There’s a mystique about Ferrari that’s real and well established. That mystique involves a lot of different things: the car’s history, its performance, its feel, the sound, even the smell. But the obvious part of this mystique is the look. You can read about— and listen to—tales of the car’s mechanical attributes, but your eyes and heart always take a direct hit when you see a Ferrari.
Design is an important part of the magic that’s Ferrari. And here’s the way it started.
During the early days, in the late 1940s and early ’50s, Enzo Ferrari used a variety of coachbuilders to design and fabricate bodies for his wonderful performance machines—accomplished suppliers like Vignale and Touring.
But he soon realized that something was missing. It wasn’t enough for his cars to perform like Ferraris, although that was obviously important. They needed a clear Ferrari identity; a look and a character that set them apart. Mr. Ferrari knew exactly where to go.
He turned to Pinin Farina. In those days, the name was still spelled as two words— "Pinin Farina"—and the man in charge wasn’t Sergio but his father, Battista, the founder. Battista’s nickname was "Pinin," and he was considered one of the leading designers and coachbuilders in the world.
In 1952, after some discussion, these two gentlemen—Enzo Ferrari and Battista Farina—agreed to meet. Sergio, 25 years old at the time, accompanied his father to that fateful meeting. And during their discussion, Mr. Ferrari asked Mr. Farina to become his principal body designer.
At that time, Sergio was fresh out of college and had recently married. So you can imagine his surprise when, on the way home from the meeting, his father turned to him and said, "I want you to take care of Ferrari top to bottom."
Of course, at the beginning, Sergio would get a lot of advice and guidance from his father, but think about this: Since that day in 1952, Sergio Pininfarina has been responsible for the design of nearly every Ferrari produced, including many racecars. This means over 44 years of consistently shepherding the identity of one of the world’s most revered marques. Amazing!
To understand Sergio’s accomplishments, you need to know a little about the man. I’ve known Sergio since the late 1950s, have watched his progress and have even worked together with him on several occasions. Over the years, Sergio and I have become close friends.
Sergio Pininfarina is not only a master designer, he’s a gentleman. He’s not the ego-driven, temperamental, artistic type who tries to pass off eccentricity as talent. He’s humble. He’s soft-spoken and subtle. He’s slightly reserved, but with the spontaneous enthusiasm of a little boy. He doesn’t try to knock you over the head with how brilliant he is or how important, but he has very clear ideas, and he expresses them like no one else I’ve ever known. He’s the kind of person who, if you’re around him long enough at a business meeting or a social function, you find yourself thinking time and again, "I wish I’d said that. I wish I’d thought of that." And he can do that in French, English or Italian.
Sergio is also an outstanding design leader. He has a way of leading people without making them feel they’re being led. Sergio would be the first guy to tell you that he doesn’t design Ferraris, he leads the design of Ferraris. Other people may run the studio for him, but while Pininfarina has had many different "chief designers" over the years, somehow Sergio’s personality is always clear in the styling of the cars. The consistency, the honesty, the elegance, the sincerity...his philosophy and leadership always come through.
The Dino is a good example of Sergio’s leadership style. Mr. Ferrari didn’t want to do a mid-engine street machine. Mid-engine placement was fine for a racecar, and this was back when the 250LM (another Pininfarina design) became the first mid-engine Ferrari to win Le Mans. But in a street car? No way.
Sergio changed Mr. Ferrari’s mind. He didn’t do it with bullying or threats—no one could bully or threaten Enzo Ferrari even if he wanted to. Sergio did it by creating a mid-engine car so beautiful that Mr. Ferrari couldn’t help but embrace it and call it his own.
The car that convinced Enzo Ferrari was the 1965 Dino Berlinetta Speciale, the original Dino showcar—a truly beautiful automobile and a major turning point in sports-car design. Without it there would never have been a Boxer, a Testrossa or an F40: All, in a very real sense, pure Sergio!
Pininfarina Ferraris are elegant, distinctive and refined. and they’re always faithful to the marque. Each new design clearly says "Ferrari," but it’s always new, always fresh, always beautiful. It has that built-in magnetism and excitement that gets your heart pounding. And yet Pininfarina doesn’t do flashy cars. Anyone can design a flashy car, but flash soon wears off. Pininfarina designs are timeless.
Of course, in avoiding flashiness, a new Pininfarina Ferrari might not have the initial impact of some of its rivals. But it has staying power where the others don’t. Ferrari designs endure, and that’s one reason the Ferrari legend endures.
Take the Boxer: The Boxer was introduced at the same time as the Lamborghini Countach and the Lotus Esprit, cars that were considered much more spectacular when they came out. And as spectacular as they were, both cars look a little dated today; not bad, mind you, but dated. The Boxer, on the other hand, still looks fresh and contemporary.
As with so many other Pininfarina Ferraris: They age, but they don’t grow old. Pininfarina consistently proves the principle that good design is timeless.
When I ask myself what Sergio Pininfarina has really meant to the success of Ferrari, I think of the Lusso, the Boxer and the 500 Superfast; I think of the Dino and the Daytona and the 308. I think of the 212 Inter, the 375MM and the 410 Superamerica, and when I do, I can’t help remembering the words of Enzo Ferrari himself. "Pininfarina," he said, "gave Ferraris a face."—Chuck Jordan
The Man Who Gave Ferraris a Face