Pininfarina Car Pays Homage To Rolls-Royce

Pininfarina's third model designed and built for a collector will be a Rolls-Royce.

Called Hyperion and based on the Drophead Coupe, this model is an homage to the great pre-war Rolls-Royce cars.

The Hyperion will debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, in Monterey, California, in mid-August.

Hyperion was the name of one of the titans in Greek mythology. Hyperion is also a moon circling the planet Saturn.

Pininfarina declined to identify the private collector who ordered the Hyperion.

In April 2006, Pininfarina unveiled the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti-based "K" built for Peter Kalikow, president of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

In August 2006, Pininfarina debuted the Ferrari Enzo-based P4/5 model, built for former movie director James Glickenhaus.

Special orders from collectors generate significant revenue and high margins for coachbuilders, but Pininfarina always declined to elaborate on the topic.

In Web car enthusiast blogs, Glickenhaus has said he spent more than $1 million to buy a Ferrari Enzo and about $3 million to have Pininfarina convert it to the P4/5 custom unit.