Battista Pininfarina

Biography

Giovanni Battista Farina, known as 'Pinin', was born in Cortanze, Piedmont, on 2 November 1893, the tenth of eleven children. At twelve he started working in the body shop of his brother Giovanni Carlo, and that is where his interest in cars began.

In 1930 he formed Carrozzeria Pinin Farina to design and build car bodies; in the early 1950s his brother's Stabilimenti Farina was absorbed into it. His work for Ferrari, which began in 1952, became the best known of his career. He received the Compasso d'Oro career award in 1957, and in 1961 he officially changed his surname to Pininfarina.

His last design, the Alfa Romeo 1600 Duetto, was shown at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1966; he died in Lausanne on 3 April 1966, less than a month later. His son Sergio ran the firm for decades after him, and Battista Pininfarina entered the Automotive Hall of Fame in 2004.