Pininfarina Battista Anniversario takes three weeks to paint

TURIN, Italy — Pininfarina is one of the newest automakers in the industry, but it's also one of the oldest design houses. The Mahindra-owned Italian firm celebrated its 90th birthday by introducing a commemorative version of the electric Battista hypercar named Anniversario, which bridges the gap between Pininfarina's past and its future.

The Anniversario's most striking aspect is its livery. The bottom part of it is painted in a shade of gray inspired by Pininfarina's past models, including Abarth-powered race cars made in the 1950s, and it's separated from a layer of white by a thin pinstripe applied in a blue hue described as a modern interpretation of Pininfarina's signature color. While it all sounds simple, the process of painting an Anniversario stunningly takes about three weeks.

Each car is painted entirely by hand, and the body has to be disassembled three times to ensure everything lines up perfectly. The end result is an elegant two-tone design separated by a pinstripe that's so regular it looks like it was applied by a laser. An array of edition-specific emblems add a finishing touch to the commemorative look.

The front splitter, the side blades, and the wider rear diffuser are part of a package named Furiosa that will be available as an option on the standard Battista. Buyers will also be able to configure their car with the Anniversario's center-locking wheels, which are made with forged aluminum to reduce unsprung weight by about 22 pounds. Pininfarina noted the Pirelli P Zero tires help the Battista Anniversario reach its 217-mph top speed.

"We tested a lot of different materials [when developing the wheels], including magnesium, but we're dealing with a roughly 4,400-pound car that has massive torque. We found aluminum was the only material that allowed us to make a wheel that looks light," Luca Borgogno, Pininfarina's design director, told Autoblog.

The interior receives blue accents on the steering wheel, the upholstery, and the floor mats. It also illustrates the small changes Pininfarina has made to the Battista since unveiling it as a close-to-production concept at the 2019 edition of the Geneva Motor Show. The list includes a redesigned steering wheel that gives the driver a better view of the screens positioned on either side of it, and a charging port relocated closer to the rear wing.

There are no powertrain modifications, meaning the Anniversario puts 1,900 horsepower and 1,696 pound-feet of torque under the driver's right foot thanks to four electric motors that draw power from a 120-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. Hitting 60 mph from a stop in under two seconds is theoretically possible, though Pininfarina has so far unlocked only 80% of the available power during testing. Don't let those numbers fool you, though: The Battista posts head-spinning performance numbers, but it's not being developed as a track car.

"It's not a track rat. We need to make it fun to drive anywhere, whether it's on a mountain road or in a city," affirmed Rene Wollmann, a former AMG engineer who now works as Pininfarina's director of sports cars.

Hand-made in Cambiano, Italy, the Pininfarina Battista Anniversario is limited to five examples. It's priced at €2.6 million, a sum that represents $2.8 million and makes it about $665,000 more expensive than the standard Battista. Company spokesman Christian Scheckenbach told Autoblog demand has already exceeded supply.

Pininfarina will demonstrate what the Battista is capable of by bringing it to the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July 2020. The first customer test drives will take place shortly after, and production is tentatively scheduled to start before 2021. Between 125 and 150 examples will be made, executives are still gauging demand, and most examples will go to the United States. Company CEO Michael Perschke said the car isn't sold out yet.

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