Pininfarina Partners on New U.K. ‘Motion’ Exhibit Dedicated to Da Vinci
Electric Battista hypercar to be displayed at British Library during landmark ‘A Mind in Motion’ exhibition, which runs from June 7-Sept. 8.
Marking the 500th anniversary of the death of Leonardo da Vinci, the British Library’s “A Mind in Motion” exhibition brings together highlights from three of his remarkable Codex notebooks for the first time ever in the U.K. The exhibition celebrates and reveals the inner workings of da Vinci’s complex mind and his fascination with motion, which he considered to be “the cause of all life.”
As the presenting partner for this incredible celebration of engineering and design innovation, Automobili Pininfarina is to exhibit the 1,900 hp, zero-emissions Battista hypercar, on general public display in the U.K. for the first time. The beautiful Battista has a unique exterior finish and will feature in a bespoke enclosure in the British Library’s main courtyard from June 7 to 9.
The Italian-designed hypercar is set to redefine automotive motion, becoming the most powerful car ever produced in Italy, at the home of Pininfarina in Cambiano, near Turin. From late 2020 the famous Italian Carrozzeria will hand-build no more than 150 editions of the Battista that has been designed by Automobili Pininfarina’s Luca Borgogno.
Italians Do It Better: 500 Years of Italian Design Mastery
Da Vinci’s Codex reveal the concepts and innovations in design that formed the inspiration behind his ideas and the engineering solutions to much of his design work. Core to his inventions were the seamless integration of form and function, and the blurring of lines between art, design and engineering: principles for which Pininfarina S.p.A. has become renowned in its almost 90-year history.
Pininfarina S.p.A. has been commissioned by the world’s newest luxury car brand, Automobili Pininfarina, to design and hand-build the Battista to a challenging design brief from Design Director Luca Borgogno. His challenge is for the Battista to be aesthetically beautiful, unprecedented in its performance and pure in its output, with classic supercar proportions, acceleration faster than a Formula 1 car, and a 300-mile electric range on a single charge.
‘Leonardo was a true Italian genius, the first person to combine the disciplines of art, design and engineering – and from Leonardo in the 16th Century to Pininfarina in 2019, these principles remain strong.’
“We are proud to be a part of the ‘A Mind in Motion’ exhibition because we are proud of what Italian design has brought to the world,” said Borgogno. “Leonardo was a true Italian genius, the first person to combine the disciplines of art, design and engineering – and from Leonardo in the 16th Century to Pininfarina in 2019, these principles remain strong.
“Italy is defined by design classics, whether that is Leonardo’s work, Palladio’s Teatro Olimpico in Vicenza, Pininfarina’s Cisitalia 202 or Mattè-Trucco’s car factory in Lingotto,” he added. “The common theme between them is that they presented modern, elegant, innovative functions and design in perfect harmony for the first time. The Battista design brief is a breath-taking expression of this tradition.”
It is anticipated that only 50 of the 150 Battistas will be available for the European market, and this extraordinary electric luxury hypercar is now available to order from H.R. Owen and Rybrook, two of the U.K.’s leading luxury car retailers. Potential customers are invited to apply to own a Battista using an online service within the company’s website.