This is the first and only Ferrari four-door sedan, and it's up for sale
The Ferrari Pinin can be yours for just $795,000
-->>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_Pinin
No SUVs, electric cars or four-door sedans will wear the Ferrari badge -- ever. That was former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo’s promise, and his successor Sergio Marchionne doesn’t seem to be keen on rocking that particular boat (for now).
But that wasn’t always case; this four-door Ferrari Pinin concept is proof. Styled by the masterminds at Carozzeria Pininfarina, the angular Pinin sedan reportedly got the nod of approval from none other than old Enzo himself, and Sergio Pininfarina referred to it as the “ideal car.” In our coverage from the floor of the 1980 Turin Auto Show, we reported that the Pinin -- which we deemed the hit of the event -- “could very well go into production some day” (read the full report in the PDF below).
It didn’t go into production, of course. Only two non-running prototypes were built, and one of those was reportedly crushed.
But the exercise was strikingly plausible. Strip out the conceptual, Aston Martin Lagonda-like computerized displays, and you’re left with a front-engine, rear-wheel drive Ferrari 400 stretched just enough to accommodate two rear doors. It retained the forward-looking (and in our opinion, criminally underappreciated) styling of its coupe counterpart, but its 108.7-in wheelbase made it around the same size as a Mercedes-Benz 280 sedan of the era. Rear-seat passengers would have enjoyed GT-levels of comfort all while being propelled forward by a screaming 5.0-liter flat-12 (the 400 and 412, we’ll note, got V12s).
If it had been equipped with one, that is. As we mentioned, the prototype shown in Turin was non-running. The engine was a dummy; the transmission was just a shell.
The Pinin story doesn’t end on the show floor, however. By some miracle, one of the concepts escaped the crusher and made it into private hands. It surfaced for auction in 2008, when it sold for around $250,000. It came up to the block again in 2011, but ultimately didn’t sell. The really interesting part is that, at some point after 2008, the rolling styling exercise gained a full set of running gear -- after decades, the Pinin had made the unlikely Pinocchio-like transformation into a real car!
Which brings us to the present day, with the one-of-a-kind, V12-powered, five-speed transaxle-equipped Ferrari Pinin is listed for sale at Hemmings for a mere $795,000. That’s a lot of money for a stretched 400 with a flat-12 crammed under the hood, but maybe not a lot for a truly unique Ferrari. Looking at the seller’s pictures, the Pinin appears to be a very real, very complete vehicle -- something that could have existed in an alternate, but largely parallel, universe. Which is not something we can say about the majority of concepts.
This raises the question of why it never hit the market in the first place. Opinions vary, but the car’s widely varying, visible-from-space panel gaps are one clue -- it may have been that buyers wouldn’t have been willing to stomach that handcrafted Italian character, so endearing in sports cars, in a high-dollar luxury sedan. Or perhaps Enzo, in his infinite wisdom and/or crankiness, realized this would have opened the floodgates for a series of cushy four-doors -- ultimately diluting the Prancing Horse brand.
Either way, the Pinin stands alone as a singular piece of Ferrari history, and it’s up for grabs. Somebody buy it before Marchionne gets any funny ideas.
The Ferrari Pinin can be yours for just $795,000
-->>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferrari_Pinin
No SUVs, electric cars or four-door sedans will wear the Ferrari badge -- ever. That was former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo’s promise, and his successor Sergio Marchionne doesn’t seem to be keen on rocking that particular boat (for now).
But that wasn’t always case; this four-door Ferrari Pinin concept is proof. Styled by the masterminds at Carozzeria Pininfarina, the angular Pinin sedan reportedly got the nod of approval from none other than old Enzo himself, and Sergio Pininfarina referred to it as the “ideal car.” In our coverage from the floor of the 1980 Turin Auto Show, we reported that the Pinin -- which we deemed the hit of the event -- “could very well go into production some day” (read the full report in the PDF below).
It didn’t go into production, of course. Only two non-running prototypes were built, and one of those was reportedly crushed.
But the exercise was strikingly plausible. Strip out the conceptual, Aston Martin Lagonda-like computerized displays, and you’re left with a front-engine, rear-wheel drive Ferrari 400 stretched just enough to accommodate two rear doors. It retained the forward-looking (and in our opinion, criminally underappreciated) styling of its coupe counterpart, but its 108.7-in wheelbase made it around the same size as a Mercedes-Benz 280 sedan of the era. Rear-seat passengers would have enjoyed GT-levels of comfort all while being propelled forward by a screaming 5.0-liter flat-12 (the 400 and 412, we’ll note, got V12s).
If it had been equipped with one, that is. As we mentioned, the prototype shown in Turin was non-running. The engine was a dummy; the transmission was just a shell.
The Pinin story doesn’t end on the show floor, however. By some miracle, one of the concepts escaped the crusher and made it into private hands. It surfaced for auction in 2008, when it sold for around $250,000. It came up to the block again in 2011, but ultimately didn’t sell. The really interesting part is that, at some point after 2008, the rolling styling exercise gained a full set of running gear -- after decades, the Pinin had made the unlikely Pinocchio-like transformation into a real car!
Which brings us to the present day, with the one-of-a-kind, V12-powered, five-speed transaxle-equipped Ferrari Pinin is listed for sale at Hemmings for a mere $795,000. That’s a lot of money for a stretched 400 with a flat-12 crammed under the hood, but maybe not a lot for a truly unique Ferrari. Looking at the seller’s pictures, the Pinin appears to be a very real, very complete vehicle -- something that could have existed in an alternate, but largely parallel, universe. Which is not something we can say about the majority of concepts.
This raises the question of why it never hit the market in the first place. Opinions vary, but the car’s widely varying, visible-from-space panel gaps are one clue -- it may have been that buyers wouldn’t have been willing to stomach that handcrafted Italian character, so endearing in sports cars, in a high-dollar luxury sedan. Or perhaps Enzo, in his infinite wisdom and/or crankiness, realized this would have opened the floodgates for a series of cushy four-doors -- ultimately diluting the Prancing Horse brand.
Either way, the Pinin stands alone as a singular piece of Ferrari history, and it’s up for grabs. Somebody buy it before Marchionne gets any funny ideas.
