Andrea Pininfarina, 51; led car design firm

Andrea Pininfarina, chief executive of the famed Italian car design firm Pininfarina SpA, recently posed next to the Ferrari P4/5. The firm was founded in 1930 by his grandfather. (AFP/Getty Images/file)

MILAN - Andrea Pininfarina, chief executive of the family Italian car design firm that counts Ferraris and Alfa Romeos among its creations, died yesterday in an accident near the northern city of Turin, reports said. He was 51.

Mr. Pininfarina, who was on a scooter, collided with a car whose driver failed to stop at an intersection, Luigi Semenzato, police chief in the town of Trofarello south of Turin, told Sky Tg24 television news.

He said the driver "didn't see the Vespa coming."

Mr. Pininfarina ran Pininfarina SpA, founded in 1930 by his grandfather Battista "Pinin" Farina, who combined his nickname and surname to create the company name and a new family name.

Pininfarina SpA has designed cars for Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Cadillac, and Volvo, among others, but is most closely associated with Ferrari, designing nearly all of Ferrari's models since the 1950s. They include the convertibles the California Spider and the Daytona Spider.

Mr. Pininfarina took over as chief executive in 2001, and in 2006 became chairman of the board of directors, a position previously held by his father, Sergio Pininfarina, who is a senator for life in the Italian Parliament.

Mr. Pininfarina studied mechanical engineering at the Polytechnic of Turin and started his career in the United States with Freuhauf Corp. in 1982, before returning to the family business a year later.

Mr. Pininfarina leaves his wife and three children, according to Italian media reports.