Sergio Pininfarina dies aged 85

Sergio Pininfarina, honorary chairman of Pininfarina, has died aged 85. The company announced today that he died overnight at his Turin residence, after being ill for a while.

Sergio was born in 1926, and was introduced to the successful family business of carriage making on contract which had been started by his father Battista Farina in 1930. He joined the firm after graduating in mechanical engineering from Turin's Polytechnic University in 1950, and became chief executive in 1961. The company was already popular for its attractive aerodynamically styled cars for some of the most iconic Italian car makers, including Ferrari. He took over the company after his father’s death in 1966. Also Read: Ferrari California 30 revealed

Sergio made new contracts with car makers outside Europe, and played a major role in introducing the company in America, through their collaboration with Nash. He is considered instrumental in changing the company into a world renowned coachbuilder from a simple design house. He made the company public, when the company was listed on the Italian Stock Exchange in 1986.

Sergio’s most famous designs include the 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Rondine, 1986 Cadillac Allante, the 1995 Bentley Azure and the 1996 Peugeot 406 Coupe which wore the Pininfarina badge. He also helped design the 1986 Fiat 124 Spider, the 1984 Ferrari Testarossa, the 2002 Ferrari Enzo, the 2003 Maserati Quattroporte and the 2004 Ferrari Scaglietti.

Sergio Pininfarina stepped down to become honorary chairman in 2006, though he was pretty active in the company. Both he and his company had to face hardships. Sergio’s eldest son, Andrea, died in a scooter accident in 2008. The economic downturn forced the company to raise capital in 2009 and re-size its business. It had to close its manufacturing operations and reinvent itself as a smaller niche design player.

He is survived by wife Giorgia and sons Lorenza (currently Pininfarina’s vice chairman) and Paolo (currently Pininfarina’s chairman and CEO).