Pininfarina Argento Vivo ex- Brunei up for Auction in the UK.............

Coys Auction - True Greats
Royal Horticultural Halls
Elverton St
Westminster
London SW1

Thursday 4th December 2008

Pininfarina, the famous Italian design house, have been involved with the design of all sorts of vehicles since their humble beginnings over seventy years ago: locomotives, boats, aircraft and others have all benefited from their unique style, but it is motor cars that the company is most celebrated for.

The company most closely associated with Pininfarina is Ferrari. Since 1952 a total of 163 different types of Ferrari are Pininfarina designs, including the 250 GT Coupe, Dino 245 GT, Daytona, Testarossa, F40, F50, Modena and the fantastic Ferrari P4/P5.

The Argento Vivo was initially a formal and technological research prototype built in conjunction with Honda. The car was presented to the international press at the Tokyo motor show in 1995 by Sergio Pininfarina and Nabuhiko Kawamoto, President of Honda, to widespread acclaim, winning the Golden Market Trophy award from the Japanese magazine Car Styling and the Best in Show award from the American magazine Auto Week.

According to Pininfarina, "The Argento Vivo represents a refined exercise in style and image, a car that projects its personality into the world of automobiles. With innovative solutions, like the convertible hard top, which can slide back automatically and then be housed in a space behind the two seats leaving the luggage compartment unencumbered, Argento Vivo is an automobile that marries hot Latin passion, a love for sporty aggressive cars, so typical of the Italian tradition, with the rationality of a sophisticated brand… Argento Vivo evokes the concept of a sporty and technological elegance. There are several outstanding points of interest, including the return to the two-tone colour scheme, all of which are undertaken with a skilful blend of cutting edge fine materials. Aluminium, which constitutes the heart and spine of the new Pininfarina, becomes a fundamental component in the two-tone interplay and in the enlivening of the car’s surfaces. The engine and luggage compartments, the roof structure, the air intakes and the exhaust vents are all made of this material, which calls to mind sporty and competition vehicles of extreme class and, at the same time, offers a sense of solidity, protection and functional refinement. The rest of the bodywork, on the other hand, is made of resin painted dark blue, the sort of support into which the aluminium parts are inset”.

The Argento Vivo evolved from the Honda-based car into further cars based on the brand new Mercedes SL600 chassis. Brakes, suspension and gearbox are all AMG, as is the 7.3 litre V12 engine. Developing 555 HP, the performance the performance of the Argento Vivo is devastating, going from 0-60 MPH in less than four seconds, with a top speed of over 175 MPH.

The interior is custom-built by Pininfarina and consists of carbon fibre door panels, dashboard, centre console and special leather and carbon fibre seats.

Only four of these incredible machines were ever built, all of which were delivered to the Royal Family of Brunei, at a cost of over $2 million USD each.

Two of these cars remain in the possession of the Royal Family of Brunei, the intense secrecy surrounding the special automotive projects that the Royal Family commissioned means that the very existence of these cars is virtually unknown to anyone except those most closely involved with the family’s projects.

With the Royal Family cutting back on their lavish spending in these uncertain economic times, the specialist workshop facility that Pininfarina used for the construction of these special "Brunei” cars has now been closed, meaning that the Argento Vivo will probably be the last Pininfarina-designed Mercedes.

This is an absolutely unique opportunity to own an astonishingly rare prototype car custom-built by one of the world’s most celebrated coachbuilders for the Royal Family of Brunei. A car literally fit for a King!

Coys

:waving:

Eric K.