Of all the famed Italian carrozzeria, Bertone has had the most highs and lows, shaping everything from everyday hatchbacks and saloons to some of the most striking and influential sports cars and concepts the industry has ever seen. With its own manufacturing facilities near its Turin HQ, the group was frequently commissioned to shape and build niche models for the likes of Fiat and Opel.
Financial woes intensified in the early 20th century, resulting in the company packing up its splendid headquarters – photographed so evocatively by Benedict Redgrove for Wallpaper* back in its heyday – and dispersing its museum-quality collection of concepts and one-offs into the garages of collectors around the world.
The Bertone name lives on. Two years ago, the company – under the new ownership of Mauro and Jean-Franck Ricci – released its first Bertone-branded car, the GB110, a classically styled two-seat mid-engined supercar that made a noble connection with some of the company’s greatest hits. This, however, is a new direction.
The Bertone Runabout was announced this week as the second vehicle in the re-born brand’s stable. Only this time the stakes are slightly different. The Runabout draws on a famed car from the extensive Bertone portfolio. The original model was called the Autobianchi A112 Runabout, styled by Bertone’s chief designer Marcello Gandini and revealed to the world at the 1969 Turin Auto Show.
Under the spectacular open bodywork was a very humble Autobianchi A112, also styled by Gandini as Italy’s riposte to the British Mini. Gandini used the A112 platform as the underpinnings of a spectacular two-seater, part influenced by racing speedboats. The car went on to influence the later Fiat X1/9 (also by the prolific Gandini), a cult targa-topped mid-engined two-seater that was manufactured from 1972 all the way through to 1989 (the latest seven years by Bertone itself).
Bertone’s designer of choice Andrea Mocellin (who also shaped the GB110) has reinvented the Runabout for the modern age, splicing the spirit of the original Gandini concept with the verve and usability of the little Fiat. ‘We’re taking what’s traditionally remained in museums and car shows and making it available for everyday life as a road-legal vehicle,’ Mocellin has said, describing the Bertone Runabout as ‘carrying forward that same spirit of celebrating the good life’.
Revealed 55 years after the original, the new Bertone Runabout is planned as a limited-series production car. This also ushers in a new strand to the business, Bertone Classic, which the Riccis describe as ‘honouring the masterpieces from the brand’s illustrious design heritage’, implying that more revival designs are on the way. Runabout production should start by 2026, with a price estimated at around €350,000.
