History and future To celebrate Pininfarina's 70th anniversary, Ferrari's President, Luca di Montezemolo, asked Sergio Pininfarina to design an open 12-cylinder machine for Ferrari.
It was supposed to be a classically styled Ferrari with an open 12-cylinder V engine located at the front, in an attempt to create associations with the great Ferraris of the past, such as the 166 MM, the 250 California and the 365 GTS4 Daytona.
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This was the basic concept behind the 550 Barchetta, a vehicle whose purity of design combines the major stylistic features of the coupé with the characteristic elements of a Barchetta and which, like a Barchetta, is exclusively intended for the open road.
The idea was to reflect the glory of the great racing drivers of the past, combining this great legacy with 21st-century technology into a pinnacle of achievement.
In the end, Montezemolo himself considered this combination to be so successful that the car was christened the 550 Barchetta Pininfarina in Pininfarina's honour.
This belated millennium gift was unveiled to the exclusive community of enthusiasts at this year's Mondial show in Paris, in the presence of both the Ferrari boss and Sergio Pininfarina.
