Life On The Edge

With close to ninety years’ history in design, the Pininfarina name rose to current heights on a propensity for breaking the boundaries. With works that combine tomorrow’s technologies and time-honoured Italian design, the name more than inspires life on the edge.

The Pininfarina museum stands proudly in Cambiano, Turin. The first capital of Italy is where founder Battista “Pinin” Farina’s designs and works first came to be, and where the brand has operated over the course of the past 87 years. From the outside, the museum is an unassuming and minimalist structure, featuring clean lines and a strong silhouette. The inside, however, is a feast for the eyes.

The museum features the key projects of the brand, designs that have shaped the company as it is today. An Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider catches the eye, a true vision of the mid fifties, gleaming in bright lipstick red. We’re told that it, as well as the custom-tailored Lancia Flaminia beside it, had belonged to the founder himself.

They’re works of art in mint condition, perfectly and carefully restored to stand in pride of place within the walls of history that depict the company’s progress throughout the years. Despite their decades’ old designs, many of the cars are still beautiful to behold, with elegant, neat lines, boldly striking details, and the deliberate, sensual curves we’ve come to associate with the Pininfarina name.

It’s an awe-inspiring sight.

Currently helming the Pininfarina name is the founder’s grandson, Paolo Pininfarina. The fourth Pininfarina man to stand at the head of the company, and the third generation to reach for greater heights, he nonetheless takes the time to show us around the museum. There is excitement and reverent sentiments in the way he takes us through the years; he is a man proud of his predecessors’ achievements, and at the same time, gunning for greater heights.