Sergio Pininfarina Dies

Automotive design icon Sergio Pininfarina died Monday in Turin, Italy, at age 85.

Sergio headed the Italian design house founded by his father, Gian Battista "Pinin" Farina, in 1930 for nearly 50 years. His son Paolo is now the company's chairman.

Born in 1926, Sergio Farina joined the family business in 1950 with a mechanical engineering degree from the Polytechnic University of Turin. He became CEO in 1961 the same year his family name was changed to Pininfarina by presidential decree and chairman five years later when his father died.

Sergio turned over the CEO position to his son Andrea in 2001 but continued as chairman until 2006. He sat on the executive board of Ferrari SpA for more than 40 years before resigning last November.

During his tenure, Pininfarina penned such high-production industry successes as the Fiat 124 Sport Spider (1966-1985), Alfa Romeo Spider (1966-1993) and Peugeot 406 coupe (1996-2004).

The company also designed the 1961 Ferrari 250 GT, 1984 Ferrari Testarossa, 1987 Ferrari F40, 2003 Maserati Quattroporte, 2002 Ferrari Enzo and 2004 Ferrari Scaglietti.

Sergio Pininfarina is survived by wife Giorgia, daughter Lorenza and son Paolo.