Battista "Pinin" Farina founded his coachbuilding firm in Turin in 1930. In 1961 a presidential decree changed the family name to Pininfarina, and the slanted wordmark on the logo dates from that year.
- Country
-
Italy - Active
- Since 1930
- Founded by
- Battista "Pinin" Farina
- Website
- Official website ↗
A nickname that became a surname
Most car brands borrow a founder’s name. Pininfarina went further: it changed the founder’s family name by presidential decree.
It starts with Battista Farina, born in Turin in 1893 and known to everyone as “Pinin”. In 1930 he left Stabilimenti Farina and, on 22 May, founded Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in Turin. The plan was to build special car bodies for individual customers and small production runs, in a plant on Corso Trapani. Pinin was hooked on aerodynamics early. In his memoirs he called it the “form of speed”.
The Second World War destroyed the works. Production started again with the Lancia Aprilia Bilux. In 1961 Pinin handed the firm to his son Sergio and his son-in-law Renzo Carli. That same year, according to Pininfarina, President Giovanni Gronchi changed the name Farina to Pininfarina by decree. The nickname and the surname were now one word. Battista Pininfarina died in 1966, and Sergio became chairman.
Today the group is headquartered in Cambiano, near Turin. It has been listed on the stock exchange since 1986 and, in its own words, part of the Mahindra galaxy since 2016.
The crowned f and the slanted script
The Pininfarina logo has two parts, and they come from two different eras.
The emblem is a letter f topped by a crown. It has been a feature of the brand since the 1930s, so it goes back to the Carrozzeria Pinin Farina days. The obvious reading is that the f stands for Farina, but the company’s published material we checked doesn’t spell out a meaning for the letter or the crown.
The second part is the italic, slanted pininfarina wordmark. It was introduced in 1961, the year the nickname and the family name were merged. So the lettering is, quite literally, a record of the name change.
Pininfarina has a habit of marking anniversaries in the logo. For its 90th in 2020 it added a “90” with a clean line rising from bottom to top, a sign of moving forward according to chairman Paolo Pininfarina. In December 2024, ahead of the 95th, the crowned f was redrawn in a lighter style, and a “95” in the same red as the crown joined the logotype throughout 2025.
A badge shared with Maranello
There was also a joint badge. According to Ferrari, the Ferrari and Pininfarina logo used from 1953 to 1961 showed two crossed flags carrying the Ferrari and Farina initials. When the coachbuilder became Pininfarina, the Farina flag gave way to a letter P.
Blue, white and red
When the 90th anniversary logo was presented in 2020, the Italian press noted that the colours stayed the ones that had always identified the brand: blue, white and red. The crown is the red part, which is why the “95” of 2025 was printed in that same shade.
Bodies that made the name
For most of its life Pininfarina designed and built cars that wore other people’s badges. Then, in 2019, a car finally carried its own.
Landmark Pininfarina designs, decade by decade
- 1935: Alfa Romeo 6C Pescara Coupé aerodinamico. Shown at the Milan Motor Show, an early statement of Pinin’s love of aerodynamics.
- 1946: Cisitalia 202. According to Pininfarina, the first car in the world permanently displayed in a museum of modern art, MoMA in New York.
- 1951: Ferrari 212. An early fruit of the partnership with Enzo Ferrari, followed by the 250 GT in 1954.
- 1955: Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider. Pinin’s “fair girl”, and the step that took Pininfarina from craft to industrial production.
- 1966: Alfa Romeo 1600 Spider “Duetto”. Debuted at the Geneva Motor Show and was later made famous by the film The Graduate.
- 1986: Cadillac Allanté. Pininfarina supplied finished bodies to Detroit on an airbridge flown by Alitalia.
- 2019: Automobili Pininfarina Battista. Named after the founder and unveiled at Geneva by his grandson Paolo. The maker calls it the first uniquely Pininfarina-badged car.
The client list reads like a who’s who: Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Fiat, Peugeot, Maserati, Bentley, Volvo and BMW all appear in Pininfarina’s own history, as does Cadillac. Automobili Pininfarina, the electric car brand behind the Battista, was launched by Mahindra in 2018 with Pininfarina SpA as its design partner. For another Italian coachbuilder’s badge, see Zagato, and for the craft in general, how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Pininfarina logo show?
A letter f topped by a crown, used since the 1930s, alongside the slanted pininfarina wordmark introduced in 1961.
Why is Pininfarina written as one word?
Because in 1961 the President of the Italian Republic, Giovanni Gronchi, changed the family name Farina to Pininfarina by decree, merging the founder’s nickname “Pinin” with his surname.
Who founded Pininfarina, and when?
Battista “Pinin” Farina founded Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in Turin on 22 May 1930.
Did the Pininfarina logo change for its 95th anniversary?
Only slightly. The crowned f was redrawn in a lighter style, and a red “95” accompanied the logotype through 2025.
Is Automobili Pininfarina the same company as Pininfarina?
Not quite. Pininfarina SpA is the design house founded in 1930. Automobili Pininfarina is a car brand launched by Mahindra in 2018, with Pininfarina SpA as its design partner.
Under the crowned f
- Founded
- 1930
- Founder
- Battista "Pinin" Farina
- Country
- Italy
- Headquarters
- Cambiano, Italy
- Parent company
- Mahindra Group
- Current emblem
- A letter f topped by a crown, used since the 1930s, beside the italic pininfarina wordmark of 1961
- Known for
- Designing and building bodies for Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and many other makers
- Website
- Official website ↗
