Pinin Farina
1893-1966

In his lifetime Pinin Farina made a tremendous cultural contribution to car building and design.

Battista Farina was born on November 2nd, 1893 in Turin, Italy. As the youngest of 11 children he was nicknamed 'Pinin'. As a boy he worked in his brother's workshop. He designed the body of the Fiat Zero when he was 17. In 1920 he went to Detroit where Henry Ford offered him a job which he turned down to return to Italy. In his partnership with Vincenzo Lancia he designed many cars, including the Aprilia.

One of the recognitions of the beauty of Pinin Farina's design was the exhibit, as 'a moving sculpture', of the 1947 Cisitalia (202) at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA, NY).

When Nash Kelvinator, in 1951, contracted Pinin Farina to design and build several models, it was the first time a European coachbuilder was used by an American car company. In 1961 Pinin Farina became Pininifarina, both surname and family business, under the mandate of the Itialian president.

Battista Farina died in Lausanne on April 3rd, 1966 at the age of 73.

A very incomplete bibliography

(I have not included the plethora of Ferrari books, you can find them elsewhere on the Web)

Pininfarina, born with the Automobile (Sergio Pininfarina)

Pininfarina, Catalogue Raisonne (Volume 1 and 2)

Pinin Farina, Master coachbuilder by Michael Frostick

Pininfarina 1930-1980 : prestige d'une tradition by Didier Merlin

  Last modified on:Saturday, February 09, 2002.