory shifting of the engine-cooling radiators from front to mid-position brought considerable advantages from the technical point of view (such as reduction of the moment of polar inertia, decrease in overall weight, greater compactness of the vehicIe, greater baggage capacity, elimination of water pipes under the passenger compartment). And in addition it also introduced a special, distinctive stylistic feature: the big new air intakes on the sides. In the same way the need for greater rear axle width, dictated by the need to carry the 12-cylinder boxer engine and to equip the car with larger rear wheels to better discharge the immense power of the engine, was fulfilled by blending technology and style so effectively that it was one of the reasons for the great success achieved all over the worId by the Testarossa.

So it was this interactive process that succeeded in creating the unique shape of this very attractive Granturismo model, which is stilI just as exciting after all these years...
The wind tunnel, the Dino and the Testarossa are three examples which show how we succeeded in working together on various levels.

You have just mentioned the Dino and the Testarossa, but in your opinion which were the highpoints of these fifty years of working together from the point of view of design?
You are asking me a question which it is extremely difficult to answer.
I have emotional links with many of the more than a hundred and fifty cars designed for Ferrari. It is as if they represent a hundred and fifty particularly intense moments of my professional life... To express a calm, detached opinion, I would have to free myself of every emotional interference, and adopt only rigorously technical and aesthetic criteria...

But I will try and indicate in chronological order the ten cars which seem to me to best express our idea of car design, in the most complete and balanced way:

• the 1960 250 SWB
• the 1963 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso
• the 1966 330 GTC
• the 1967 206 Dino
• the 1968 Daytona
• the 1971 BB
• the 1984 Testarossa
• the 1992 456 GT
• the 1994 F355
• the 1996 550 Maranello

And what is it about each of these cars which makes you include them in the list?
The 250 SWB is a perfect example of how you can achieve great expressive strength with simplicity and pureness of lines, and harmony of proportion.
This is why the 250 SWB is a timeless car, as beautifuI today as it was then; I've always been amazed by its incredible performance: perfect both for touring during the week, and racing at the weekend. The distance between the 250 SWB and its competitors is enormous, and the phrase “all other cars seem meaningless compared to her” suited her very well.

Ferrari reached the peak of elegance perhaps with the Berlinetta Lusso. The mobility and purity of her lines gave her an unequalled lightness; under a refined, less tough exterior than the other Ferraris, she hid the character of a tiger. My father had one, and sometimes he let me take the wheel; she made you want to have her!

We also made the elegant and very compact 330 GTC; we worked hard to endow her with the best of our productive know-how, and of our quallty and reliability.
It was my first Ferrari: at 40, designing, building and owning a Ferrari was fantastic. I used it every day, in all seasons, everywhere. Unforgettable!

The Dino 206, and then the 246, for me represented a dream come true; I had really pushed for Ferrari to make a car with a mid engine, and so in 1965 the Dino Berlinetta Speciale of the Paris Motor show was created: this was possibly the car that had the greatest influence on Ferrari sports car designs, and not only Ferrari. The 206, and subsequently the 246, were the realisation of a technical and aesthetic project from dream car to concrete reality.
The ‘68 Daytona is the last two-seater berlinetta of the Ferrari thoroughbreds to have a front engine - a feature picked up again in technologically incomparable conditions a good 28 years later by the 550 Maranello. The Daytona is one of the cleanest and most aggressive berlinettas in terms of style.

The car is very striking: the impression of movement given by its smooth profile, and increased by the longitudinal scalfatura; the design of the side lights; the image of power given by the long bonnet; the styling of the rear part; the overall strength suggested by its shape.
The 365 BB is the first very powerfuI midengine Ferrari. The whole body is split in two overIapping shells; the higher one in light alloy, the lower one in plastic material for functional reasons. The rear wings, framing the vertical rear window, are inspired by the revolutionary design of the head of the family, the ‘65 Dino Speciale. The design of the side lights, very harmonious in their proportions, was destined to become a classic on sports cars.
The * Testarossa marks a clear change of direction in Ferrari design. Again, the layout of the mechanics and the search for solutions to technical problems (the cooling of the radiators) brought about innovative design features that were very distinctive.

The '92 456 is in my view a timeless beauty and one of the Ferraris which I am fondest of:
I am proud of the results achieved together with Ferrari in its technical development. It has been criticised as a modern version of the Daytona. But in fact this is a real compliment, because the 456 combines the resilience, the elegance and the compactness of a coupé, with the biggest cabin space and luggage compartment that any Ferrari has ever had. Some features: the air outIets on the front mudguards, the rear spoiler which is part of - not added on to - the body.
These are all features which are both functional as welI as technically important.
The F355 is one of the best Ferraris ever built; its performance is even better than its tough, aggressive appearance suggests. Its aerodynamic efficiency is superb; the design of the underbody is optimised as a result of in-depth analysis on ground effect.

