Pininfarina Showcases Its Jewels in Turin

By Henny Hemmes
Senior European Editor
The Auto Channel

The Hague, June 15, 2018. For the aficionados of Italian design, the yearly Salone di Torino always has interesting themes in store. This time, the show in Turin, Italy, showcases six exceptional cars of Pininfarina.

The Parco Valentino Turin Auto Show started on Wednesday June 6th . with Supercar Night Parade through the streets of Turin with over 300 supercars from private individuals from all over Italy, which will represented the automotive brands. Pininfarina Chairman Paolo Pininfarina will drive a Jaguar XJS prototype never seen on the road before. It is the prototype of a 2-seater spider on the XJ coupé platform that Pininfarina exhibited for the first time at the 1978 Birmingham Motor Show. With its soft and aerodynamic shapes, without sharp edges, the Jaguar XJS will also be on display in the courtyard of the Valentino Castle from 8 am of June 6th.

At the Prototypes Exhibition, set up at Parco Valentino until June 10th, visitors can admire the Lancia Florida II, the Sigma Grand Prix and the Ferrari Mythos and Sergio.

Until June 12, tourists who arrived at Caselle airport, were welcomed by the futuristic Sintesi concept car, a sporty Granturismo. In 2008, this 4-door 4-seater already incorporated themes of autonomous driving and cars interconnected with the surrounding environment. Its sharp and aerodynamic silhouette, which has been assigned the "red dot award", encloses the mechanical parts - mix of fuel cell drive train and batteries - and creates a safe shell around the passengers.

The Prototypes Exhibition had been created with the intention of turning the spotlight on the creativity of Italian and foreign coachbuilders and design studios in a summa of what car design has produced over the last 60 years. Pininfarina's inspiration, creativity and ability to innovate will be represented by four models.

The Lancia Florida II is a milestone in design, with stylistic elements that for many years influenced world production. Personal car of the Founder Battista Pinin Farina, who presented it at the 1957 Turin Motor Show, it is still exhibited in the Pininfarina Collection in Cambiano.

The Sigma Grand Prix of 1969 reinterpreted and renewed the concept of Formula 1 by introducing important safety contents aimed at drastically reducing the intrinsic risk component in this sport. Result of the work of an international team of experts, the prototype incorporated solutions that were futuristic at the time and became today in common use, such as the safety tanks and the onboard fire protection system. With the Mythos and Sergio, instead, the fascination of a historical collaboration relives, the one that for over 70 years has combined Pininfarina and Ferrari. Presented at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1989, the Mythos is a 2-seater barchetta on the mechanics of the Testarossa, much appreciated for its perfect balance between aesthetic emotion and technical rationality, winner of the Car Design Award 1990. Also Sergio, unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show 2013 to celebrate the Life Senator Sergio Pininfarina, it is a two-seater barchetta, this time on a mechanical basis of the Ferrari 458 Spider. Developed as a concept car, it became a reality in 2015, when 6 units were produced and sold.