Ah, Monterey Car Week. A week of sensory overload filled with new cars, classics, and one-off specs. While some might end up on the Worst Spec Instagram page, the Pininfarina Battista Targamerica probably won’t. It’s the only Pininfarina Battista made with a removable roof, and proof that whoever ordered it was thinking with their entire brain.
In case you aren’t familiar with the Pininfarina Battista, allow me to give you the run-down. This electric hypercar crafted with the help of Rimac sports a 120 kWh battery pack, four electric motors, and a combined output of 1,900 horsepower. That power figure isn’t even the most impressive part of this roadgoing spaceship, because it can run from a dead stop to 62 mph in 1.89 seconds, will top out at 222 mph, and features true torque vectoring. Oh, and did I mention that the coachwork was designed by iconic Italian styling house Pininfarina, and final assembly takes place at the firm’s facility in Italy?
However, there’s something intrinsically dulled on EVs that’s a boon to luxury models but a bear to performance cars — sensations at low speeds. There’s no idle vibration from an electric motor, no lugging, no chance you’re catching it off-cam. It’s simply perfect, and while perfection is great for getting from A to B, flaws and limitations often add character. With that in mind, the person who ordered the Pininfarina Battista Targamerica decided to do something inspired and let the elements in by ordering it headless.
I’ll always be a strong proponent of convertibles because they’re one of the best ways to see the world on four wheels. The wind, the sun, the open sky, the whoosh of a thousand passing cars, the tranquility of a billion stars, opening up to the elements gives you a new level of intimacy with the world in all the right ways. Even at red lights, you’re aware of the cosmos vibrating around you. The exhalation of air brakes, the chest-beating idle of a hard-working diesel, the tick of direct injection, the footsteps of pedestrians through autumn leaves, the smell of the city, the country, and the highway. If you want to feel something, drive a convertible, even at low speeds.
As it stands, sales on electric hypercars aren’t doing so hot right now. Mate Rimac’s already said that hypercar buyers don’t want electric powertrains, and Pininfarina has resorted to a gimmicky Batman tie-in to try and sell a few of its electric hypercars, starting with the impractical windshield-less B95. Maybe it’s simpler than that. Maybe it’s just a matter of finding harmony with the world by stowing a roof.
So bravo, Pininfarina Battista Targamerica owner, whoever you are. You have it all figured out, how to get parts of the best of both worlds. So long as humans continue to dream, removable roofs will never die. Even if that Volkswagen Cabriolet commercial didn’t do anything for you, even if you aren’t normally a fan of convertibles or targa tops, it’s hard to deny that in the right circumstances, with the right road and the right environment and the right time of day and the right company, there’s nothing better than letting the sky in.
(Photo credits: Pininfarina)
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I wonder if this was a proposal Ferrari rejected.
Probably the only way I could sit in the thing. It would still remain a garage queen as manipulating the pedals would be unlikely.
Russ Hanneman approves.
https://tenor.com/V70h.gif
If I had money like this I’d be buying Pagani’s
It’s gorgeous but I find electric supercars to be very uninteresting. Other than looking great is there anything this does that’s THAT different from any other performance EV? I’m the furthest thing from a Tesla stan but you can get a Model S Plaid that’ll keep up with this in any real world situation for like 50 grand at this point.
I can’t even begin to imagine spending 7 figures on an EV. I’ll bet it’s boring after the 4th or 5th launch.
Agree. It’s like getting a new washing machine with wi-fi and bluetooth. Sure, it’s impressive tech, but at the end of the day it’s still a washing machine.
Every time I see the Battista I think the design was originally Pininfarina’s proposal for the Ferrari 458/488/F8 replacement before Ferrari took design work in house. This open version reinforces that opinion.
It seems like the roof off would just make the golf cart noises all the louder, and the sensation of the missing V12 sounds all the greater.
Your missive about convertibles is why I drive with the top down as often as possible.
Even driving to the grocery store with the top down is a sensory experience.
I wonder how much that Battista would be if it only had two motors? Because 1900hp, AWD and 0-60 in less than 2 seconds in a convertible is just silly.
Perhaps they could call it “Ateo” for us non-believers.
The only time I put the top up is if water is actively falling from the sky. It was raining five minutes ago, but not raining now – top down. It looks like it’s going to rain in five minutes, but not raining now – top down. It’s really cold – that’s what coats are for – top down.
Agreed.
One of my best drives was cruising up I-5 past Mt Shasta and over the mountains into Oregon with the top down.
While it was snowing.
This is the way.
Best drive of my life was coming back from Portland along the Oregon coast in February. Top down, bundled up, heater blasting, bombing through the redwoods and flashing out onto the coast – it was genuinely a religious experience. I’ve had drug trips that left me feeling less awe than that drive. Blah blah blah chassis stiffness whatever, I’m not Michael Schumacher, we’re not doing time trials here – gimme the wind and the sky, there’s nothing like it.
Went on a date on a winter night with a girl who ended up fawning over a young pilot after we got to the party.
Only good part of that date was putting the top down on the way home…