Far-out Pininfarina Enigma GT is a 2+2 GT with a hydrogen-powered V6

Concept cars tend to be pretty far-out machines, designed to spark imaginations rather than deliver on the finer points of road-worthiness. Even by those standards, though, the new Pininfarina Enigma GT unveiled at the 2024 Geneva Motor Show goes all out with its styling, screens and sustainable power sources.

For starters, Pininfarina must have thought scissor or even gullwing doors weren’t interesting enough, because the Enigma GT features a fully opening canopy – an idea the company keeps returning to, having used it for the Abarth 2000 Coupe, Ferrari 512S Berlinetta Speciale and Maserati Birdcage 75th concept cars. 

Opening the canopy lifts both the enormous uninterrupted windscreen, which wraps around all the occupants, and the aeronautically inspired dashboard with its massive, almost transparent, OLED screen. The interior also features advanced, sustainable materials, augmented reality technology for the windscreen, and artificial intelligence that Pininfarina says can be used to provide nearby points of interest, or alert drivers about blind spots. 

The Enigma GT wouldn’t be a futuristic grand tourer without an autonomous driving mode for longer journeys that Pininfarina says lets the driver better enjoy their time with passengers, and creates a relaxing atmosphere for them to enjoy.

Meanwhile the exterior design is meant to mimic that of cars with a mid-rear engine layout, more commonly utilised by supercars not 2+2 GTs. The Italian design house says this is central to the car’s “uncompromising characteristics.” 

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With the combined help of the “air-sculpted” front wings, a low smooth front end and active aerodynamic aids like grille shutters, front wheel deflectors and an ‘aero-tail’, the Enigma GT can maintain downforce while also achieving a drag coefficient of just 0.24Cd. 

To match the Star Trek-inspired styling and interior, the Enigma GT uses an electric motor to drive the front wheels, while a 2.5-litre turbocharged V6 hydrogen-powered combustion engine sends its power to the rear wheels. These produce up to 268bhp and 436bhp respectively, resulting in a 0-62mph time of under four seconds. 

And yet, the Enigma GT isn’t as large as you might expect: measuring 4,580mm from nose to tail, it’s nearly 10cm shorter in length than a Tesla Model 3 saloon, although the Pininfarina is 10cm wider and over 20cm lower than the Tesla. 

Pininfarina calls the Enigma GT a fully virtual ‘design study’, but says it represents an idea that the company will develop further, ahead of its 75th anniversary in 2025. Pininfarina’s chief creative officer Felix Kilbertus says the outrageous show car “is a beginning of sorts, something still a little mysterious, a first step in solving a tricky problem.”

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