Battista "Pinin" Farina (later Battista Pininfarina; 1893 - 1966) was an Italian automobile designer and the founder of the Carrozzeria Pininfarina coachbuilding company, a name associated with many of the best-known postwar sports cars.
Battista Farina was born in Cortanze, Italy. The tenth of eleven children, his nickname, "Pinin" (the youngest/smallest (brother), in Piedmontese), referred to his being the baby of the family, and in later years it also referred to his short stature of 5 feet (1.52 meters). He started working in his brother Giovanni's body shop at the age of 12, and it was there that his interest in cars was born. He stayed at Giovanni's Stabilimenti Industriali Farina for decades, learning bodywork and beginning to design his own cars.
He formed Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 to focus on the design and construction of new car bodies, and quickly gained prominence. Only Carrozzeria Touring was more sought-after in the 1930s. His work for Ferrari, starting in 1952, would become his most famous, though much of it was managed by his son, Sergio, who ran the firm until shortly before his death, on 3 July 2012. Sometime in the early 1950s, Stabilimenti Farina was absorbed into the by now much larger Carrozzeria Pininfarina.
The last design personally attributed to him was the 1600 Duetto for Alfa Romeo. This was first seen by the public at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1966. He died less than a month later.
He officially changed his name to "Battista Pininfarina" in 1961. The change was authorized by the President of the Italian Republic, acting on a proposal made by the Minister of Justice.
