Concept Car of the Week: Pininfarina X (1960)

Half a century ago everything was to play for in terms of the car. Yes, automobiles had been around for over 50 years and had – quite recently – become commonplace, but the 1950s and ‘60s were a hive of activity and endeavour, seeking out the ideal format for the car of the future. Flying cars, nuclear-powered cars and even autonomous cars were explored with genuine excitement for the future that would today be dismissed by our cynical societies.

Pininfarina, as a leading light of automotive development (and not just ‘styling’ as many would have you believe) acknowledged that aerodynamics would be a crucial aspect of the next generation of cars. And so the company enlisted the help of Alberto Morelli, an aerodynamics expert from the nearby Politecnico di Torino, to help with the task of creating a truly low-drag family car.

Recognising that the reduction of frontal area was key to achieving the goal, Morelli took the seemingly audacious, yet thoroughly logical step of rethinking the layout of the wheels – the defining element in terms of forward volumes. And so a single wheel in the nose steered the Pininfarina X (no prizes for guessing where its name came from) while another at the stern was powered by a 1089cc Fiat engine. The central wheels were little more than stabilisers. The entire powertrain was located in the right-hand half of the rear trunk volume, with the opposite side reserved for luggage.

This configuration left a large, open central volume with plenty of space for four even if stability may have been a little suspect. The design of the car perfectly captured the age with a thoroughly aerospace feeling to its rounded volumes and, of course, those fins.

And Morelli more than delivered on his brief, creating a car with a drag co-efficent of just 0.23, while the PFX had a top speed 20 percent higher than the Fiat from which its engine was taken.

So convinced was Batista ‘Pinin’ Farina that this represented the future of the car that he spent the next few months driving the car to as many prospective carmakers as possible in the hope one might take up production. As we know none did, yet his prediction of increased efficiency through aerodynamics proved prophetic.

Tech Spec

First Seen Turin, November 1960
Designer Alberto Morelli
Length 4300mm
Wheelbase 2070mm + 970mm
Width 1715mm
Height 1315mm
Cd 0.23