If anyone can be credited with transforming the motor car from mere conveyance into a rolling work of art it must be Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina, the Italian designer who was born just in time to bring his brilliance to bear on the golden age of car development.
Pininfarina’s rise began in 1935 with a futuristic design for the Alfa Romeo 6C 2300 that turned the car into an ‘aerodynamic berlinetta’. The Lancia Aprilia followed in 1937, after which the hits kept on coming: from the Cisitalia 202 and numerous 1950s Ferraris to more run-of-the-mill models born from the ’60s collaboration with BMC that produced cars such as the Morris Oxford, Austin Cambridge, MGB GT and Morris 1100.