The 550 Maranello is the latest addition to the family. Technological progress means that a mid-engine is no longer necessary for a car to achieve top performance. A great step forward has been made in terms of comfort: getting into the car and getting out is much
much easier in comparison to its predecessor. It has a spacious, comfortable cabin and a large luggage compartment which enable much wider use of the car. The return to the front engine was a deliberate decision on the part of Ferrari: the facts speak for themselves.
The success of the 550 in every country in the worId is without precedent, because it is a car which blends innovation, functionality, comfort and performance.

I noticed that you have mentioned only cars which were produced in fairly large series, and you have mentioned no “monotypes”, prototypes or one-offs. Why is this?
Firstly because I believe that commercial success, in other words the approval of drivers and especially those refined, passionate enthusiasts who buy Ferraris, is the most reliable confirmation of the excellence of our work. Secondly because I believe that we can onIy really speak of true design when we are talking about a series product, where the designer has had to face up to the restrictions and difficulties that emerge from staying within regulations, production processes, cost controI and the need to ensure constant quality.

Nevertheless if you put aside the cold objectivity which guided you in your choice of the ten models, and you had to indicate the Ferraris which you are fondest of from an emotional point of view, the ones which are really in your heart, what would be on the list?
Well, I would say definitely the 456, amongst those cars now in production; for the past, definitely the 250 SWB, the ‘65 Paris Car Show Dino, and the ‘63 Berlinetta Lusso.

What has working with Ferrari meant for Pininfarina?
You know, creating a new car is aIways a sort of exciting adventure... But designing a new Ferrari is a compIex challenge because you have to improve performance, to innovate, and to stay faithfuI to tradition, at the same time.

Mr Pininfarina, working together for fifty years is a record and I think that in the long history of car making it is a unique case. Over all these years a number of people who wanted and supported this working relationship have passed on. Enzo Ferrari has gone, and the company changed hands some time ago, the managers and technicians have changed ... ln Pininfarina there are no longer men like your father and Renzo Carli, and, over such a long period of time, probably several generations of designers have come and gone...

What has made it possible to maintain intact the vitallty of the interactive relationship and to safeguard the continuity of design, despite all these big changes?
To understand these results, which are certainly exceptional, we need to reflect on a few things.
In the first pIace you have to bear in mind that over the decades both Ferrari and Pininfarina have become two companies with technical and management structures which mean that important responsibilities for decisions and operations were entrusted to a worthy group of managers and technicians.
The success of my company is symbolically attributed to me but in reallty it is due to the work of managers, of designers, of technicians and of workers who, at every level, have created, developed and manufactured a product.
In other words, I mean that what in the early years was the result of a personal relationship, of the feeling linking Enzo Ferrari to my father and to me, has become over time a way of working, an exchange, and a meeting of experience, of skilI and of knowledge involving managers, technical offices and those responsible for the various functions in the two companies.
But stylistic continuity is the result of the Pininfarina approach to design, of a way we have of expressing the creativity which, in our company, is not onIy the expression of individual talent, of the sensitivity and aesthetic flair of the individual designers, of the artist who invents new forms and discovers beauty.
Pininfarina has succeeded in systemizing its experience in car design, in creating a culture, a body of knowledge and of skills, an aesthetic vision which is reflected in all our products, relatively independently from the personal traits of each designer.
In this sense Pininfarina, as well as being a company, is a sort of school where all the experience accumulated in the course of company and professional events which have taken place over a period of time exceeding half a century is kept, passed on and enriched continuously, through research and commitment to innovation.

Mr Pininfarina, when you joined the company, Pininfarina (which at the time was called Farina) was a small organisation which basically designed and made “monotypes”, the famous one-offs, which were based on the production series of the big carmakers... Many years have since passed... What has Pininfarina become over the course of half a century?
Today Pininfarina is an industrial holding which controls five operating companies, four in Italy and one in Germany, where more than 2000 employees work.
In 1996 it had a turnover of 800 billion lire, a 1000 billion turnover is predicted for 1997, and this will continue to grow in the near future. Industrial activity, including planning, experimentation and production, takes place in the factories at Grugliasco, San Giorgio, and Renningen, near Stuttgart, under the operative responsibility of my son Andrea, who holds the position of Managing Director and General Manager. Productive capacity is about 35,000 completed bodies and cars per year. In the Cambiano factory we continue our work of analysis, research and design: more than 200 people work on the construction of modeIs and prototypes. The General Manager of Pininfarina Studi e Ricerche is Lorenzo Ramaciotti.
Since the end of the eighties, through a new Company, Pininfarina Extra, the company also works in the product design sector. The Managing Director of this company is my third son Paolo. My eldest child, Lorenza, is in charge of communication and image for the whole Group.
Control of the company is firmly in the hands of our family, but there are career opportunities with us, for everyone, based on professional merit, and I think that is our best guarantee for the future.”

