Pininfarina is known for its hypercars and beautiful designs but it has also turned its design prowess towards utility and designing a straddle tractor in partnership with New Holland. Designed to meet the requirements of the narrow vineyards typical of the premium wine-growing regions such as Champagne, Médoc, and Burgundy. These operations produce high-quality, high-value wines from grapes grown in rows less than one and a half meters wide, often on steep slopes and on small vineyards. In these conditions, grapes are picked by hand and most of the vine maintenance work is done by means of a tractor traveling overhead the rows.
Hence, the Straddle Tractor Concept is suitable for these narrowest vineyards. The design is also inspired by the shape of a champagne flute – tall, wide at the top, and tapering down at the bottom – it is a reference to the premium winegrowers that are its main customer base. This shape, together with wraparound glass, provides the operator with exceptional visibility on the vines and all around. The interior is accessible thanks to the large single door and rotating seat. The use of wood adds a luxury touch and links again to the customer’s business to the wood of wine barrels.
It shows that this design firm goes beyond beautiful hypercars and looks at mobility in all shapes and sizes too.
Carlo Lambro, New Holland Brand President, said: “Our ground-breaking straddle tractor concept offers a glimpse into the future that premium wine growers with narrow, high-value vineyards can aspire to. It is the result of New Holland’s long history of excellence in vineyards across the world, combined with the inspired innovation of legendary design house Pininfarina. It is testament to New Holland’s constant striving to develop new solutions to meet the most specialized needs of our customers, and foretells a further expansion of our extensive offering – the widest in the industry.”