Sergio Pininfarina

Biography

Sergio Farina was born in Turin on 8 September 1926, the son of the coachbuilder Battista 'Pinin' Farina. He graduated in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic of Turin in 1950 and joined his father's firm that year. In 1961 a presidential decree changed the family name to Pininfarina.

Also in 1961 his father formally handed the company to Sergio and to his brother-in-law Renzo Carli. In October 1965 Sergio persuaded Enzo Ferrari to adopt a rear-mid-engine layout, previewed by the Ferrari 365 P Berlinetta Speciale at the Paris Motor Show. After his father died in 1966 he became chairman, and the firm completed a full-size wind tunnel in 1972. Under him the studio was known above all for its bodies for Ferrari, Fiat, Lancia and Peugeot, and he ran it until 2001.

He was also a public figure: a member of the European Parliament from 1979 to 1988 and president of the Italian employers' federation Confindustria from 1988 to 1992. President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi named him a senator for life on 23 September 2005. His son Andrea led Pininfarina from 2001 until his death in 2008. Sergio Pininfarina died in Turin on 3 July 2012.