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So Lex posted this pic in the No Rhyme, No Reason thread
My first reaction was WOW!
My second was to hit Google and search "Aston Martin Zagato 4 door" which brought up these two images and a link to Pistonheads
The thread was about a new Ferrari, but further down in the thread (with the pics) it said: "Why does that look like an Aston Martin Zagato? I take it that Ferrari was designed by Zagato?
Is it a 400 with four doors?"
So obviously someone else also though it looked like a Zagato Aston (glad it wasn't just me!!)
The next post down had the info I was really looking for: "They also made a 4-door saloon called the Pinin in 1980, talked a lot about putting it into production, but bottled it and it remained a one-off."
So there it was....a Ferrari, not a Zagato Aston as I had originally thought. To be precise, a Ferrari Pinin Prototipo.
Unveiled in 1980, it was designed by Pinifarina (hence the name) and not Zagato despite its looks. It was the first ever four door Ferrari and was designed to be an update & evolution of the 400i/412i with which it shares some of its underpinnings.
A quick search and a good website gave up this information:
More details here and full spec here: www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/2596/Ferrari-Pinin.html
At the 1980 Turin Motorshow, Pininfarina celebrated the company's fiftieth anniversary in style with an impressive display of their finest designs. Even though their award winning Lancia, Ferrari, Cisitalia and Alfa Romeo vehicles of the past were on display, all eyes were on the carozzeria's latest work. In the days leading up to the show there was a lot of speculation about this new car and all agreed it would be something quite special. One of the wildest rumours was of a four door Ferrari, which would be a first.
When Sergio Pininfarina took the wraps off, the wild rumour proved to be true. In honour of his father and the founder of the company, Battista 'Pinin' Farina, the show car was dubbed the Ferrari Pinin. Obviously the Pinin's most striking feature are the four doors, but the long nose houses another first; Ferrari's five litre flat 12. Never before had an engine of this configuration been fitted in front of the driver's compartment. Mechanically the car is similar to the Ferrari 400 GT and it also shares grand tourer's five speed transaxle.
In charge of the design team was Leonardo Fioravanti who had been responsible for most Pininfarina's Ferrari designs since the 1960s. The low nose, made possible by the flat engine, is dominated by a big egg-crate grille and two wide headlights. A new Lucas technology allowed for the headlights to be considerably smaller, but still produce sufficient light. The Carello taillights were painted in the same shade of silver as the body and are almost invisible when turned off. This setup is common today, but was unheard off at that time.
The car's greenhouse was given a very uniform look by using smoke glass to disguise the A and B pillars. This is further underlined by the large, body coloured C pillars, providing a nice contrast. Inside the Pinin is lavishly upholstered with a then new type of Connolly leather, which incorporated a protective film. A state-of-the-art dashboard was fitted of which most of the Veglia dials were only visible by turning the ignition key. The passengers in the rear seats were equipped with a control unit of their own to control the electric windows and audio system.
Among the many people to congratulate Pininfarina on such a fine design was one Enzo Ferrari who invited the coachbuilder to talk about possibly producing a limited run of Pinins. This eventually came to nothing, and after a big tour of the world's major motorshows, the Pinin was retired as a one-off show car. Today the unique Ferrari is part of the collection of Jacques Swaters, who was one Ferrari's most prominent privateer racers with his Ecurie Francorchamps for several decades.
Celebrating Pininfarina's 75th anniversary, the Pinin is seen here at the 2005 Essen Motorshow. Unfortunately the original steering wheel was not fitted when we shot the interior.
Some more pics for you:
This is the reason I thought it was some kind of Aston - look at the similarity/resemblance to the Aston V8 Zagato (which didn't come out until 6 years after the Pinin):
But looking at the 400i/412i, you can also see where the influence has really come from:
Thanks Lex for posting that pic up - it's shown me a whole new Ferrari that I never even knew existed. It's gone straight in as my biggest WANT Ferrari at the moment (the want for a nice 'oddball' more door cruiser right now isn't helping things either!)
My first reaction was WOW!
