After a quick detour into weird SUV design, Automobili Pininfarina is back, and in top form. Leaving those chunky utility curves behind like a ruffled, oversized suit on the changing room floor, the famed Italian brand has unveiled the all-new B95, a sleek, airy hypercar it calls the world's first pure-electric open-top hyper-barchetta. As the car vectors torque from its massive 1,877-hp electric drive toward a sub-2-second 0-60-mph (96.5-km/h) sprint, the two occupants can deflect the breeze with a world-first adjustable-windscreen system.
Pininfarina insists that the Pura Vision design study influenced the B95, but outside of the rounded nose and razor-thin headlamps, it feels like it shares far more DNA with the equally fast, flashy Battista. The latter definitely supplied the large hood recess that serves as the basis for what's arguably the barchetta's most visually arresting feature – the body-piercing grille slats rising from the hood to precisely direct airflow, a cue that looks more like something out of high-end computer or electronics air cooling design.
The high-arching front fenders are connected to their muscular rear counterparts via straight, clean sides highlighted by a flat character line and fin-like carbon skirts. Bulging protective domes rise up behind the two seats, adding what little height the glasshouse-free speedster can muster.
While there's no roof or windshield, Pininfarina has incorporated what it calls the world's first pair of adjustable aero screens. Inspired by vintage fighter planes, the bubble-like clear polycarbonate screens can be individually adjusted to each occupant's liking, ensuring a bit of personalized comfort at speeds up to 186 mph (300 km/h).
Below its glossy bright yellow and charcoal skin, the B95 borrows the Battista's all-electric powertrain, tuned specifically for the new host. The quartet of motors produces 1,877 hp (1,400 kW) and masses of torque distributed out through a vectoring system. Drivers can fine-tune the ride via five modes available on the turn-dial an arm's length away.
Pininfarina promises sub-2-second 0-60-mph acceleration in addition to the 186-mph top speed. The liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery takes as few as 25 minutes (at 270-kW charging rate) to leap between a 20 and 80% charge of its 120-kWh capacity.
Not just any interior would be befitting of a unique hand-built roadster like this one, and Pininfarina has given interior decor the proper weight. It starts with classic racer-inspired seats that cosset driver and passenger in soft, luxurious tan leather sewn together with contrast stitching. The seats are then topped with head and shoulder rests wrapped in a lively houndstooth-patterned textile.
Directly ahead of the two B95 occupants, the lower carbon dash is styled to look like an extension of the distinctive bodywork separated only by a slice of seat-matched leather. The angling of the three independent instrument screens prompts the driver to focus intently ahead, while the more subtle angling of the center console and controls delineates pilot from co-pilot.
As you likely already guessed, the "B" stands for Barchetta. The "95," meanwhile, identifies the 95th anniversary Pininfarina will be celebrating when the B95 goes into production in 2025. And that production will be limited to a mere 10 bespoke hand-crafted examples, each wearing a base price tag of €4.4 million (approx. US$4.7 million).
Automobili Pininfarina will show the B95 to the car aficionado public at this weekend's Monterey Car Week gatherings, where it will also be showing the Pura Vision design study and the special-edition Battista Edizione Nino Farina GT.
Source: Automobilli Pininfarina