21 of Bertone’s greatest hits

The best of Bertone

Few automotive design houses have had such a far-reaching influence on the cars we drive (and those we would like to) than Bertone.

Founded in 1912 by Giovanni Bertone in the northern Italian town of Grugliasco, the carrozzeria quickly established itself supplying elegant coachbuilt bodies for the likes of Fiat and Lancia.

After WW2, Giovanni’s son, Nuccio, took charge of the company, employing some of the greatest designers of the 20th century, including Giorgetto Giugiaro and Marcello Gandini. 

Statement concepts, such as the famous BAT (Berlinetta Aerodinamica Tecnica) cars followed, while the 1960s and ’70s saw relationships blossom with Alfa Romeo, Lamborghini and even Volvo, culminating in what we’d now regard as a truly classic portfolio of machinery.

And here, in chronological order, are 21 examples of perhaps the most important cars to grace Bertone’s back catalog.

1. 1928 Lancia Lambda VIII

The Lancia Lambda was one of the most advanced cars of the 1920s.

It pioneered use of a load-bearing unitary body and independent front suspension, while being among the first cars to use four-wheel brakes. 

Evolving steadily over its eight-year life, Bertone was commissioned to design the eighth-series Lambda, which went on to be the most popular version of Lancia’s groundbreaking range.

Powered by a light and compact overhead-cam V4 engine, displacing 2569cc, the Lambda handled and performed like no other vintage car.

2. 1953-’55 BAT concept cars

Bertone collaborated with Alfa Romeo to create a series of concept cars with the lowest possible drag coefficients.

Known as BATs (for Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica), Bertone presented the cars at successive Turin motor shows in 1953, ’54 and ’55, with each based around an Alfa Romeo 1900 production car, and all with radically finned and winged panels, low rooflines and angled-in side windows.

BAT 5 (1953) weighed just 1100KG (2425LB) and achieved a Cd figure of 0.23; BAT 7 (1954) reduced its Cd figure to 0.19; and BAT 9 (1955) was less extreme and designed to look more like an Alfa production car.

3. 1962 Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint Coupe

After the rather urbane 2600 Berlina, the 2600 Sprint brought some much-needed glamor to Alfa Romeo’s range-topper, providing grand-touring comfort for four in a stylish coupe body.

The Sprint was Giorgetto Giugiaro’s first major project for Bertone, and went onto become the best-selling model in the 2600 range.

Powered by a 2584cc, double-overhead cam straight-six mated to a five-speed manual gearbox, the Sprint could hit a top speed of 120mph.

4. 1962 BMW 3200 CS

Another design from Giugiaro while at Bertone, the 3200 CS was to be the last in a 10-year line of cars built off BMW’s aging luxury-car platform, and the last to use a perimeter frame, solid rear axle and pushrod operation for its V8 engine’s overhead valves.

It was, however, the first to include the ‘Hofmeister kink’, a design cue seen at the rear of the car’s glasshouse, which was named after BMW’s design chief, Wilhelm Hofmeister.

A little more than 500 examples of the CS were built between 1962 and ’65, but its design legacy would be seen again in BMW’s ‘New Class’ models which succeeded it.

5. 1962 Iso Rivolta

Iso had been best known for producing the Isetta bubble car during the 1950s, but by the early ’60s it decided to enter the more profitable luxury-GT market with a model priced between the cost of a Jaguar and a Ferrari.

Launched in 1962, the Rivolta (named after company chief Renzo Rivolta) had a Bizzarrini-designed chassis with a de Dion rear suspension and four-wheel disc brakes, and a body drawn (yet again) by Giorgetto Giugiario at Bertone.

Powered by a 327cu in (5.3-liter) Chevrolet V8 engine, the Iso Rivolta could hit 60mph in as little as 7.9 secs, with a top speed of 142mph in IR 340 guise.

6. 1962 Simca 1000 Coupe

Adding some spice to Simca’s rather dowdy-looking 1000 sedan range, the 1000 Coupe was a sleek and attractive, rear-engined, two-door design from Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone.

Launched in 1962, Bertone also manufactured the Coupe’s bodies, which were then sent to Simca’s Poissy plant in France for final assembly.

The Coupe had a more lavish interior than its sedan sibling, and was powered by an uprated version of Simca’s 944cc ‘four’. It was also equipped with four-wheel disc brakes.

