The Ten Most Iconic Pininfarina Designs

In memory of Andrea Pininfarina's death, Jalopnik.com put this list together.

The Ten Most Iconic Pininfarina Designs
3:11 PM on Thu Aug 7 2008 By Matt Hardigree


This morning's news of the untimely passing of Andrea Pininfarina cast a pall over the future of the company. What a perfectly fitting moment to assemble a list of the ten most iconic Pininfarina designs. Over the last 50 years the company has penned some of the most significant models of their respective decades and, whether loved or disliked, they've all been memorable. Any list of Pininfarina designs limited to ten will more than likely fall short of expectations, so feel free to drop your favorite designs in the comments below if we missed one.

10. 1960 Peugeot 404


Though still a French car, the 404 captures the long lines and angular style that has defined Pininfarina design since the company's beginnings. Similar to the smaller Peugeot 403, also designed by Pininfarina, it would come to define what a Peugeot was for nearly two decades (and four decades in Nigeria). More than 2.75 million 404s were produced, which may be why the car is such a frequent PCH inclusion. Photo Credit: Coffee-n-Cake

9. 1987 Alfa Romeo 164


From the 8C Competizone to the Brera, it is impossible to look at a modern Alfa Romeo and not see a bit of the Alfa Romeo 164. The sedan's crisp lines, the attention to aerodynamics and, particularly, the elongated nose are all traits mutually associated with the 164, Alfa Romeos and the Italian design house. This car also has the distinction of being the last Alfa sedan to be sold in the US, a fact we hope is temporary. Photo Credit: Flickr

8. 1968 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 (Daytona)


Speaking of long noses, the 1968 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 is all hood, and we don't mean like Jay Z. Better known as the Ferrari Daytona, it's a design so unique and wonderful that it'll make you forget this was the car Brock Yates and Dan Gurney Cannonballed in. Those wicked eyelash turn signals will erase the thought of four-cam, V12 power. The sleek, front-engined profile forces you to ask "Crocket and Tubbs, who?" Photo Credit: Flickr

7. 1987 Cadillac Allante


We qualified this list with "iconic" solely to include the Cadillac Allante. The car itself was a ridiculous proposition: an American-assmebled, Italian-designed FWD V8-powered luxury roadster listing at $57,000. It's major saving grace was its Pininfarina design — and that didn't really get it all that far. Neither Chrysler nor Lincoln offered anything in the same league, putting the Allante on the level of the Mercedes-Benz 300SL and Jaguar XJS. Photo Credit: Flickr

6. 2006 Ferrari P4/5


There's something obscenely wonderful about buying a rare Italian supercar and having it rebodied, which is essentially what the Ferrari P4/5 is. James Glickenhaus is one of the few people who'd ever consider such a bold project, and Pininfarina is one of the few companies able to successfully compete it. Tnspired by the 330 P4 Ferraris of the 1960s, the swooping curves and uninterrupted greenhouse are an inspired nod to an entire era of the automobile. Photo Credit: Supercars

5. 2008 Maserati GranTurismo


We've yet to pass up an opportunity to talk about the Maserati Granturismo, a car so beautiful that nuns have been known to weep in its presence. From the athletic shoulders to the angled headlights, the Maserati captures all of the characteristics of a Pininfarina GT while still creating new forms and freer profile that will likely come to dominate the company's designs for the near future. Photo Credit: Flickr

4. 1987 Ferrari F40


The jewel of Pininfarina's designs for Ferarri in the 1980s, the Ferrari F40 was the fastest street legal production car for two years thanks in part to its lightweight and aerodynamic design. This is the Ferrari that graced the walls of teenage boys' room's from Taipei to Tuscon (right next to the Elle Macpherson poster). More than 20 years later the car still looks modern and the elongated greenhouse set back from a slanting hood has inspired mid-engined supercars ever since. Photo Credit: Flickr

3. 2003 Ferrari Enzo


A classic before anyone was even allowed to buy one, the Ferrari Enzo is the closest anyone is likely to come to capturing the essence of a Formula One racer in a streetable production car. As with the Ferrari F40, the designers at Pininfarina essentially created a new style in order to meet Ferrari's demands for supercar dominance. In profile, the Enzo looks more like a fighter plane than a car, it's cockpit pushed forward past the massively powerful V12. The large round rear window ensconced between two thick plates aft of the C-pillar and the F1-inspired nose defy comparisons to other vehicles. Now if people can stop ramming them into walls, we won't have to keep trying to get Gawker to re-print the t-shirts. Photo Credit: Flickr

2. 1966 Alfa Romeo Spider


Popular before it hit the silver screen in the film "The Graduate," the Alfa Romeo Spider was the most attainable and familiar representation of top-down Italian cruising for more than a generation. The Spider became the most recognizable and famous Alfa in history, the line that starts with the long curved hood is carried along the belt line and terminates what feels like a mile later. Pinifarina was involved in the design and production of the first three generations of the car, which debuted in 1966 and continued the same essential design until the early 1990s. Why mess with success? Photo Credit: Flickr


1. 1984 Ferrari Testarossa


The red-headed, wild-eyed Ferrari Testarossa is arguably the most famous car of the 1980s, representing wealth, performance and excess. You couldn't operate a car magazine in the decade without running a picture of the iconic sports car at least once a year. Though the design carried the long hood and sleek lights from the Daytona, the combed air-intakes running along the car's flanks were like nothing else anyone had seen. The car's wide back end was also a refutation of the smaller, puckered rears of most sports cars. There's a reason why boys on Miami vice traded up to the Testarossa from the Daytona. Photo Credit: Flickr


~~Pininfarina has thrown together some beautiful cars over the years. Man... I know I wasn't alive when the F40 and the Testarossa went into production (1984 and 1987, respetively), but my dad had some old car mags that I would check out when I was ~7 or 8 and the F40 was my dream car.... It looked soo damn crazy compared to anything that was out at the time (late 90s). Oh, and while my taste in cars has changed (although I still think the F40 is pretty epic) , the Testarossa still remains my dad's favourite car haha.

love the post mate... dunno which is my favorite though hard to choose.... It would be too easy to pick the Enzo and the p4 is a sexy car...... However I'm strangely attracted to the 2008 Maserati GranTurismo.... guess I'm just a corporate whore for new shiny things................

Sad news but it is good to see a small collection of his work. This seems rather untimely for the firm as they had had a very bad year last year and had to be bailed out with massive loans.

The car that I thought should have been included was the Bird Cage Concept, that was something else.


Though just a coachworks job, the Ferrari fastback/estate was also a very interesting design.



This post has been edited by Jeremy221: Aug 13 2008, 05:18 AM

Ah I remember watching a documentary on the designing of that vehicle. Yes, I think that that car should definitely be on the list instead of the hideous Caddy in 7th spot.