Company Chairman Paolo Pininfarina underlined the importance of the Pininfarina SpA-designed PF0 hypercar making its global premiere in North America this week, revealing in a new short film details of his grandfather’s first visit to Detroit almost 100 years ago.
This week’s Monterey Car Week and its showpiece finale, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, will host the first ever viewings of Automobili Pininfarina’s debut car, the fully electric, luxury hypercar codenamed PF0.
Automobili Pininfarina CEO Michael Perschke and Design Director Luca Borgogno will be joined in Monterey by Anand Mahindra, Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra and Paolo Pininfarina, Pininfarina SpA Chairman and grandson of the famous styling house’s founder, Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina.
Pininfarina said: “Our American dream was established in the 1920s even before the company was formed. My grandfather, Battista, visited Ford and at the end of his tour had lunch with Henry Ford who asked him to become their chief stylist. But he had other ideas and the rest is automotive history.”
Michael Perschke, CEO Automobili Pininfarina said: “We are looking forward to presenting the PF0 design model created by Pininfarina SpA to clients and specialist retailers over the coming days. But our time at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and in the Monterey auction houses will also be a highlight. We will celebrate Pininfarina’s unique place in automotive history and undoubtedly pick up further inspiration for our future range of cars from these Italian masterpieces.”
The Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Monterey Car Week events are a traditional high-point in the automotive calendar for owners and investors in Pininfarina-styled landmark cars. 2016’s Pebble Beach ‘Best in Show’ was the stunning 1936 Lancia Asturia Pinin Farina Cabriolet. In 2017, the 1955 Ferrari 375 Plus Pinin Farina Cabriolet Speciale was announced as the ‘Most Elegant Sports Car’ at the Concours.
Automobili Pininfarina PF0 Design in Detail
Recently released sketch images of the PF0 have revealed a full carbon body that is curvaceous and sculptural, and encased in sweeping glass. A single dynamic strip of light cascades from the front of the car and takes the place of traditional headlights.
Inside the car, the cockpit must be equally as inspiring as the exterior design in both form and function. Pininfarina SpA is defining what Borgogno calls a ‘vanishing point’ concept for the main dashboard display which will be both unique and exciting, focusing the driver’s attention – a new definition of a driver-centric layout.
Core to this concept are two screens located either side of a compact steering wheel and angled towards the driver. Conventional dials have been eliminated and replaced with a head-up display (HUD) delivering all the vital information.
Automobili Pininfarina anticipates PF0 owners will be experienced at track driving in modern performance cars – and even racing cars – and therefore familiar with HUD. Nick Heidfeld, the brand’s Development Driver and brand ambassador will focus as much on how the occupants relate with the interior at speed as they do on action outside the cockpit. With his unprecedented level of Formula 1 and Formula E experience, a key role for Heidfeld will be ensuring the HUD and all necessary in-car controls fall easily to hand and are instantly accessible and understood in all driving conditions.
Luca Borgogno: “Pininfarina cars are renowned for their interior design as much as the exterior, and this isn’t simply limited to the layout of the dash and the quality of the materials. How an occupant feels in the car at all times, how he or she changes their point-of-view from inside to outside without distraction, and how they relate to information sources, is as important to us as Pininfarina SpA’s exterior design principles.”
Borgogno and Perschke are anticipating a landmark design for PF0 that is inspired by Pininfarina’s classic cars. And this expectation is also a goal for the technology and sustainability within the car. Surfaces and screens will provide the portals to infotainment and connectivity, supported by future-proof infotainment and software from innovative technology partners. Meanwhile materials will be ethically sourced, and consist of natural woods and paints without chemical ingredients.
‘We want owners and passengers to really live with this car and be proud of its provenance and what it says about them. So the design execution will deliver both a reassuringly luxurious, comfortable and entertaining interior, and a traditional ‘Pininfarina’ experience as a whole. Pininfarina SpA’s historic values of elegance and simplicity provide us with a great opportunity to stand out from the design of most current supercars and hypercars,” Borgogno concluded.
