Ferrari Rossa Pininfarina Concept
In the year 2000, Pininfarina S.p.A, one of the biggest names in the automotive design industry, celebrated its 70th anniversary in a fitting way - revealing a Ferrari concept car at the 2000 Paris Motor Show.
The Ferrari Rossa (which simply means red in Italian) was not only an anniversary prototype and a modern reinterpretation of the Testa Rossa (1958), but also a sign of things to come, showcasing the future design language of Ferrari models that followed. But before we move on to the actual design of the concept car, here is a little bit of the background story...
The partnership between Maranello (home of Ferrari) and Turin (home of Pininfarina) started in 1951 after Enzo Ferrari himself met with Battista 'Pinin' Farina. It seems that the meeting of minds was a success as since that date, Pininfarina took responsibility for designing the vast majority of Ferrari’s models - from the Ferrari 212 (1951) up to the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta (2012).
During that time, Pininfarina shaped the style and identity of the Prancing Horse, creating some of the most beautiful and iconic cars of all time. After 2017, design work was taken in-house (Centro Stile Ferrari), however besides the gorgeous LaFerrari, there are many who miss the continuity of the lines and the purity of Pininfarina’s design language in the contemporary Ferrari models.
The Rossa was built on a modified 550 Maranello (1996-2002) chassis, fitted with a front-mounted naturally aspirated V12 5.5-litre engine producing 357kW. Power was sent to the rear axle through a manual open-gated gearbox, and even though Ferrari didn’t announce detailed performance data, the car’s specs shouldn’t be far off from the production 550 Maranello which accelerated from 0-100km/h in 4.4 seconds and could reach a top speed of 320km/h.
Responsible for the design was Ken Okuyama, Creative Director at Pininfarina, who had previous experience working for Porsche and General Motors.
Ferrari Rossa Pininfarina Concept
In the year 2000, Pininfarina S.p.A, one of the biggest names in the automotive design industry, celebrated its 70th anniversary in a fitting way - revealing a Ferrari concept car at the 2000 Paris Motor Show.
The Ferrari Rossa (which simply means red in Italian) was not only an anniversary prototype and a modern reinterpretation of the Testa Rossa (1958), but also a sign of things to come, showcasing the future design language of Ferrari models that followed. But before we move on to the actual design of the concept car, here is a little bit of the background story...
The partnership between Maranello (home of Ferrari) and Turin (home of Pininfarina) started in 1951 after Enzo Ferrari himself met with Battista 'Pinin' Farina. It seems that the meeting of minds was a success as since that date, Pininfarina took responsibility for designing the vast majority of Ferrari’s models - from the Ferrari 212 (1951) up to the Ferrari F12 Berlinetta (2012).
During that time, Pininfarina shaped the style and identity of the Prancing Horse, creating some of the most beautiful and iconic cars of all time. After 2017, design work was taken in-house (Centro Stile Ferrari), however besides the gorgeous LaFerrari, there are many who miss the continuity of the lines and the purity of Pininfarina’s design language in the contemporary Ferrari models.
The Rossa was built on a modified 550 Maranello (1996-2002) chassis, fitted with a front-mounted naturally aspirated V12 5.5-litre engine producing 357kW. Power was sent to the rear axle through a manual open-gated gearbox, and even though Ferrari didn’t announce detailed performance data, the car’s specs shouldn’t be far off from the production 550 Maranello which accelerated from 0-100km/h in 4.4 seconds and could reach a top speed of 320km/h.
Responsible for the design was Ken Okuyama, Creative Director at Pininfarina, who had previous experience working for Porsche and General Motors.