Famed Itallian car designer dies in road accident

[Wishcumstrue]

MILAN, Italy (AP) 7 Aug 2008

[/color]

Andrea Pininfarina, the chief executive of the Italian car design firm founded by his grandfather that counts Ferraris and Alfa Romeos among its creations, died Thursday in a road accident near the northern Italian city of Turin.

Pininfarina, 51, was the third generation to run Pininfarina SpA, founded in 1930 by his grandfather Battista "Pinin" Farina -- who combined his nickname and last name to create the company's name and new family name.

Pininfarina SpA has designed cars for Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac and Volvo, among many others, but is perhaps most closely associated with Ferrari, designing nearly all of Ferrari's models since the 1950s. They include the convertibles California Spider and Daytona Spider.

Andrea Pininfarina took over as CEO in 2001, and in 2006 also became chairman of the board of directors, a position previously held by his father, Sergio Pininfarina, who is a senator for life in the Italian parliament.

Andrea Pininfarina studied mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin and started his career in the United States with Freuhauf Corp. in 1982, before returning to the family business a year later.

According to Italian media reports, Pininfarina is survived by his wife and three children

Pininfarina was driving a scooter along a provincial highway when he struck a car whose driver failed to stop at an intersection.

 

Andrea Pininfarina (1957-2008)

 

 

Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina (2006)

 

 

 

Maserati GranTurismo (design by Pininfarina, 2008)http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/WORLD/eu...infarina.ap.jpg

[Darkblue]

 

The designer for the some of the most beautiful cars in the world

[Metalslug]

he designed so many super cars and yet he was riding a scooter?

 

such an irony!