LONDON: Automobili Pininfarina's 1,900hp zero-emissions Battista luxury hypercar goes on public display in a bespoke enclosure at the British Library’s main Piazza from June 6 to 9.
The Battista, in a unique exterior finish, is in London representing the company's partnership with the British Library’s ‘Leonardo da Vinci: A Mind in Motion’ exhibition.
A new film of this unique Battista at the British Library has been produced celebrating the luxury electric car company’s ambitions for extreme performance, innovative engineering and beautiful style – principles of modern-day Italian automotive design that resonate back to Leonardo’s inspirational work.
The Battista was presented to a select audience at a VIP preview event yesterday (6th June) by Automobili Pininfarina Design Director, Luca Borgogno.
“We are incredibly proud to be partnering with the British Library and celebrating the life and work of a true Italian genius. Leonardo proved that design and engineering can be revolutionary, functional and beautiful and this is a principle by which Pininfarina has lived throughout its 90-year history," said Borgogno.
"The Battista will set new levels for performance and deliver innovative engineering solutions in an elegant and beautiful body, so we hope it represents how we, as Italians, have been inspired by Leonardo for centuries.”
Production of the 150 Battista all-electric hypercar will begin in 2020, in Cambiano near Turin, Italy - the home of Pininfarina S.p.A.
The vehicle will become the most powerful electric vehicle ever to emerge from Italy.
It is anticipated that only 50 of the 150 electric hypercars will be available for the European market.
The exhibition - A Mind in Motion, marks the 500th anniversary of Leonardo da Vinci's death and celebrates it by revealing the inner workings of his complex mind and his fascination with motion – which he considered to be “the cause of all life".
Leonardo da Vinci is known first and foremost as an artist but the British Library’s exhibition will focus on his notebooks and the unique and compelling insight they offer into the workings of his mind and his scientific investigations.
It will be the first time a selection of notes and drawings from the Codex Arundel (owned by the British Library), the Codex Forster (owned by the V&A) and the Codex Leicester (owned by Bill Gates) will be displayed together in the UK.
The exhibition will also look at how the scientific exploration of nature and motion found in his notebooks directly informed his work as an inventor and artist.
Leonardo was exceptionally skilled as a draughtsman and able to express in visual terms the form and intended function of his designs and drawings: principles similar to those on which the Pininfarina Carrozzeria was founded by Battista ‘Pinin’ Farina in 1930.
Potential customers are invited to apply to own a Battista via an online service within the company’s website.