My second was to hit Google and search "Aston Martin Zagato 4 door" which brought up these two images and a link to Pistonheads
The thread was about a new Ferrari, but further down in the thread (with the pics) it said: "Why does that look like an Aston Martin Zagato? I take it that Ferrari was designed by Zagato?
Is it a 400 with four doors?"
So obviously someone else also though it looked like a Zagato Aston (glad it wasn't just me!!)
The next post down had the info I was really looking for: "They also made a 4-door saloon called the Pinin in 1980, talked a lot about putting it into production, but bottled it and it remained a one-off."
So there it was....a Ferrari, not a Zagato Aston as I had originally thought. To be precise, a Ferrari Pinin Prototipo.
Unveiled in 1980, it was designed by Pinifarina (hence the name) and not Zagato despite its looks. It was the first ever four door Ferrari and was designed to be an update & evolution of the 400i/412i with which it shares some of its underpinnings.
A quick search and a good website gave up this information:
More details here and full spec here: www.ultimatecarpage.com/car/2596/Ferrari-Pinin.html
At the 1980 Turin Motorshow, Pininfarina celebrated the company's fiftieth anniversary in style with an impressive display of their finest designs. Even though their award winning Lancia, Ferrari, Cisitalia and Alfa Romeo vehicles of the past were on display, all eyes were on the carozzeria's latest work. In the days leading up to the show there was a lot of speculation about this new car and all agreed it would be something quite special. One of the wildest rumours was of a four door Ferrari, which would be a first.
When Sergio Pininfarina took the wraps off, the wild rumour proved to be true. In honour of his father and the founder of the company, Battista 'Pinin' Farina, the show car was dubbed the Ferrari Pinin. Obviously the Pinin's most striking feature are the four doors, but the long nose houses another first; Ferrari's five litre flat 12. Never before had an engine of this configuration been fitted in front of the driver's compartment. Mechanically the car is similar to the Ferrari 400 GT and it also shares grand tourer's five speed transaxle.
In charge of the design team was Leonardo Fioravanti who had been responsible for most Pininfarina's Ferrari designs since the 1960s. The low nose, made possible by the flat engine, is dominated by a big egg-crate grille and two wide headlights. A new Lucas technology allowed for the headlights to be considerably smaller, but still produce sufficient light. The Carello taillights were painted in the same shade of silver as the body and are almost invisible when turned off. This setup is common today, but was unheard off at that time.
The car's greenhouse was given a very uniform look by using smoke glass to disguise the A and B pillars. This is further underlined by the large, body coloured C pillars, providing a nice contrast. Inside the Pinin is lavishly upholstered with a then new type of Connolly leather, which incorporated a protective film. A state-of-the-art dashboard was fitted of which most of the Veglia dials were only visible by turning the ignition key. The passengers in the rear seats were equipped with a control unit of their own to control the electric windows and audio system.
Among the many people to congratulate Pininfarina on such a fine design was one Enzo Ferrari who invited the coachbuilder to talk about possibly producing a limited run of Pinins. This eventually came to nothing, and after a big tour of the world's major motorshows, the Pinin was retired as a one-off show car. Today the unique Ferrari is part of the collection of Jacques Swaters, who was one Ferrari's most prominent privateer racers with his Ecurie Francorchamps for several decades.
Celebrating Pininfarina's 75th anniversary, the Pinin is seen here at the 2005 Essen Motorshow. Unfortunately the original steering wheel was not fitted when we shot the interior.
Some more pics for you:
This is the reason I thought it was some kind of Aston - look at the similarity/resemblance to the Aston V8 Zagato (which didn't come out until 6 years after the Pinin):
But looking at the 400i/412i, you can also see where the influence has really come from:
Thanks Lex for posting that pic up - it's shown me a whole new Ferrari that I never even knew existed. It's gone straight in as my biggest WANT Ferrari at the moment (the want for a nice 'oddball' more door cruiser right now isn't helping things either!)
;D. On the one hand you have the sporty modernity of the wrap-around dash and console with those amazing controls in the centre (look at the console in the back with the grap handles!), but then on the other hand the luxurious comfort of your nan's living room carpet and leather the colour of Caramac. Totally the best of both worlds.
