The Opera was launched in 1975 by the sole initiative of Pininfarina, ‘applying’ for the job of designing the successor of the Fiat 130 Berlina. However Fiat wasn’t interested in this design study and the Opera remained a one-off prototype. Although the coupé was designed by Paolo Martin, he wasn’t involved in the design process of the Opera. Another Pininfarina experiment of a year earlier was a 2-door shooting brake version called the Maremma, this model also never made it to production and remained solo.

Technical specification Fiat 130 Opera:

The first Ferrari four-door saloon has always remained a one-off prototype and until now Ferrari never produced a real four-door saloon (exept for the 456 Venice series Sedan) in their entire history. Initiated by Sergio Pininfarina himself to celebrate the Design Studio’s 50th Anniversary and launched in 1980 at the Turin Motor Show. With this Pinin concept car Pininfarina wanted to encourage Enzo Ferrari to take the step into the profitable 4-door luxury market to compete with the likes of the Maserati Quattroporte, the Mercedes 450 SEL 6.9 and the famous English brands. Although Enzo Ferrari seemed to like the car and the idea, he didn’t trust the car’s quality to compete with the well-known brands that had years of experienced in this field. Enzo’s reasoning was that a lower quality level and production errors were more likely to be accepted in 2-door sports cars than in luxurious 4-door sport saloons. Therefore the car never made it into production and remained a non-running concept car until 2010, when it was sold on an auction to a new owner that mated it to the intended engine and gear box!

Technical specification Ferrari Pinin: