Canada Welcomes The First Battista Hyper Gt
History was made on April 14, 2023, at Grand Touring Automobiles, located at 777 Dundas St. E. where the first Battista Hyper GT by Automobili Pininfarina was presented. Grand Touring Automobiles is the exclusive representative of Automobili Pininfarina in Canada, with locations in Calgary, Toronto, Vaughan and coming soon to Oakville.
The beautiful Verde Piemonte Battista was showcased at the exclusive Toronto event by Automobili Pininfarina CEO Paolo Dellachà and hosted by Grand Touring Automobiles President and CEO, Paul Cummings.
Pininfarina has indisputably set the standard for automobile craftsmanship and performance. Each Battista is handmade through a meticulous six-to-eight-month process per the customer’s desired aesthetic specifications.
The Battista delivers a level of performance that is unmatched by any other road-legal sports car. Faster than a current Formula 1 race car in its 0-100 km/h sub-two-second sprint, and with 1,900 hp and 2,340 Nm torque on tap, the Battista combines superior engineering and technology in a zero-emissions package.
We asked Paolo Dellacha, CEO of Automobili Pininfarina, some questions about the Battista.
Q: Before you were appointed as the CEO, you led the development of the Battista with the tech team as the Chief Product and Engineering Officer. How was that four-year process? What was the biggest challenge?
A: It was an exciting journey. When I was offered the opportunity to join this team, the opportunity was to honour the heritage and traditions of the Pininfarina brand. For an Italian guy like me, that means quite a lot, and the ambition was to bring the most powerful and fastest hypercar to the market. So, with that, came many challenges: to respect the tradition and leverage the kind of performance we wanted through electric technology.
Q: What does this partnership with Grand Touring mean for the Battista and the future of Pininfarina?
A: It means a lot. We decided that Grand Touring Automobiles will be our exclusive partner for Canada. They are knowledgeable of the customers and market. This is what is essential for us to be successful. We cannot be successful without our customers, and they are the people that know the customers better than anyone.
Q: Will the Battista remain a limited-production car?
A: Definitely. We made a promise that the Battista will remain a limited-production vehicle. Battista intends to remain something very rare and exclusive. The way in which the customer’s journey develops is very special in a way. The experience starts when the customer sees the car for the first time or when they test drive it. Then there is the configuration process. We like to invite our customers to visit us in Cambiano because then they really understand what Pininfarina stands for and what is the passion that is motivating us to do all of this.
Q: What are your favourite details of the Battista, and why?
A: I love the rear fenders, which are also an aerodynamic feature in terms of separating the airflow from cooling, drag and lift point-of-view. So, there are many things going on in terms of aerodynamics on the Battista but still, from the design point-of-view, I can admire its beauty.
Q: How would you describe the Battista in one word?
A: Fast. It’s definitely fast, but it is also fun to drive. This can be on a track or on your daily commute in the city because it is an easy drive. You have that amount of power which can be quite scary but, in the end, it’s not. Through the drive mode strategy, we bring the Battista through different stages of the driving experience, and the customer is free to select the desired mode according to the road conditions, preference, comfortability and expertise. It’s easy and safe, not only fast.
In February 2023, at Indore’s Natrax facility in India, the Battista achieved two new world records:
- Quarter-mile sprint in 8.55 seconds – A world record for a production car
- Half-mile sprint in 13.38 seconds – A world record for a production car
At the Dubai Autodrome in November 2022, the Battista proved its unrivalled performance prowess, celebrating a series of world records achieved in its final round of homologation:
- 0-60mph in 1.79 seconds – A world record for a production car
- 0-100km/h in 1.86 seconds – A world record for a production car
- 0-120mph in 4.49 seconds – A world record for a production car
- 0-200km/h in 4.75 seconds – A world record for a production car
- 100-0km/h in 31 metres – A world record for an electric car
- Range of 300 miles (combined EPA) – A world record for an electric hypercar
The Battista will be the most powerful car ever designed and built in Italy.
Here is what Paul Cummings, president & CEO of Grand Touring Automobiles, had to say about the Battista.
Q: What was your first impression of the Battista when it was first presented by Pininfarina?
A: I had the benefit to see the car at its unveiling at the Geneva Auto Show in 2019, and, truly, the expectation was very high because it’s Pininfarina. They control design. They blew me away; it was outstanding. I was really stunned and embraced the idea of what they accomplished.
Q: How did the partnership with Pininfarina spark?
A: We had the opportunity to acquire the partnership through a buy-sell. Then we presented a business case to Automobili Pininfarina stating that we wanted the responsibility for all of Canada. We saw the potential of the product and the potential of our customers, so we wanted to bring it all together. We are thrilled to have that opportunity.
Q: What does the addition of the Pininfarina brand bring to the Grand Touring dealership?
A: It is truly an added value component to us. But I would describe it as more of an honour to represent Pininfarina in Canada. What that company stands for — the DNA and heritage of that company — adds value to Grand Touring Automobiles, and we are excited to represent it in the Canadian market.
Q: Since the Battista is an electric car, did you feel there were certain risks taking on the Battista as the introductory car with Pininfarina?
A: I give them all the credit. They took the risk. For them to take the risk in a hyper-car marketplace and to be the first to bring an electric car into the hyper-car game, the risk was on their part. They delivered the car in a beautiful package, and I had the opportunity to be test-driven in the prototype earlier on, and it blew me away. It’s a completely different experience, and every customer should enjoy it once in their life. It’s really something special.
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