Pininfarina Enigma GT revealed: a hydrogen-V6-electric-AWD-2+2

Pininfarina hasn’t revealed a new car, it has revealed Everything. All the powertrains, all the seats, all the buzzwords and all the space to get in it… all in one. Welcome to the stunning new Enigma GT.

The Italian coachbuilder with a long list of stone cold classics in the back catalogue reckons this new entry is a “contemporary GT capable of blending unique characteristics”. It does blend many of those, chief among which is its ginormous canopy granting entry into a pared back interior with space for four adult humans.

Glorious, no? The striking canopy draws on Pininfarina’s history, taking inspiration from such hits as the Modulo, Birdcage 75th, and the Abarth 2000 Coupe, to name just three. As entry into unobtanium goes, nothing tops a giant front-mounted canopy.

The dash and windscreen all lift as one, and once onboard you’ll spot the OLED screen, an aeronautically inspired dashboard, sustainable material choice and augmented reality on the windscreen. There’s AI of course, along with lots of driver assistance, the latter proving perhaps necessary considering the next unique characteristic: the powertrain.

There’s a 2.5-litre V6 turbo engine on board, powered here not by petrol, but hydrogen. This engine alone kicks out 435bhp and has but one job: to power the rear axle only.

Powering the front axle is a 200bhp+ electric motor powered by a 10kWh battery, which together gives the new Enigma GT – that’s right! – all-wheel-drive. It also allows Pininfarina to lower the height of the bonnet and frontal area (because e-motors are smaller than engines) and thus design a car with optimum aero.

Indeed there are “air-sculpted” front wings and an “extremely reduced” front end, sweeping into a massive, raked windscreen and up and over that mid-rear-engine layout. There’s a suite of active aero tech on board – active grille shutters, front wheel deflectors, a moveable rear spoiler, that sort of thing – allowing for a drag coefficient of 0.24. That’s… slippery.

It's not too massive: Pininfarina reckons it’s a ‘long’ wheelbase but in truth it’s a fraction bigger than a BMW 3 Series’ (2.8m), which should give you some idea of the size. Not too heavy, either, this concept weighing in at 1,690kg.

Though, there’s a heavy weight of expectation atop its streamlined physique. “On one hand, it nods to a reimagined kind of a car we want to rediscover – the GT,” says Pininfarina. “On the other hand, it deliberately withholds the complete revelation of its design, keeping it shrouded in mystery and reserving the full unveiling for the future.”

Right. ‘The future.’ A future where this car is everything, everywhere, all at once, perhaps?