2008 Rolls-Royce Pininfarina Hyperion
Pininfarina presents the Hyperion, a
one-off custom-built car derived from the Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe which made
its world debut at the Concours d’Elegance at Pebble Beach, America’s most
important competition for historical classic and one-off cars and a prestigious
annual event.
The car is named after Hyperion, one of
the Titans of Greek mythology, to underline its architectural and figurative
power.
It is not the first time that the
Pininfarina Special Projects Division has designed a unique car from a standard
production model. In the recent past Pininfarina has reinterpreted Ferrari
engineering, as in the case of the P4/5 of collector Jim Glickenhaus, or Peter
Kalikow’s Scaglietti “K”. In the case of the Pininfarina Hyperion, Roland Hall,
a collector and the owner of a Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupe, asked Pininfarina to
create a custom-built car that would evoke the appeal of the sumptuous cars of
the 1930s. It might seem paradoxical, but today more than ever before, there is
a desire on the part of a very elite clientele to return to the idea of the car
as an artistic expression. As it was in the 1950s.
With the Hyperion, the team of designers
and engineers of the Special Projects Division was able to express its creative
skills and to apply Pininfarina expertise without limits, save that of coming
as close as possible to the type of car that our customer had in mind. The
result was a custom-built unit that is firmly rooted in the values of the
Pininfarina and Rolls-Royce brands, with lines and dimensions that are hard to
find in a 21st century model. The Hyperion takes up the legacy of other
Rolls-Royces designed by Pininfarina, the Silver Dawn saloon of 1951, for
example, or the Camargue coupe of 1975.
The history of Pininfarina offers plenty
of examples of special cars built on “noble” bases. Which is why the company
naturally welcomed Roland Hall’s proposal to work on a Rolls-Royce floorpan.
For the new Pininfarina one-off, however, the Special Projects Division wanted
a new idea, something absolutely unique, which only an individual in love with
the car as an abstract, and not merely utilitarian, concept could appreciate.
And so the Hyperion project was born, in the Autumn of 2007.
In terms of the styling, the first
brainwave came when thinking of some of the cars of the 1930s, with their
majestic, regal bonnets, and a body that surrounded the driver and a single
passenger. Distinctive features of a car which, thanks to its strength and
elegance, does not need to move to draw attention to itself.
Like all the cars designed by
Pininfarina, the secret of the Hyperion lies in its absolute harmony between
masses and volumes, and the perfect balance of every proportion.
The bodywork is made of carbon fibre.
Structurally, we moved the driving position further back (400 mm) and took out
the rear seats. We designed a new hood, which folds behind the seats under a
wood-lined cover. In front of the windscreen we created two compartments for
small items or for sports equipment, such as Mr. Hall’s hunting rifles.
The hood cover and the doors of the two
compartments were made of solid wood by craftsmen who specialise in creating
components for luxury boats. This is another aspect of the programme of
Pininfarina special cars: offering customers unique stylistic and technical
solutions that are not possible on mass produced cars.
Some of the best international firms
contributed to the realisation of the project: Re Fraschini for the carbon,
Isoclima for the glazed surfaces, Proxy Design for the drawings of the car,
Triom for the lights and headlights, Fondmetal for the wheel rims, and
Materialise for components created using fast prototyping, SIGMA Navale
Italiana for the finishes in teak.
Romantic and noble. These two words sum
up the styling of the Hyperion. The archetype of the special car, an opulent
two-seater roadster that conveys the luxury of the Rolls-Royce Drophead Coupé,
from which it derives, at the highest figurative and architectural levels. At
the same time, it harks back to the past, and the cars of the pre-war period
that now populate the world’s most prestigious concours d’elegance.
To repeat the proportions of those
unforgettable cars (a short tail end and majestic bonnet that “surges”
forward), we had to extend the roof and shorten the rear end. To balance the
volumes, the Pininfarina designers tried to achieve soft, fluidly flowing
surfaces. The front sports the classic Rolls-Royce grille, which has been
slightly inclined. A trapezoid plane creates a more aerodynamic dashboard,
while the recessed Bixenon headlights and LED technology convey sportiness and
elegance. The spectacular bonnet is underlined by the muscular, taut wings,
while the line that embraces the front wheels is drawn back until it disappears
into the hood cover, giving a sense of movement even when the car is
stationary. This feature is counterbalanced by a small tooth under the door
that runs towards the rear wheel. The shape of the rear end recalls
Pininfarina’s legendary sports “berlinettas” of the Fifties and Sixties, with
their cut-off tails, strongly inclined downwards, with a flat closure borrowed
from boat-building.
The interiors were practically
unchanged, maintaining the perfect sense of high luxury in the passenger
compartment that distinguished the original car. One precious detail of the
instrumentation underlines the unique environment: the watch designed
specifically for the Hyperion by Girard-Perregaux, which can be removed from
the dash and attached to a bracelet to be worn on the wrist.
Combining the excellence of a watch and
a car that are out of the ordinary. This was the goal of the collaboration
between Pininfarina and luxury Swiss watchmakers Girard-Perregaux. The meeting
of two prestigious names that embody artisan tradition and cutting edge
technology has created a refined timepiece with a sophisticated mechanism.
Girard-Perregaux have personalised one of their sophisticated watches, the
Vintage 1945 Tourbillion with gold bridge, for the Hyperion. Thanks to an
ingenious anchorage system, this timepiece can be mounted on the car’s
dashboard, or removed from its mount to slip on to its owner’s wrist.
The pure lines of the white gold case,
inspired by a model of 1945, contain a gold bridge tourbillon. This mechanism,
which is faithful to the original design created by Constant Girard-Perregaux
in the 19th century, stands out for its complexity: only an expert watchmaker
could assemble the cage that weighs just 0.3 grams, carrying no fewer than 72
elements. The automatic movement was painstakingly built by the company.
The Vintage 1945 Tourbillion with gold
bridge blends perfectly with the Hyperion, starting from the colours of the
face which match those of the bodywork. A sophisticated “spring-ball” system
allows it to be extracted from the leather bracelet so that it can be mounted
on the dashboard in a support in the shape of a whirlwind, or tourbillon, the
hallmark of the Girard-Perregaux brand.
This unique piece suggests the link
between the worlds of prestige cars and outstanding watch-making. Cult objects
that transcend their function to arouse emotions that are constantly renewed.
Pininfarina and Girard-Perregaux: outstanding watches and cars share numerous common
denominators: the notion of time, a fundamental factor of motor racing;
increasingly refined techniques; and ever-present passion. In these two worlds,
admiration for historical models goes hand in hand with the appeal of the most
recent performances; the classic design shares the stage with daring concepts;
cutting-edge technologies and noble materials are the key words of every
successful innovation.
High standards of quality, beauty, power
and perfection even in the smallest detail, are essential components.
