Ferrari has never built a series production saloon car. That’s perhaps not surprising – saloons aren’t typically the sportiest of cars, nor the most glamorous, and are rather unbecoming of a company that made its name on the race track.
Things might have been quite different had the Ferrari Pinin entered production. Presented at the Turin motor show in 1980 and penned by Diego Ottina to celebrate Pininfarina's 50th anniversary, the Ferrari Pinin wore its Prancing Horse with pride.
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It subsequently appeared at the Los Angeles auto show and was individually presented to Enzo Ferrari himself. With more than a hint of the contemporary 365 GT4 2+2 and later 400 series about it, it would have fit right in to Ferrari’s 1980s lineup – but it was never to be.
While a concept car, the car was equipped with Ferrari’s carburetted flat-12 engine – the 4.9-litre as used in the 512BB and Testarossa of the era. There’s a five-speed manual gearbox from the 400GT, and suspension is by fully-independent double wishbones all-round.
It stayed in Pininfarina’s collection until 1993, at which point it moved to Belgian collector Jacques Swaters. It then moved on again in 2008 to the current owner and appeared at an RM Auctions event in 2011. Before that event, the Pinin had finally been transformed into a working vehicle.
At the time, it was expected to bring in £480,000-£742,560, but didn’t sell despite bids climbing to £400,000.
Its current price of $795,000, listed at Maranello Purosangue through Hemmings, equates to around £510,300. That’s possibly ambitious given its previous failure to sell, though if it finds a buyer, it’ll further reflect the general rise in value of 1980s Ferraris in recent years.
The car comes with a spare flat-12, as well as comprehensive documentation on its history, restoration and condition.
