Gallery: From Ferrari to Fiat, a Look Back at Pininfarina's Masterful Designs
Photo: Paul Sakuma/AP01alfa-romeo-spyder
__Alfa Romeo Spider__ It doesn't get more iconic than the Alfa Romeo Spider. It's styling was Italian aesthetic distilled onto four wheels. It might not have had the same grip or go than other small roadsters of its time, but when Dustin Hoffman drives Series 1 model in The Graduate, all arguments to the contrary are rendered moot. *Photo: [mick/Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/panasonic-kei/4647923354/)*
02nissan-410-bluebird
__Nissan 410 Bluebird__ Japanese sedan styling was stuck in a commodity-influence malaise for years, which made the Pininfarina-penned Nissan 410 Bluebird stand out. While it continued to retain the boxy aesthetic of previous Nissans, the Italian-styled fascia and deeply cut swage line marked a shift in the both the brand's direction and its appeal to consumers, and it's shape influenced over two decades of Japanese vehicle design. *Photo: [韋駄天狗/Wikimedia Commons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:NissanBluebird-410.jpg)*
03cadillac-allante
__Cadillac Allante__ In 1987, Cadillac was desperate to regain its luxury car status (again) and the Allante was its supposed savior. Designed to compete with Mercedes-Benz SL and the Jaguar XJS, the Allante fell short in a number of departments, including its front-wheel-drive architecture. The styling wasn't any more inspiring, but its body parts had a passport unlike any other. Pininfarina manufactured the exterior and sent it across the Atlantic and into Michigan in specially-prepped Boeing 747s, gaining the nickname "The world's longest assembly line." *Photo: [aldenjewell/Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/autohistorian/4519265699/)*
RG04fiat-124-sport-spider
__Fiat 124 Sport Spider__ Sergio Pininfarina's focus wasn't just on high-end, hyper-expensive machinery. A prime example is the Fiat 124 Sport Spider, which Pininfarina headed up the design. With power provided by a range of small-displacement, four-cylinder engines, and a chassis that was made for backroad cruising, the 124 proved once again that the Brits can't have all the fun in the compact, drop-top segment. It's just a shame that its svelte shape was massacred in 1975 when it was finally brought to the States and forced to adhere to U.S. safety regulations. *Photo: [Rex Gray/Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/rexgray/4637127767/)*
Photo: Alex Washburn/Wired05chevrolet-corvette-coupe-speciale-rondine
__Chevrolet Corvette Coupe Speciale “Rondine”__ Lot limiting himself to his homeland, Pininfarina built this Corvette Speciale "Rondine" for the 1963 Paris Motor Show, utilizing the 1963 Corvette C2 chassis, a 360-hp V8 and a blend of American punch and Italian finesse to create one of the auto world's most beautiful – and often forgotten – Corvettes. *Photo: [x-ray delta one/Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/x-ray_delta_one/4259597334/)*
06ferrari-enzo
__Ferrari Enzo__ Although Pininfarina himself didn't pen the world's fastest Ferrari – and the only supercar to carry the founder's name – he was instrumental in bringing Japanese designer Ken Okuyama's vision to the world. If there was a rolling testament to bringing Formula One technology to the road, it was the Enzo, which features a carbon fiber body, F1-style transmission, carbon ceramic brakes and a total downforce of nearly 2,000 pounds to reach a V12-powered top speed of 186 mph. *Photo: [motoyen/Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/motoyen/4244624109/)*
07ferrari-f40-2
__Ferrari F40__ In the late 1980s, Porsche offered the monstrously powerful 959 and Lamborghini was still plugging away with constant iterations of the Countach. Ferrari had the answers to its home-country rivals and intenders from Germany. It was called the F40 and at the time it was the most powerful, fastest and eye-wateringly expensive road-going Ferrari ever offered to the public. Not that anyone could buy one. The list price was somewhere in the neighborhood of $400,000, but with a short run of only 1,315 F40s, buyers were rumored to have paid upwards of $1.5 million to get their hands on 471 horsepower supercar. The styling was late-80s chic and the paint was so thin (in an effort to save weight) that you could see the carbon fiber weave under the light coating of red. Photo: [stephenhanafin/Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/shanafin/432393386/)
The first Lensbaby was made with eBay lenses and Shop-Vac hose.08ferrari-dino
__Ferrari Dino__ As the first mid-engine Ferrari, the Dino was both a sign of things to come and a rolling memorial to Enzo Ferrari's son, Alfredo "Dino" Ferrari, who died in 1956 and was instrumental in the design of the V6 engine mounted amidships. The Dino was Ferrari's first attempt at producing a relatively low-cost sports car, and while that strategy has evolved in the last several decades, the Dino's combination of quintessential Italian style and superb driving dynamics (for the time) have made it one of many Ferraris collectors have been paying top dollar for in recent years. Image: [marcovdz/Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcovdz/5054284070/)
0901-pininfarina-look-back
The auto world is mourning the loss of Sergio Pininfarina, one of Italy's greatest and most prolific automotive designers. So it's appropriate that I'm writing this while sitting next to a Maserati Gran Turismo, one of the most beautiful coupes crafted by Sergio and his father's company namesake, Pininfarina. It's a stunning blend of athleticism, femininity and style, it's just too bad the driving experience never quite lived up to its sculpted sheet metal. But Pininfarina was responsible for so much more during his six decades of design leadership. Nearly every Ferrari to roll out of the marque's factory in Maranello, Italy had the Pininfarina logo emblazoned on the side. Enzo Ferrari himself was convinced by the young but seasoned Pininfarina to begin the push towards what's now standard on all supercars – a mid-mounted engine – and was instrumental in getting Ferrari to enter the world of production cars. Beyond the Prancing Horse and its siblings at Maserati, Pininfarina was responsible for a spate of iconic vehicles from a number of brands, ranging from Italian marques Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia to France's Peugeot, the Brits' Bentley and Rolls-Royce, and – oddly enough – even Cadillac. Some drove as good as they looked while others struggled to keep pace with their sinewy style. But each of the Pininfarina's creations had something that most vehicles lack: passion and poise. So here's a look back on what Pininfarina bestowed on the motoring world before his passing at age 85. *Photo: [fred ross lord/Flickr](http://www.flickr.com/photos/fredross/6074225969/)*
10honda-hp-x-concept
__Honda HP-X Concept__ While most of this look back is comprised of production vehicles, we had to include this, the Honda HP-X Concept. When it debuted in 1984, it's sharp, wedge shape and odd cabin arrangement were nothing short of revolutionary, and while the HP-X was never destined for production, it set the stage for one of the most revolutionary vehicles of the 1990s: the Honda NSX. *Photo: Honda Motor Company*
