It was always a dream of designer Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina to build state-of-the-art luxury sports cars under his own name, but that never happened during his lifetime. Now, however, using Indian money, German technology and Italian styling, Farina’s dream is coming true.
At this weekend’s Formula E meeting on the streets of New York, the driving force behind the newly-formed Automobili Pininfarina released three new pictures of its PF0 electric supercar. The company is in fact a wholly-owned subsidiary of Indian carmaker Mahindra and Mahindra, formed under a licence agreement with the Pininfarina studio - which will also play an influential role in the design, engineering and production of the cars that will bear its name.
Automobili Design Director Luca Borgogno said: Working closely with Pininfarina SpA we have created three new images that give prospective owners an exciting preview of the design features we will introduce on this car.”
The limited-production PF0, he said, will deliver extreme performance for a road car; he quoted targets of 0-100km/h in less than to seconds, a top speed in excess of 400km/h and a 480km battery range (although not at the same time).
Automobili Pininfarina boss Michael Perschke also announced that former Formula One and Formula E racer Nick Heidfeld would also join the team as a development driver from the beginning of 2019, refining the car’s on-road dynamics ahead of its planned release for sale in late 2020.
Given the strong interest in both electric cars and Pininfarina designs in the United States, this is likely to be the PRF0's strongest market; to that end, Automobili Pininfarina will be holding private, strictly by-invitation-only previews of the PF0 for prospective customers during the annual Pebble Beach Concours in Monterey, California in August 2018.