Ferrari Designs Haven’t Hit The Same Since It Broke Up With Pininfarina

Name a pretty Ferrari and there’s a 90% chance it says “Pininfarina” on the side. The Italian design house began penning Ferraris in 1951, but the two shockingly parted ways in 2013. In an interview with Motor1, Ferrari design boss Flavio Manzoni explained the decision to go at it alone, and, while it makes complete sense from business and technical points of view, it was a bummer for everyone involved: Ferrari, Pininfarina, and the fans.

“At the beginning it was very, very tough for [Pininfarina] because after more than 60 years of collaboration they had to accept the idea that Ferrari wanted to create [its] in-house design center,” Manzoni recently told Motor1. “But it was also necessary, because Ferrari was the only car manufacturer in the world without any internal design center, which [was] a bit strange, and also risky.”

Just that alone is enough reason for Ferrari to move its design department in-house, rather than continue outsourcing to Pininfarina. Design houses like Pinifarina aren’t nearly as popular as they were in the 1950s and ’60s, so what if Pinin suddenly went out of business? Ferrari would be screwed. The ability to be fluid and create its own designs without relying on anyone else was necessary for Ferrari.

More importantly, though, Maranello needed more technological freedom. So many of its modern cars rely heavily on active aerodynamics and have highly complex integration between bodywork and chassis, especially now that battery packs are being crammed in. A more cohesive process is necessary, with an in-house throughline between early sketches, technical development, and the final product.

“The other problem was that the level of technical complexity of the cars was increasing a lot,” Manzoni said. “So it was necessary to work as a team with synergy, not with the designers working somewhere else and with engineers in Maranello.”

Just because I understand the decision doesn’t mean I have to like it, though. All of my favorite Ferrari designs were done by Pininfarina. OK, so that’s kind of by default, considering how long their relationship was. But very few of Ferrari’s post-Pininfarina designs have really captured me in the same way. I like the Roma, that’s an undeniably pretty coupe, and the 12Cilindri is pretty cool. But neither of those two is as good-looking as something like the Pininfarina-designed 599. Almost all of Ferrari’s own designs have been pretty mid in comparison.

The 458 Italia, for me, is the delineator, as everything after it seems to have aesthetically failed to spark that same Ferrari magic. Even the new 296 GTB, which is the brand’s best-looking mid-engine car since the 458, just falls kind of flat. It lacks that specialness that made even its questionable-looking cars interesting, like the 348.

However, that doesn’t mean this will always be the case. Ferrari has only been designing its own cars for less than a decade, so its process for creating a design and making it safe, aerodynamic, and capable of fitting its hybrid technology is still quite new. So as it continues to develop its process, its cars should only get prettier. At least that’s the hope. But if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to figure out which organs of mine I can live without so I can buy a 458 Spider.

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