Andrea Pininfarina, 1957-2008

On August 14 1988, Italy lost an automobile legend when Enzo Ferrari passed away. Twenty years later, it has lost the living legacy of the Pininfarina name, Andrea Pininfarina, who was killed today in an accident involving his Vespa scooter. A driver pulled out of a driveway or other road directly in his path, and he had no chance to stop. He served as the CEO of Pininfarina since 2001. It is widely speculated that since he is the only living grandson of the founder, Battista Farina, and the Pininfarina family is considering reducing its share of ownership of the compamny, this could be the end of an era. The influence and involvement of the Pininfarina family could be coming to an end.

Andrea Pininfarina was involved in some key projects for the firm, including the Cadillac Allante (1987) and the non-US versions of the Ford Focus (1998-present).

The 2005 Maserati Birdcage 75, a concept car to celebrate Pininfarina's 75th anniversary, and designed by Ken Okuyama.

Felipe Massa Wins The Bahrain Grand Prix

He needed a win to keep up with his teammate, Kimi Raikonnen in the points, and today he got it. Ferrari's 25 year-old Brazilian driver, Felipe Massa, has won his first race of the year in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Fernando Alonso finished fifth. Kimi Raikonnen finished third. BMW's Nick Heidfeld finished fourth, so his pursuit of the Drivers Championship is not yet futile. But up-front, there is a 3-way tie for the Drivers Championship between Alonso, Raikonnen, and Lewis Hamilton, who finished on the podium for the third straight race. No F1 driver has ever started his career with three straight podiums. Is his first victory imminent? The teams pack-up and go to Europe for 4 weeks of testing and refinement. Next race is Barcelona on May 13th.