Was Ferrari right to split from Pininfarina?

No.

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Yes.

Pininfarina isn't what it used to be. Currently it is owned by the Mahindra Group, which has its own interests in the automotive industry.

It is also important to remember that Pininfarina designs everything from pens to automobiles....and for everybody.

Unless Ferrari had bought Pininfarina, IMO there was no way to continue the partnership, for the sake of industrial secrets, designs uniqueness and so on.

And by the way, some of Ferrari designers have track record with Pininfarina, so most probably part of the culture has moved on.

With the obsolescence of the ICE, design is probably the essencial differentiator on Ferrari's automobiles. It shouldn't be outsourced, it is too important.

 

Great post!

Matt

 

I think seeing Camaro tail lights on a Ferrari answers the question sufficiently.

 

And Camaro headlights...


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Hard to know what's what and who's who...but I can say that the newer Ferraris are not as beautiful as the older ones.

In my opinion, Ferrari design has been going downhill since the 360 and 599.

Pinninfarina designs have been gorgeous and more import TIMELESS since the 1950s. These new designs don't measure up. Coincidence? I think not.

 

thats exactly what i said to myself when seeing the pic. camaro

 

Does it not seem a LITTLE ironic that Pininfarina is owned by Mahindra, who is known for TRACTORS... a bit like Lamborghini, back in the day?

 

I don't think they had a choice except unless they bought it. Aerodynamics are being worked in earlier and earlier in the designs and that is Ferraris department.

Do I miss the PF designed Ferraris? Absolutely 1,000%.

 

I agree with you completely. It's not like the La Ferrari is an ugly car. I know the SF90 right now has it fair share of detractors, but that happens with every new car. Personally, I think it looks great.

 

It's easy to wax nastolgic about Pininfarina.

Gentlemen, here is Pininfarinia's latest endeavor. Dare I say it looks similar to the SF90?

Agreed about the oval taillights, not sure why they departed from the traditional circle shape.


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Definitely not. And they should have kept friendly with other designers too, like Zagato, Bertone, Touring etc. Their in house design team needs work IMO, although they are making prettier cars as of late.

 

458 vs 488 is all I need to say. The cars these days feel more, how do I put this? Cold. The in house designs are to the point and lack attention from heavy and curious eyes. I don't trace every inch of sheet metal with my eyes like I do with Pininfarina era cars. They feel warmer, like a carefully sculpted model out of clay, one that was touched and allowed human emotion to transform it into functional art. Aerodynamics are important, but there is a way to go about things and the in-house team doesn't have it...yet.

 

No

 

It’s pretty clear the post Pininfarina designs “in house “ despite alleged migration of culture have not worked really .
You have to love the shape as well as the under skin tech stuff .
I would not put too much weight on the corporate ownership structure or globalisation of Pininfarina it still attracts the best designers and stylists .

Feels like the ones @ Ferrari are Pininfarina cast offs , did not make the cut and its starting to show..

 

The new SF90 looks a really nice car but nothing will make me part with my 360 by pininfarina!

 

As you state, things change! What everyone really wants are cars that in 1, 10, 20, 30 years from now people will say that was one of the most beautiful car designs of all time!

And that may be totally unrealistic no matter who pens them now.

I do prefer the Ferraris designed by Pinninfarina. However, that does not mean I would like every car they design going forward. I am clearly stuck in the past when it comes to car designs. The auto industry is currently engaged in a war of who can produce the ugliest car at the moment in my opinion across all brands.

 

I’m underwhelmed by the sf90....but pininfarina had some eyesores as well.

 

Putting everything up through the 458 against anything that came after it, I'd say no. But...

I think the issue is less about Pininfarina vs in-house design and more about the fact that Ferrari has lost it's sense of itself. They're asking for the wrong thing. The essence of Ferrari road cars was never purely about performance. It was largely about romance. Since the 70's Porsche has made cars that were easier to drive, and were often technically more advanced in terms of engineering. In fact, Ferrari was known for holding on to older technologies longer than their rivals did. And Lamborghini quickly became the winner in the ostentatious show-off dept, as well as top speeds a lot of the time, for those that needed that bragging right as well. What Ferrari had that set it above all the rest was style and romance, and they had it in spades. Everything from a 250 SWB to a Daytona Spyder to a 308 GTS. If you saw any of those cars on the road, it was almost a certainty that you would immediately fall into detailed daydreams about what it must be like to drive that car...and what the life that goes along with that car must be like. It was intoxicating just to see a Ferrari...and then when and if you finally got inside one, oh my God...the sensations all tripled. The smell of the leather overwhelmed you, the sound of the engine was like music, that red paint, in and of itself, was so vivid that it somehow seemed alive. It was all almost too much.

But what a difference a couple of years makes. Those old cars are still great. Hell the 458 is right up there with the best of them. In fact that was the last model IMO to get the balance between beauty and performance right. But for the last few years we've seen a terrible switch in thinking. Now we have Ferrari road cars that are ALL about engineering and stats...things other marquees frankly do better or at least as well as Ferrari does. And honestly, who cares if a car had 1000hp? How insecure do you need to be to drop $700k on an ugly car just to flog that stat, all while driving it for 15 minutes once a month on your local freeway and never exceeding 100mph? It's Ferrari catering to the worst impulses of some of it's clientele, the ones who think bragging about how fast a car can go is more appealing than actually driving it. And our compensation for the "Stat Wars", just keeping up with the Jones's on paper, is that we've lost the romance which was the intangible magic that actually made a Ferrari a Ferrari. These new cars, the 488, the 812, the SF90...they make me feel nothing. They inspire no dreams. They might be impressive on paper but in real life I'd still choose a 308 over any of them.

All that said, all this technology does have a place...the racing team. And I have no problem with those advances bleeding into road cars as long as Ferrari don't forget that road cars and F1 cars are two distinct things, and for good reason.

 

WELL SAID, SIR! I think that is the mic drop on this topic, as far as I am concerned...

Romance>stats.... all day. Speed IS incredibly intoxicating- I cant say that the obsession goes completely past me. ...But I agree, the guys at Ferrari need to channel their inner Testarossa a bit more

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I still say no

 

NO

 

ferrari without pininfarina is just making appliances that go fast.
there is no romance, no sexuality, no femininity, no enduring appeal of the new ferraris for me.
they are just various forms of forced ugly.

 

No one is designing great looking sports cars these days.