Iconic concept reborn as Exige-bodied sports car with 397bhp per tonne and £400,000 price tag
The Bertone Runabout concept, which found fame in the 1960s with its radical wedge-shaped design, has finally reached production more than five decades after it was shown as a one-off.
The 1969 Marcello Gandini-penned Runabout combined a roofless and doorless body with a 1.1-litre Autobianchi powertrain.
Its outlandish design went on to influence Fiat‘s X1/9 sports car of 1972.
This modern, £400,000 follow-up shares the same philosophy but is a far more enticing driving proposition, thanks to it sitting on a box-fresh Exige (wearing a new VIN) and drawing power from the Lotus‘s supercharged, Toyota-sourced 3.5-litre V6 – but both further enhanced. The engine now makes 469bhp and 361lb ft of torque (up from 430bhp and 335lb ft) and the chassis has been lightened – which together with carbonfibre body panels results in a kerb weight of just 1180kg.
Like in the Exige, the Runabout comes with a six-speed manual gearbox and rear-wheel drive.
This all comes together for a 0-62mph time of 4.1sec and a 168mph top speed.
It’s the customisation options that the Italian design house is proudest of, however.
For example, buyers can opt for Bertone-branded helmets and a luggage set designed to slot into the car’s slim boot and glovebox.
The expectation, said Bertone, is that no two cars from the production run of 25 will be the same.
“Every client follows a curated configuration journey, shaping the car’s identity through a personal dialogue with Bertone’s centro stile,” it said.
Such limited production means there is no need for the Runabout to follow homologation rules, which explains its extremely low and slim front end and pop-up headlights.
These supplement a pair of pencil-line daytime-running lights dissecting the central, dividing line of the car.
Although painted red on the show car (pictured), this is another element that can be customised.
The wheel arches are heavily pronounced at all corners, while the rear of the car ends abruptly via what Bertone calls a coda tronca, or cut tail.
Twin exhaust pipes are encased within two of the four central apertures.
Bertone has worked hard on the Runabout’s aerodynamics, including an ‘S-duct’ air channel that punctuates its dramatic nose – although anyone unduly worried about its drag coefficient can opt for the more conventional targa bodystyle with a full windscreen and a removable hard top.
“It’s the dream of a car designer to be able to bring back such an icon,” chief stylist Andrea Mocellin told Autocar.
The Italian’s career includes stints at Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo (the F12 Berlinetta and Giulia are among the models he has worked on), but he considers cars such as this “the zenith for a designer”.
Mocellin continued: “The 1969 Runabout was audacious, experimental and refreshingly simple. Those qualities became our North Star.
“Ultimately, the emotion we want people to feel [when they see a Runabout] is surprise.”