Also in 1999 the Ferrari-Pininfarina partnership launched its latest brainchild, the Ferrari 360. 

The Rossa in fact interprets and pushes forward some of the key themes in the long partnership between Ferrari and Pininfarina, just as the Testa Rossa in 1958 and the Mythos concept car in 1989.

The 550 Barchetta, to which Ferrari has given the name Pininfarina for the first time on the occasion of the Company's 70th anniversary, was presented at the Mondial de L’Automobile 2000 in Paris.
The aim of the design and development team was to offer a unique interpretation along the lines of the purest Ferrari specials, which meant going for a deliberately provocative look to make it stand out from the standard product range.
A limited series of these is being manufactured at Maranello during the current year and has already been assigned; each will be identified by a progressive number on a special plate set below the signature of Sergio Pininfarina.

The 575M Maranello is the maximum expression of a Ferrari front-engined berlinetta in terms of evolution and superlative technical and performance content. The launch of the 575M Maranello at the 72nd Geneva International Motor Show in fact marks a new achievement for one of the most successful architectures produced by Ferrari - the 12-cylinder, front-engined berlinetta. It follows in the footsteps of the most prestigious models in Ferrari's history and above all is the latest, substantial development of the 550 Maranello, launched in 1996 and unanimously recognised as one of the most outstanding Ferrari models.

A new extraordinary Ferrari, the "Enzo", makes its debut at the 2002 edition of the Paris Mondial de l'Automobile. This limited edition supercar is the natural successor to the F40 (1987) and F50 (1995), and is the supreme expression of the transfer of technology from Formula 1 to Ferrari GT road cars. An aggressive, austere, no-compromise design, which consolidates Ferrari's position as the leading manufacturer of extreme performance cars. This is a pure, hardline automobile with a strong character - as strong as its bond with Formula 1, evident in the materials and technology used, and in its development and aerodynamics.

The 612 Scaglietti is the perfect marriage of sporty thoroughbred Ferrari berlinetta performance and excellent onboard comfort. As a third millennium car, the 612 Scaglietti offers a whole new generation of technologies compared to the 2+2 it replaces. In fact, it is a genuine roomy two-door four-seater that offers its occupants a comfortable, pleasant ride in any driving conditions. Designed by Pininfarina in an aggressive yet elegant body, the 612 is also named after Sergio Scaglietti whose coachworks bodied some of the most beautiful Ferraris ever during the glory days of the 50s and 60s.

The F430 represents a new generation of 8-cylinder Ferraris, a development of the innovative technological approach adopted on the 360 Modena but incorporating a series of advanced new features derived directly from the Ferrari Formula 1 cars. Pininfarina’s body design is born from this car’s exceptional technical content. In fact, all body design features emphasise the car’s aggressive style and performance and respond to precise functional requirements as regards engine cooling flows and fuel feed, aerodynamic properties, the sophisticated shape of the floorpan to ensure adequate negative lift.

Ferrari Superamerica designed by Pininfarina, is a car which combines the performance of a 12-cylinder Ferrari berlinetta and the concept of a convertible with a highly original feature: it is the first time that an innovative rotating roof-opening mechanism has been adopted on a mass produced car, while electrochromic technology applied to large glazed surfaces, makes its debut in the automotive industry.

The new Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, the most high-performing 12- cylinder production Berlinetta constructed by the company of the Prancing Horse and penned by Pininfarina. Starting from the debut Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano garned several awars: f “Car of the Year” assigned by the English EVO magazine for its outstanding performance and the quality of the driving experience: the panel dubbed it “the most complete and thrilling front-engined Ferrari of them all, indeed the greatest CT ever made”; “Supercar of the Year” by BBC Top Gear Magazine who declared it “the best Ferrari of the modern era. It fuses together all the history, everything you’ve ever seen, heard or read about Ferrari’s in 60 years”. Another “Car of the Year” award came from Classic Driver who described the Fiorano as “stylish, beautifully built with a gorgeous interior, comfortable and capacious on a long trip for two”.

Its name is Ferrari California as the cult model of the fifties. It is the latest Ferrari designed by Pininfarina and it will be officially unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October. The new Ferrari flanks the flagship 612 Scaglietti - also this one penned by Pininfarina – in the prestige sporty Gran Tourer segment. It is a versatile 2+2 convertible with an innovative folding hard top, powered by V8 engine which is front-mid mounted for the first time in the marque’s history. Both chassis and bodywork are aluminium.

Ferrari 458 Italia, a new generation rear-engined berlinetta, was presented at 2009Frankfurt Motor Show.
The new Ferrari 458 Italia marked a generation leap for 8-cylinder mid-rear engined cars with a strong racing temperament from the Maranello Company. The new car is a synthesis of technological innovation, creativeness, style and passion, one that is also representative of Italy, a fact that Ferrari pays tribute to with its decision to add Italia to the car’s name after the traditional reference to its capacity and number of cylinders.