BMW and Pininfarina have teamed up to build what is being called the Gran Lusso Coupe, which will make its public debut at the 2013 Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este on May 24, 2013.

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Jim Glickenhaus has announced that he’ll be working on a one-off Ferrari P33, the successor to the Ferrari P4/5 that he originally commissioned in 2006.

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Pininfarina has just unveiled its Sergio Concept, based on the Ferrari 458 Spider and what the company calls the two-seater barchetta of the future.

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Pininfarina has released a sketch of its Sergio Concept which will make its official debut at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show next week.

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Automotive design house Pininfarina will bring a special concept car to the 2013 Geneva Motor Show in March honoring famed car designer Sergio Pininfarina, who died in July. 

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The Ferrari Museum in Maranello opened a new exhibition today, focused on showcasing the best designs that emerged from a collaboration between the prancing horse brand, and Sergio Pininfarina.

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Later this month, the Museo Ferrari in Maranello will host an exhibition of Sergio Pininfarina’s Ferraris.

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Pininfarina is a world-renowned design firm, and today the company announced that Sergio Pininfarina passed away at 85 in his Turin, Italy home. 

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Notorious for stealing body styles, the Chinese automotive industry is quickly becoming the definitive source for unabashed design plagiarism. 

With a track record including obviously-bilked F-150 bodies and more recently a hodgepodge S11 supercar set to debut at the upcoming Beijing Auto Show, it’s hard to expect anything short of absolute banditry from some of China’s car companies.

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Back in 2008, Rolls-Royce collector Roland Hall special ordered a one-off Pininfarina that became known as the Hyperion.

A year later, Hall was clearly bored of his Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead Coupe-based Hyperion selling it for around $6 million. The car has now resurfaced at an Abu Dhabi dealership and is listed for sale at an undisclosed price – we’re guessing it’s a lot. The unique Hyperion’s styling might not be for everybody, penned by Jason Castriota of former Saab fame and built by the Special Projects division at Pininfarina.

It’s powered by the same 6.75-liter V12 with 453 hp and 531 lb-ft of torque. Changes from the Drophead Coupe include removal of the rear seats with the driving position pushed back over 15 inches. The rest of the body was also made of carbon fiber, minus the doors which were crafted from solid wood.

GALLERY: Pininfarina Hyperion

[Source: Carscoop]

Along the same vein as the Fisker Karma, the plug-in hybrid Pininfarina Cambiano concept may receive the “go-ahead” for low-volume production.

According to Pininfarina CEO Sergio Angori, “We are evaluating the potential for companies and private buyers interested in a high-performance, low-emission luxury model such as the Cambiano.”

The Pininfarina Cambiano concept was first unveiled at the 2012 Geneva Auto Show, sporting four electric motors that deliver 60kW each and could potentially peak at 150kW for short moments. Combined, the battery is capable of providing 500kW, equating to 680-hp.

Pininfarina expects the concept to reach a little over 200km in full-electric mode and have a combined range of 800km. Performance-wise, Pininfarina claims the Cambiano can accelerate from 0 to 100kph in 4.2 seconds.

Sergio Angori said that if Pininfarina were to build 10 units, then each Cambiano will be priced at approximately 1 million euros each. However, if production were to reach 75 units, the per-unit cost would fall to 400,000 euros.

A diesel-powered internal combustion engine will be the more realistic offering for production and will likely replace the diesel turbine found within the concept. It will take a minimum of two years of development before production of the Cambiano will commence. We hope this means the Cambiano will not be plagued with the same reliability concerns as the Fisker Karma.

[Source: Auto News]

Official images of the Pininfarina Cambiano concept car have been revealed ahead of the upcoming 2012 Geneva Motor Show.

According to Pininfarina, the Cambiano concept was approached with, “great attention to the environment, both as to the engine and as to the materials’ choice.” Engine wise, the Cambiano is a range extended electric vehicle with power coming from four 60kw (80-hp) electric motors, each powering one of the four wheels. A diesel turbine engine in the front is an acting generator to recharge the batteries. Pininfarina expects the Cambiano to accelerate to 62 mph in 4.2 seconds and reach a top speed of 186 mph. As for the interior, Pininfarina created a warm and airy cabin through the extensive use of wood across the floor, which then rises behind the rear passenger seat.

Most interesting of all, the Cambiano is two design studies in one. When seen from its right side, the Cambiano is a sedan but from the left, it sports a coupe body-style.

Check out the Pininfarina Cambiano gallery below and expect to see more details as we draw closer to the upcoming show at Geneva.

GALLERY: Pininfarina Cambiano

[Source: Quattroroute]

Pininfarina has helped design every modern Ferarri sportscar since the 50′s. But the company has posted a loss of $22.1 million in the first nine months of 2011.

According to Reuters, creditor banks are working on an agreement to restructure Pininfarinas  $99 million debts. One source says “”The agreement will fix the capital structure for the foreseeable future.” However, when the agreement is reached, it will give the banks control of the Pininfarina’s 77 per cent stake in the company. This would effectively end the family’s ownership 82 year ownership of the company.

