Pininfarina Ferrari P4/5

The flat, tiled roof of the Pininfarina design studio in Turin, Italy, is a secret paradise. A short stairway above the third floor and hidden from public view, immortal automobiles appear here almost routinely. Weeks before arriving in this northern Italian city, we’d seen photos of the car standing before us now, and we’d drawn our conclusions, mostly enthusiastic. Yet seen suddenly in three throbbing dimensions, this four-wheeled aggressor seemed to morph before our eyes. Jason Castriota, an energetic native New Yorker and lead designer for Pininfarina special projects, had warned us how different a car can look in real life — and if you doubt it, consider the first Porsche Cayman you witnessed after seeing it only in pictures.

The car on the roof was something called the Ferrari P4/5 by Pininfarina — less formally, “the Glickenhaus car.” Castriota and his colleagues also designed Ferrari’s controversial new V-12 599GTB Fiorano and the show-stopping MC12-based Maserati Birdcage concept. We’d seen both downstairs — and they beggar the camera. In photos, Castriota’s all-white Birdcage is neutral, almost formless. In person, it’s one of the most muscular, sensuous automotive shapes ever, ever, ever.

And now the P4/5 is pulling the same trick. The longer we looked, the more bad-ass and pumped it got — a snorting, snuffling beast, restless on its haunches. Something said, “Get back!”

If you plan on seeing this wicked car in person (we’ll tell you how you can), bring your upheld lion tamer’s chair. (A camera is no defense at all.)

After-School Sports, Italian-Style

The story of the P4/5’s conception is appropriately operatic, a tale of intrigue and artifice worthy of Giuseppe Verdi. But first, the background.

As in any long and very successful marriage, the prancing stallion of Ferrari and gracious Pininfarina are bound by ties of convenience and habit. They’ve weathered distractions and dalliances, and their progeny, dating back to the earliest post–World War II Italian grand-touring cars, are timeless. Then along came the 612 Scaglietti. Begun in 2002 and finalized in 2004, its birth was a wrangle between Ferrari and Pininfarina. When early images of the 612 found their way onto the Internet, the Ferrari faithful were not happy. Some said, “Ah, just look — Pininfarina has lost it!”

Only Ferrari and Pininfarina will ever know how much of the 612 was Ferrari’s and how much Pininfarina’s. But it would be understandable if Pininfarina wanted to prove it had not lost it. Bene! Pininfarina would do a very special hyper-car — a one-off Enzo-based Ferrari.

To do so, it needed a client.

The Pininfarina Rolodex is bursting with rich classic-car owners. Feelers were put out. However, the classic-car gentry only trust risk-free designs with established value, and few would risk involvement in a secret Pininfarina project that could anger Ferrari. Among world Ferraristi, one particularly wealthy American maverick came to mind — Jim Glickenhaus, 56. The Glickenhaus family’s Wall Street investment firm reinvents money daily. And besides having the wherewithal, Glickenhaus is addicted to owning priceless racing cars, among them a former Donohue Lola T70, a former McLaren/Donohue Ford Mk IV, and three Ferrari racers — a 1967 330 P3/4, a 1967 412P, and a 1947 Tipo 166 Spyder Corsa, the oldest Ferrari in existence. Nice collection.

But Jim Glickenhaus takes it a step further. He, gawdamighty, drives them on the street! Concerning the Pininfarina P4/5 (a one-up on Glickenhaus’s 1967 P3/4, get it?), Glickenhaus is clear: “I just wanted to do it — I don’t care what anyone thinks.”

Sold.

Glickenhaus is utterly crackers for Ferrari’s voluptuous 1967 330 P3/4, arguably the most beautiful sports-racing car in history, and Castriota’s first drawings of the new car evoked the P3/4. But the design began evolving away from the retro P-car toward an original design that looked forward while also looking back. And Glickenhaus wasn’t sure he liked it. But seeing the new drawings, his son, Jesse, and daughter, Veronica, loved them. (Wouldn’t you like to argue with your dad about the styling of a secret one-off Ferrari?) Glickenhaus took his kids’ enthusiasm seriously. Maybe the car should be more than a homage.

