Paolo Pininfarina, chairman of the Pininfarina Group, died earlier today in Turin. He was 65. In an official statement, the company said his wife Ilaria was present, along with his mother Giorgia Gianolio, and his five children.
The company’s CEO, Silvio Angori, said: “We are all extremely grateful to Eng. Pininfarina for his extraordinary contribution to the company and for always passionately advocating for our history and corporate identity—both in terms of style and ethical and behavioral choices.”
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Born in Turin on August 28 1958, Paolo Pininfarina was one of the scions of this celebrated Italian family. His grandfather Battista founded Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930, a design house whose contribution to the evolution of the car is incalculable.
Succession is always a thorny matter in dynasties, and when his older brother Andrea was killed while riding his Vespa near the company’s Cambiano headquarters in August 2008, Paolo Pininfarina found himself appointed Chairman. But he was well qualified. Following his graduation from the Polytechnic University of Turin with a degree in mechanical engineering, Paolo worked for Cadillac, Honda, and GM before beginning his career with the family firm in 1982.
Although best known for its work in the automotive sphere—Pininfarina is responsible for the design of more than 600 cars, many of them Ferraris—the company is also an industrial design powerhouse. Paolo Pininfarina was an expert in the fields of furniture, architectural, nautical, and aeronautical design. He was a quieter, more reflective character than his energetic brother, and claimed to have inherited his father Sergio’s sense of calm.
This, he said, had been useful in the difficult years that followed the 2008 financial crash. He was also proud of the knowledge he had gained outside the car world.
Latterly, Pininfarina S.p.A has added Automobili Pininfarina to its portfolio, and TopGear.com was privileged to have met Paolo during a 2018 preview of the Battista electric hypercar, named in honor of his grandfather.
“Battista was an outlier, one in a million,” he told TG. “To succeed as an outlier, you need three things: talent, commitment, and to be born at the right moment and raised in the right place. He was born in 1893, in Turin, born with the automobile, and surrounded by other talented people who were exploring the future of the car.
“With these three things, success came.”
It was a success that he did his very best to maintain. We send our condolences to his family.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