Pininfarina shareholders will hold a meeting on Wednesday to hear how management plans to turn a profit.

Many cars that Pininfarina has helped design are known for being jaw-droppingly gorgeus. Some current examples include the Ferrari 458 (Seen above) and 599 GTB. Pininfarina also design the Maserati Quattroporte, and GranTurismo.

Hopefully new ownership will keep on designing some of these beauties.

[Source: Reuters]

Folks once scoffed at the idea of a hybrid race car, but with Toyota announcing its TS030 Hybrid car for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Porsche already well on the hybrid race car bandwagon, it might not be too much of a stretch to believe these rumors that the Ferrari-powered, Pininfarina-designed P4/5 Competizione is going green.

Reports from Europe are coming in that the GT prototype is looking to make a return to the Nürburgring VLN series with a hybrid powertrain. It appears that the hybrid system will be provided by Magneti Marelli and will be similar to the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) that was developed for Scuderia Ferrari in F1.

We’re sure the primary source of power will still come from the 4.0L V8 powerplant, but the addition of an electric motor will definitely help the P4/5 Competizione compete on the Nürburgring where reliability is sometimes more important than power.

[Source: Autoblog.nl]

Pininfarina has unveiled the first teaser image of their new Cambiano Concept that’s scheduled to make its official debut at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show on March 6th, 2012. The Cambiano Concept will be an elegant and refined sport sedan but will be plenty green.

Pininfarina announced that the Cambiano Concept was conceived with “great attention to the environment, both as to the engine and as to the materials’ choice.” The Cambiano Concept appears to be the culmination of Pininfarina’s hard work in styling and engineering, naming the concept after the city where Pininfarina’s headquarter is located. The debut of the concept also celebrates 30 years of their Styling Centre which started operations in Cambiano back in 1982. It’s also a 10-year celebration for their Engineering Centre which opened in 2002.

Legendary design firm Pininfarina is ending its auto production business, but will retain its engineering and design divisions. Pininfarina said it will shed 127 jobs due to the division’s closing.

“Unfortunately we are having to stop our production activities, given the way the car market is. So we are focusing on design and engineering,” a Pininfarina spokesman told Reuters.

Pininfarina has a long and storied history, having designed most Ferrari and Alfa Romeo vehicles, as well as numerous other vehicles.

[Source: Reuters]

Nothing lets your peers know that you’ve “made it” quite like parking a Ferrari on your driveway. And nothing lets your fellow Ferrari owners know that you’re a connoisseur quite like a one-off. Now, an opportunity to own such a specimen has arisen.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Pininfarina, Ferrari unveiled the “Pinin,” a Pininfarina designed sedan, at the 1980 Turin Motor Show in Italy. Now, you can have the chance to bid for it at the RM Auction at London, England.

With proportions suggesting an Italian interpretation of the earlier 1976 Aston Martin Lagonda sedan, this low slung, wedge shaped four door is the work of designer Diego Ottina under the direction of Leonardo Fioravanti, who was behind the work of many iconic Ferraris including the Dino, Daytona and P5.

Originally, the Ferrari Pinin was only a design study, and remained a static concept until the current owner of the Pinin decided to have Ferrari outfit it with 512BB’s 4.9-liter horizontally-opposed 12-cylinder engine with Weber carburetors and a double overhead camshaft, producing 360-hp. A 5-speed gearbox was taken from a Ferrari 400GT to transfer power to the rear wheels. Finally, chassis strengthening, the addition of a fuel tank, and a set of suspension and brakes completed the car.

Ready to be sold at the RM Auction in London, experts predict the car will be priced somewhere in between $742,000 – $850,000.

GALLERY: 1980 Ferrari Pinin

[Source: carscoop]

Volvo Cars plan to discontinue production of the Volvo C70 convertible at the Pininfarina Sverige AB plant of Uddevalla, Sweden, by 2013. Established as a joint venture between Italian design house Pininfarina and the Swedish Automaker since 2005, the plant is responsible of building only the C70 model and employs 600 workers for the task.

Volvo CEO Stephan Jacoby explained that while the plant produces high quality vehicles, it isn’t cost effective at current levels of production. “A Car manufacturer of Volvo’s size cannot, from a financial standpoint, justify a plant that manufactures one single model in the low volumes we have today… The production capacity in Uddevalla is only utilized to 65%.”

According to Volvo, the 600 workers of the Uddevalla plant will be moved to other facilities after its closure. However, there has been no word on the C70′s fate. Once the Uddevalla plant is closed, Pininfarina and Volvo will end their joint venture, shifting plant ownership solely to Volvo.

GALLERY: Volvo C70

Volvo has a history of getting into bed with Italian coachbuilders for some of its more exclusive models, first Bertone and then Pininfarina.

