[1] Battista "Pinin" Farina had founded his design house in 1930, and after World War II began working with Enzo Ferrari on designing bodies for his road cars, to allow Ferrari to create funds to continue his motor car racing.

New headlights from Lucas Industries allowed the front to be lowered, creating a thin egg-crate style grill.

[3] The interior used tobacco-coloured Connolly leather, and a dashboard designed by Borletti, akin to that in the Aston Martin Lagonda.

[3] During 1980–81, the car toured multiple motorshows, including the 1980 Los Angeles Auto Show and the Carrozzeria Italiana exhibition in Pasadena, California.

Eugenio Alzati speculated that lack of support from Fiat's then-president Vittorio Ghidella doomed the production Pinin.

[2] Leonardo Fioravanti speculated that Ferrari's resistance to producing the car was due to the production quality of any resultant vehicle.

"Faults" were accepted in sporting cars, but with the Pinin Ferrari would have been competing against the quality of experienced luxury sedan manufacturers including BMW, Mercedes-Benz and even Rolls-Royce.

[citation needed] In the mid-1980s the Pinin was sold to Jacques Swaters,[3] a Belgian racing driver turned businessman and car collector who formerly ran Ecurie Francorchamps, a prominent privateer Ferrari endurance and sportscar racing team, as well as a dealership, Garage Francorchamps.

[2] After being displayed at the 2005 Essen Motor Show to celebrate Pininfarina's 75th anniversary, the car was sold in 2008 by RM Auctions on behalf of Swaters for €176,000.