Vale Sergio Pininfarina

One of the driving forces behind Italian sportscar design for the past half-century, Sergio Pininfarina, has died in his Turin home at the age of 85.

A man revered for his car design talents, Sergio Pininfarina is best known for his work on some of the most famous Ferrari sportscars of all time, including the 2002 Ferrari Enzo, 1984 Ferrari Testarossa and 1987 Ferrari F40.

Born on September 8, 1926 in Turin, Italy, Sergio Pininfarina studied mechanical engineering after finishing school and was promoted to director of his father Batista Farina's coachbuilding business - Carrozzeria Pinin Farina - in 1961.

In that same year, Batista Farina had signed up a new client in Ferrari, for whom the company would design cars, and it was Sergio who was tasked with managing that account.

Sergio Pininfarina's intimate relationship with Ferrari over almost five decades has shaped more than just the Italian exotic car-maker's design, as he was a close friend of Enzo Ferrari and even convinced the Ferrari boss to experiment with a mid-engined sportscar in the mid '60s, the result of which was the '67 Dino Berlinette Speciale.

Since then Ferrari has always offered mid-engined supercars in its range, and they were almost always the fastest and most expensive models on offer.

The current chairman of Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo, was also a good mate of Sergio Pininfarina, and said that his company's success was due in no small part to Pininfarina.

Montezemolo described Pininfairna as "An exceptional person who connected his name indissolubly with our history and our success.

"Calling his relationship with Ferrari as legendary is insufficient. First with Enzo and then with me, he designed some of the most iconic models, such as the Testarossa, or the Enzo, just to name two."

However, the house of Pininfarina and indeed Sergio himself didn’t just work on Ferrari designs. They were both heavily involved with Peugeot since the mid-1950s, with vehicles such as the Peugeot 406 Coupe, Austin A40, Fiat 124 Sport Spider, Bentley Azure, Morris 1100, Volvo C70, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Spider and Maserati Quattroporte also being crafted by the house of Pininfarina.

In 2006 Sergio Pininfarina stepped down as chairman of the company, before being replaced by his son Andrea. Tragically, Andrea died in a scooter accident in Turin in 2008.