In 2003, Volvo and the latter launched a joint venture, to build the former company’s second generation C70 retractable hardtop/convertible at a dedicated factory in Uddevalla, Sweden.

However, that arrangement is now coming to an end; Volvo stating that it will assume full control of Pinnfarina’s Swedish operations in May 2013.

Research group JATO dynamics said sales of the C70 were down by some 1.7 percent last year, versus 2009; only 4,703 examples were sold for 2010.

[Source: Autoweek]

In a victory more deserving than the Oscar for The King’s Speech, Pininfarina has been selected for the best concept of 2010 by Car Design News, for their stunning Alfa Romeo 2uettottanta concept.

The 2uettottanta was chosen by both design experts as well as enthusiasts who responded to the survey by Car Design News, who conducts it every year. Past concept car winners have included the Saab Aero X, BMW Concept CS, and Mazda Furai.

“Winning the Car Design of the Year award makes us particularly proud,” said Paolo Pininfarina, the company’s chairman, “because it represents the viewpoint of car design experts, who include the Chief Designers of the most important international companies. Our design team were asked to interpret a theme that is firmly rooted in Pininfarina, the Alfa Romeo 2-seater convertible. The results confirm the excellence of the work done by our young people.”

So congratulations, Pininfarina and Alfa Romeo. Now, just put the gorgeous convertible into production.

De Tomaso is back! But not with the Pantera, arguably the company’s most legendary model. No, the troubled Italian company, constantly flirting with bankruptcy and liquidation and angry customers, has introduced for Geneva the SLC, a Pininfarina-designed crossover in the mold of the BMW 5-Series GT.

Unfortunately, the overall effort is underwhelming; the oddly-proportioned car has a gaping mouth, de rigueur of so many modern cars, the rear end of a Dodge Avenger, and the side profile cachet of your neighbor’s Lexus IS. It’s certainly not compelling enough to make us excited for the revival of a company that gave us the Mangusta, the box-flared Longchamp, and Elvis’s bullet-ridden Pantera.

The “Sports Luxury Car,” as it’s imaginatively called for now, will sport three engines: a V6 diesel, a 300-horsepower V6, and a high performance V8 with 500+ horsepower. At that rate, it should be able to outrun its own looks.

Ultimately, the company wants to find 3000 buyers per year for the SLC, at $135,000 to $175,000 when it goes on sale at the end of this year. We wish them well, because sales of the SLC will fund the development of a more traditional sedan and a coupe–which will then bring back the De Tomaso we remember so fondly.

[Source: Car Advice]

It has styled some of the most memorable cars in history, including scores of Ferraris, but more recently the famed design house Pininfarina, has fallen on hard times. It’s been up for sale for several months, though now, might have a potential buyer, in the shape of Bejing Automotive Industry Corp (BAIC).

Fueling the speculation that BAIC is in the process of a serious bid for Pininfarina, are quotes from a Chinese website (ee0.com) which said that an unnamed BAIC executive recently returned from Italy where he was in discussion with Pininfarina regarding collaboration on a new car based on the Saab 9-3.

BAIC currently owns the tooling, intellectual property and powertrain technology from the current Saab 9-3, which it purchased from General Motors and is already working on several new cars based on this platform, a new Pininfarina styled 9-3 could be one of them. If such a car does indeed materialize, it will probably make its debut at the 2011 Beijing Auto Show.

However, besides BAIC, that same media website (eeo.com), also reported that other Chinese firms, Anhui Jiangling and Brilliance, have also expressed interest in acquiring Pininfarina, along with India’s Mahindra and Canada’s Magna International. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

[Source: Inside Line]

When Bugatti unveiled the new Veyron Super Sport by announcing it had reclaimed the record as the world’s fastest production vehicle, the former record holder, Shelby Supercars (SSC), welcomed the challenge. Announcing that it would seek to top that record, SSC has also announced it will debut a new car (or at lest a new design) in order to do so.

SSC has now released the first teaser image of the upcoming successor to the Ultimate Aero, designed by none other than Jason Castriota who is known for having penned the famous Pininfarina P4/5 for James Glickenhaus.

Accompanying the photo are the words “The next generation is coming soon…” and, “Because life begins at 250.”

Set to debut in September, we expect the record setting attempt won’t be for quite a while after that, but we’ll be sure to keep on top of this story to see how long the Veyron Super Sport’s record stays intact.

[Source: ShelbySupercars]

Alfa Romeo is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary this year and has commissioned three concept vehicles that will be on display at the Geneva Auto Show. The first is an expected collaboration between Alfa and Italian design house Pininfarina.

Pininfarina will display the Spider show car, which is likely based on the 8C Competizione model – which shares a platform with both the Maserati GranTurismo Convertible and the Ferrari California.

AutoGuide will be sure to bring you more on what will no-doubt be a stunning show car, with live coverage of the Geneva Auto Show starting March 1st.

Click here for AutoGuide’s live 2010 Geneva Auto Show coverage starting Monday, March 1st.

Official release after the jump:

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