After some loud conversations with Castriota, they agreed. In a Beverly Hills dealership, they tracked down the last unsold Ferrari Enzo in the world — for $650,000 plus. Still in its factory shrink-wrap, it arrived at Pininfarina, and the carbon-fiber Enzo bodywork was stripped away. (Need new-old-stock Enzo body parts? We know a guy.) Then Pininfarina’s magic started. The entire P4/5 design was executed electronically — a virtual reality. CAD schematics electronically mated the Enzo tub with countless new carbon-fiber P4/5 pieces, each with its own virtual file. The P4/5 has a parts catalog as complete as your Aveo’s down at the Chevy dealership. Most amazing of all, begun in September 2005, the entire project took well less than a year. And the proof of the pudding is delicious. When the Pininfarina builders began fitting exterior body parts (“These are the best prototype builders in the world,” Castriota said proudly, “right here in this room”), every piece fit. No trial and error. No jam-fitting. We know, because we stood in the top-secret prototype assembly shop and watched them do it. Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch For months, Pininfarina and Glickenhaus kept their secret. Not even Ferrari knew! It wasn’t until five months into the project, in January 2006, that Pininfarina invited Ferrari representatives to see the full-size model. They were stunned. Not many days later, the Ferrari corporate helicopter arrived, this time bearing head man Luca di Montezemolo. It put down at Pininfarina, and unlike more hurried visits, its engine was turned off. They were here for a sit-down. Decades ago, Pininfarina had a small but lucrative tradition of building pricey one-of-a-kind cars for the rich. In the ’80s and ’90s, Paolo Garella, in charge of special projects at Pininfarina, oversaw the building of numerous custom-bodied vehicles for the Sultan of Brunei, although these disappeared from view. But with the P4/5, Ferrari was being presented with a fait accompli. At the same time, the P4/5 was clearly a winner. Inevitably, some will say, “Here is the car Ferrari should have built.” Whatever. Now few can say Pininfarina has “lost it.” The P4/5 is a rolling history of Ferrari-racing DNA — 333SP nose, F1 cockpit profile, 512S rear window, 330 P3/4 NACA side ducts, white-enameled F1 exhaust tips. And in Pininfarina’s moving-road wind tunnel, the P4/5 proved to have more efficient cooling, higher downforce, and better balance than the Enzo, combined with a 0.34 coefficient of drag. With its stock 650-hp Enzo V-12, but only 2645 pounds to haul (versus the Enzo’s 3262-pound curb weight), P4/5 acceleration will be demonic. We took a stock Enzo to 60 in 3.3 seconds [C/D, July 2003]. Pininfarina estimates 3.6 seconds to 62 mph for the P4/5, but we think it’s just being polite to Ferrari. With the P4/5’s low weight, it will be in the very low threes. Similarly, with a taller gear, Pininfarina estimates a top speed of 225 mph. We say, “At least.” This is an aggressive project for Pininfarina — one that took a risk-taker like Glickenhaus and about four million bucks. (Pininfarina wants you to know not all one-offs are so pricey.) But Ken Okuyama, the styling director of Pininfarina, put it succinctly: “When you do something right, you don’t worry what people think.” Brave. True. But not necessarily the whole story. We spoke to Andrea Pininfarina, grandson of the firm’s founder, about this audacious project. “Starting in the 1930s,” he said, “we made many special bodies—it was a good business. But as technology has gotten more complex, now we can do only very special cars. We have done at least one auto-show car per year for the past 20 years, and we are getting more and more interest from buyers. The Ferrari 612 Kappa [for Peter Kalikow, chairman of the New York City Metropolitan Transit Authority — it’s a tasteful customizing of the 612 Scaglietti] and this P4/5 are the first. But we want to grow this business. The investment is significant, of course, so the cars must be very high-end — Ferraris and Maseratis and such. The P4/5 is unique — the most exciting we’ve done.” After due consideration, Ferrari decided that rebodying the brutally fast Enzo could profitably be seen as highly flattering to Maranello. It didn’t hurt that absolutely no expense was being spared to make the P4/5 sensational. Talks continued. Ramifications were considered. In the end, Maranello welcomed this unique car into the fold as a fully badged Ferrari. Under the skin, of course, its VIN is indisputably a Ferrari Enzo’s. When a kid puts a wing on his Subaru, it’s still a Subaru — ditto the P4/5. But it’s always best when everyone, especially Ferrari, smiles, shakes hands, and they all go off to the seashore. If you feel the need to see the P4/5 in the flesh, you’ll have two chances. Along with Ferrari’s 599GTB Fiorano, the P4/5 will be unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Élégance this August. If you miss that, you’ll have to go to the Paris show in September. Even if you have to hitchhike to Pebble, just do it.