New Pininfarina Battista Targamerica is the world's first coachbuilt electric hypercar
The first of Automobili Pininfarina’s bespoke road-going creations lifts the lid on Battista
Electric hypercars aren’t exactly flying out of their manufacturers’ immaculately-furnished showrooms, but that hasn’t stopped one individual from commissioning a roofless, coachbuilt variant of the Pininfarina Battista.
Called the Pininfarina Battista Targamerica, the brand is claiming it's the world’s first coachbuilt electric hypercar, and true to coachbuilt form it’s an expression both of Pininfarina’s design heritage and the wealthy client’s own whims.
With, we hope, an understanding of the irony, that includes a custom aluminium and glass cigar holder (for three cigars, one more than the car has seats) and humidor, built into the custom cabin between the seats. Well, without a big multi-cylinder engine to spit out unburned hydrocarbons, you’ve got to find something to fill your lungs with…
The project was commissioned at 2023’s Monterey Car Week and made its debut at this years event. The year-long project takes some inspiration from one of Pininfarina’s most famous one-off projects, the Ferrari Testarossa Spider commissioned in 1986 for then-Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli.
The Targamerica’s silver exterior finish (actually ‘Argento Liquido Gloss’) and blue and black detailing are all nods to the Spider, while its horizontal feature lines on the luggage opening also take inspiration from the coachbuilt Testarossa.
Other carefully crafted elements include Iconica Blu pinstripes across the full width of the rear underwing, ceramic-polished five-spoke alloy wheels, a brushed and anodised ‘jewellery pack’ of details around the car. The tan leather interior and bespoke headrests with an embossed Automobili Pininfarina ‘F’ logo also feature a matching luggage set.
Mechanically it’s identical to the regular Battista, if a 1869bhp electric hypercar can ever be called ‘regular’, and Pininfarina says the Targamerica matches the Battista’s performance figures: an unspecified ‘less than two seconds’ for the 0-62mph run, and a top speed of more than 300km/h, or 186mph. You wouldn’t want to go that fast anyway, lest it blow out your cigar.
Automobili Pininfarina CEO Paolo Dellachà says the car “demonstrates the infinite possibilities our highly skilled team can design and engineer”, while Andrea Crespi, Chief Technical Officer, added that “this commission forced us to challenge ourselves to deliver Battista levels of performance without the tensile support of a hard-body roof, pushing the team to deliver a creative, one-of-kind solution to meet our client’s needs.”
There’s no official word on the Targamerica name, though you can probably guess which two words make up the portmanteau and take it from there. The Targamerica made its public debut at at The Quail, A Motorsport Gathering during this year’s Monterey Car Week, before being delivered to its cigar-enthusiast client.
Click here for our list of the fastest electric cars in the world...