Revised in 1967 with a larger 1200cc engine, the Coupe finished production in 1971.

7. 1965 Fiat 850 Spider

A year after Fiat launched its 600 replacement, the 850, in sedan guise, it commissioned Bertone to design and produce the 850 Spider.

Looking like a scaled-down Ferrari, the Spider’s sleek body and extended overhangs disguised its rather prosaic underpinnings.

The car’s fabric hood also stowed neatly behind the rear seats when down, covered by a steel flap to preserve its lines.

The Fiat 850 Spider’s rear-mounted 843cc ‘four’ was uprated to produce 49HP, giving the car an 84mph top speed.

The interior was also more lavishly trimmed, with plenty of faux wood, sports seats, plus a better-equipped instrument binnacle with round dials.

8. 1965 Iso Grifo

Replacing the Rivolta in 1965, Iso’s Grifo was once again designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Bertone, with Giotto Bizzarrini responsible for the new model’s chassis and mechanicals.

A large two-door coupe created as competition for Ferrari and Lamborghini’s mid-’60s grand tourers, the Grifo was initially powered by a small-block, 5.3-liter Chevrolet V8.

However, when the car was facelifted in 1970, a big-block, 7-liter Chevrolet engine was used, replaced once again in 1972 with Ford’s 5.8-liter ‘Boss 351’ motor.

The Grifo was to be Iso’s final model, though, the company facing bankruptcy in 1974 following the previous year’s fuel crisis.

9. 1966 Alfa Romeo 105/115 Coupe

Based on a shortened Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan chassis, the 105/115 series Coupe was another early design from Giugiaro while working for Bertone.

Borrowing heavily from his earlier 2600 Sprint model, Giugiaro created a mid-sized, four-seat GT that, in numerous model variants, enjoyed a 14-year life, with production continuing until 1977.

Engines ranged in size from 1290 to 1962cc, but all retained the basic ingredients of all-alloy construction and twin overhead cams, and were mated to five-speed gearboxes.

10. 1966 Fiat Dino Coupe

In the mid-’60s, Ferrari entered into a manufacturing agreement with Fiat to supply 500 ‘Dino’ V6 engines, enabling the unit to be homologated for Formula Two racing.

Fiat conceived two Dino models to be powered by the new 2-liter engine: the Spider, to be designed by Pininfarina, and the Coupe, by Bertone.

Despite being heavier and less agile, with a longer wheelbase, Bertone’s four-seat Coupe proved to be the more popular model.

Perhaps best-known today for its starring role as the mafia’s wheels in the movie The Italian Job, the Dino Coupe (and Spider) received a larger 2.4-liter engine in 1969, as well as fully independent rear suspension, derived from Fiat’s 130 model.

11. 1966 Lamborghini Miura

Despite Ferruccio Lamborghini’s initial reticence about mid-engined sports cars, there was no doubt that such a race-bred configuration held huge appeal for his buyers, while stealing a march on arch-rival Ferrari, which remained wedded to front-engined cars.

First seen as a rolling chassis at the Turin show of 1965, by 1966 the Miura, complete with a stunning body by Bertone’s Marcello Gandini, was presented as a prototype at the Geneva show, receiving huge praise.

Arguably the first real supercar, the Miura was launched with a 3929cc V12 engine producing 349HP, pinched from Lamborghini’s 400GT. 

Lamborghini claimed a top speed for the Miura of 174mph, which at the time made it the fastest production car of the decade, along with the later Ferrari 365GTB/4 Daytona.

12. 1968 Lamborghini Espada

Launched in 1968, the Espada’s dramatic Marcello Gandini design was inspired by the Lamborghini Marzal and Bertone Pirana concept cars he’d created the previous year while working for Bertone.

Taking its underpinnings from Lamborghini’s outgoing 400GT model, the Espada was a front-engined, four-seat sports GT car that went on to be sold next to the Miura and Islero models.

Powered by the same 3929cc V12 engine as in the Miura, the Espada’s body was also manufactured, fitted and trimmed by Bertone, with final assembly taking place at Lamborghini’s factory.

The Espada was made over three series until production ended in 1978.

