Sergio Pininfarina (born Sergio Farina; 8 September 1926
. – 3 July 2012) was an Italian

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

designer and

Senator for life A senator for life is a member of the senate or equivalent upper chamber of a legislature who has life tenure. , five Italian senators out of 205, two out of the 41 Burundian senators, one Congolese senator out of 109, and all members of the Bri ...

Biography

Automobile designer

Pininfarina was born in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

. After joining his father

Battista Farina Battista Pininfarina (born Battista Farina, nicknamed "Pinin"; 2 November 1893 – 3 April 1966) was an Italian automobile designer and the founder of the Carrozzeria Pininfarina coachbuilding company, a name associated with many well known ...

at Carrozzeria Pininfarina, he quickly became integral to the company and, during his career, oversaw many of the designs (particularly Ferraris) for which the company is famous. In 1961, by decree of the Italian president, his family surname was changed from Farina to Pininfarina to match that of the company. Peugeot 504 Cabriolet a Chartres

In 1965 it was Sergio Pininfarina who personally persuaded

Enzo Ferrari Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; ; 18 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of Scuderia Ferrari in Grand Prix motor racing, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobile marque. Under h ...

to adopt a " rear-mid" engine configuration for a new line of road cars, with the engine positioned behind the driver, but ahead of the rear wheels. The resulting concept car, Ferrari 365 P Berlinetta Speciale was presented at the

Paris Motor Show The Paris Motor Show () is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently takes place in Paris expo Porte de V ...

in October, although it would be another two years before the cars were offered for sale. After his father died in 1966, Pininfarina became chairman of the company. In 2006 Sergio and his son

Andrea Andrea is a given name which is common worldwide for both males and females, cognate to Andreas, Andrej and Andrew. Origin of the name The name derives from the Greek word ἀνήρ (''anēr''), genitive ἀνδρός (''andrós''), that re ...

, who died in 2008, were named Honorary Chairmen of Pininfarina.

Politics

Between 1979 and 1988, Pininfarina was a

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

MEP, where his party was a part of the European Liberal Democrat alliance.

Senator for Life

On 23 September 2005, he was named Senator for Life of the Italian Republic by

Carlo Azeglio Ciampi Carlo Azeglio Ciampi (; 9 December 1920 – 16 September 2016) was an Italian politician, statesman and banker who was the President of Italy from 1999 to 2006 and the Prime Minister of Italy from 1993 to 1994. A World War II veteran, C ...

(together with

Giorgio Napolitano Giorgio Napolitano (; 29 June 1925 – 22 September 2023) was an Italian politician who served as President of Italy from 2006 to 2015, the first to be re-elected to the office. In office for 8 years and 244 days, he was the longest-serving pre ...

). On 21 February 2007, he attended the vote in which the government motion on foreign policy was defeated in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Subsequently, he led to the resignation of then Prime Minister

Romano Prodi Romano Prodi (; born 9 August 1939) is an Italian politician who served as President of the European Commission from 1999 to 2004 and twice as Prime Minister of Italy, from 1996 to 1998, and again from 2006 to 2008. Prodi is considered the fo ...

. Pininfarina, who attended his first Senate assembly in nine months, cast an "abstain" vote, which helped the opposition forces to defeat the government's foreign policy. After the aforementioned tally Pininfarina did not ever vote in the assembly again.

Death

Pininfarina died in Turin on 3 July 2012 aged 85.Ferrari designer Pininfarina dies
– Australian Broadcasting Corporation – Retrieved 4 July 2012.

References

http://www.pininfarina.com/media/files/il_gruppo/collaborazioni/pininfarina_azienda_storia_collaborazioni_peugeot_en.pdf

External links

Biography at pininfarina.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pininfarina, Sergio 1926 births 2012 deaths Automotive engineers from Turin Politicians from Turin Italian life senators MEPs for Italy 1979–1984 Pininfarina people Presidents of Confindustria Compasso d'Oro Award recipients Royal Designers for Industry