2013 Ferrari Sergio Pininfarina



For more than half a century, Sergio Pininfarina was the face, body, and soul of the design firm that carries his family’s name. We’d see him at auto shows and venues like the Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance, always the epitome of the Italian gentleman. And never mind that he was a member of the European Parliament and an Italian Senator for life—simply consider how many Ferraris you’ve drooled over that were penned by his company.

Pininfarina passed away last July 3, 2012 at age 85, and his firm is using this year’s Geneva Motor Show to unveil a concept car in his honor. It is called, quite appropriately, Sergio. And if you think Pininfarina would pay homage to the man by sculpting a car that would directly imitate design themes from his decades of involvement, you’d be wrong. Instead, the Sergio is a resolute look forward—the photos speak to that—with hints of the past.


First note that there is no windshield, but there are helmets for the driver and passenger. The Sergio is meant to be an aerodynamic exercise from a company that operates one of Europe’s pioneering wind tunnels. What you see in black are the "technical" parts of the car, including the low front spoiler, the leading edge of the rollbar behind the cockpit, and the area in front of the passenger compartment that is shaped to flow air over the occupants. The last piece is also formed to team with the rollbar to add downforce. Even the single, centrally mounted rearview mirror is designed to route air away from the cockpit. At the front are headlights that have LED’s embedded in a crystalline block of Plexiglas. You enter and exit the car via what you might call half-door winglets that open up and forward and also allow for structural elements under their openings. The rear holds circular taillight assemblies, common forms for Pininfarina and Ferrari, although here they also contain outlets for hot air from oil coolers. Atop the engine cover are holes reminiscent of those on the rear decklid of Pininfarina’s 1970 512S Modulo, and they help cool the engine. The painted surfaces are done in a crimson meant to remind us of the color on the 1965 Dino Berlinetta Speciale. Behind the spokes of the alloy wheels you can see the carbon-ceramic brakes.


Based on a Ferrari 458, the Sergio is said to be a barchetta or "little boat," which is very much in the Ferrari tradition. It sits quite low at 44.9 inches tall, four inches shorter than an MX-5 Miata. At 179.1 inches long and 76.4 inches wide, it is, respectively, 21.8 and 8.7 inches larger than the Mazda sports car. Curb weight is said to be just 2800 pounds and the trunk space a whopping 3.8 cubic feet. Carrying the standard 458 drivetrain, the Sergio has 570 horsepower from its 4.5-liter V-8, and Pininfarina estimates a 0-to-62-mph run of less than 3.4 seconds. Top speed is said to be 199 mph.

Pininfarina is hinting it might build duplicates of the Sergio. It did, after all, create at least four examples of the Ferrari Mythos. To make a similar, very-limited production run easier, the functional elements of the dashboard, center console, and steering wheel, and the structure of the seats, have all been retained. The headrests are not part of the seats, but attached to the rollbar. The interior is black, with light gray leather.


What were the inspirations for the Sergio? Fabio Filippini, Pininfarina’s design director, explains that, “We cannot say the Sergio was inspired by one specific car. We would rather say we were motivated by the spirit of Pininfarina’s best sports cars, Ferraris of the ’60s and ’70s designed under the leadership of Sergio Pininfarina. In particular, the Dino Berlinetta Speciale of 1965, the Ferrari 250 LM, the P5, the Modulo, and the Mythos."

Design cues from those earlier cars? Filippini says, "It’s not a single cue of the above mentioned cars but the inspiration of a language. At the front is Pininfarina’s traditional integration of the headlights in a single transparent transversal element, as in the Dino Berlinetta Special 1965. The iconic round graphic holes of the rear engine cover as in other historical Pininfarina achievements, such as the Modulo, even if the holes of [the] Sergio’s decklid are not equal and parallel but staggered and of gradual size."


Paolo Pininfarina, Sergio’s son, is now the chairman and CEO of the company and explains, “The Sergio is the right tribute to a man, my father, who worked 55 years in the company (40 years as chairman) to develop Pininfarina and to bring it to be what it is now. There was a lot of emotional involvement in this project: The team and I put a total commitment in this work, feeling the responsibility to present a car that is up to the level of excellence of the best Pininfarina creations. The Sergio is meant to celebrate the involvement and the passion of my father in the development of the Pininfarina-Ferrari relationship."

Source : caranddriver.com