It was reported internationally last week that Sergio Pininfarina had died in Turin aged 85. Many news sources showed a 1959 black and white photo of the young designer looking intently at the impressive nose of a formal looking coupe. Most journalists are hopelessly inept with cars and the model was not named or described. It is a 1959 Ferrari 400 Superamerica, one of a small number bodied this way and with many details leading straight to the Flavia Coupe which was announced in 1961. The car was bought at the Turin Show by Gianni Agnelli and returned to Pininfarina where the vents and quarter bumpers were removed, making it look even more Flavia-like. The Ferrari is now on show at the Peterson Museum in Los Angeles.
The exact design provenance of the Flavia is unsure but the visual relationship is abundantly clear. Whoever drew this bluff fronted Superamerica also created the elegant coupe for Lancia and improved on the older Ferrari design at the same time. The Flavia lacks the wraparound screen and awkward tail treatment of the big Ferrari. Pininfarina did not promote its designers as individuals and the official Flavia history omits to name whoever it was. It is unlikely to have been Sergio himself who was studio head but designed little personally. The most likely candidate is Aldo Brovarone (1926 –) who went on to style the Gamma Coupe. This type of Superamerica was not followed up by Ferrari but ended up supplying many of the cues for the Flavia as well as the Rolls Royce Camargue and other stately vehicles.
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