13. 1970 Alfa Romeo Montreal

Originally conceived as a concept for ‘the ultimate incarnation of motoring’ display at the 1967 EXPO in Montreal, Canada, the Alfa Romeo Montreal then became a production reality and was officially launched at the Geneva show in 1970 (though sales only commenced in 1972).

As both a concept and production car it was designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, using the Giulia Sprint’s underpinnings.

Standout design cues included its headlight blinds, C-pillar air vents, near-horizontal tailgate and Kamm tail.

When Montreal production ceased in 1977, 3925 cars had been sold.

14. 1970 Lamborghini Jarama

The Jarama was Lamborghini’s replacement for the US-market-focused Islero, and conceived as a front-engined, 2+2 grand tourer.

Designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, the Jarama was underpinned by a shortened Espada chassis, with its wheelbase reduced by 10.7in (272mm). 

Launched at the 1970 Geneva motor show, the Jarama used the same 3929cc V12 engine that powered the Espada and Miura.

15. 1971 Lamborghini Urraco

Keen to broaden its customer base, Lamborghini conceived the Urraco as a more fuel-efficient, cost-effective model, much in the same way Ferrari and Maserati had with, respectively, the 246 Dino and Merak.

Once again designed by Marcello Gandini at Bertone, the 2+2 Urraco coupe was powered by an all-new V8 of initially 2-liter displacement, rising to 2.5 and then 3 liters throughout its seven-year life.

When production ceased in 1979, 791 Urracos had been built.

16. 1972 Fiat X1/9

Fiat’s X1/9 was a radical departure in every way from the pretty, but aging, 850 Spider it replaced.

Working at Bertone, Marcello Gandini’s thoroughly contemporary two-seat ‘wedge’ design moved the now 128 Rally-derived 1.3-liter engine amidships, and mounted it transversely.

The X1/9 also employed the 128’s all-independent suspension, and was designed to meet impending and far-tougher US crash regulations, which it passed with flying colors.

Never overpowered, despite its engine’s increase in capacity to 1500cc in 1978, Bertone took over production of the car from Fiat in 1982, and rebadged the model as a Bertone X1/9 – though it was still sold through Fiat’s dealer network.

17. 1972 Maserati Khamsin

The front-engined, 2+2 Khamsin was the last of Maserati’s traditional large GT models until the 3200GT of the 1990s – but the first series-production Maserati to be designed by Bertone, with Marcello Gandini penning the model’s elegant wedge-shaped lines.

Borrowing the 5-liter drivetrain and chassis from its Ghibli model, the Khamsin also inherited a series of hydraulic controls from Maserati’s relationship with Citroën, such as for its pop-up headlights, driver’s seat adjustment and variable steering assistance.

Despite being built for eight years, when production ceased in 1982, only 435 Khamsins had been sold.

18. 1977 Volvo 262 C

While technically the 262 C was a Volvo-designed model, almost all of the 6622 cars produced came out of Bertone’s factory in Turin.

Nonetheless, the 262 C was a bold design for Volvo. A two-door coupe, based on the 260 four-door sedan, its roof was lowered by 3.9in (99mm) and it gained a more steeply raked windshield, along with far broader C-pillars.

Powered by a choice of 2.6- or 2.8-liter V6s, the Volvo 262 C was smartly trimmed inside and generously equipped, with heated front seats, central locking, air conditioning and cruise control as standard.

19. 1982 Citroën BX

Marcello Gandini’s design for Citroën’s BX was as fresh and underivative as it was practical and innovative.

Citroën’s first model developed with CAD (computer-aided design), the five-door hatchback won plaudits for its lightweight construction and economy.

The car’s excellent ride and handling, thanks to its hydropneumatic suspension, also drew praise and set it apart from others in its class.

By 1994, when BX production ended, 2,337,000 cars had been sold.

20. 1994 Fiat Punto Cabriolet

While Fiat’s Punto hatch was designed by ex-Bertone man Giorgetto Giugiaro, now at Italdesign, the Cabriolet was both designed and manufactured by Bertone.

Fitted with an electrically operated folding roof (manual operation was also available in European markets), the Punto Cabriolet was one of the cheapest open-top cars in the world when it launched in 1994.

Initially powered by a 1.6-liter ‘four’, in 1995 the model received Fiat’s 1.2-liter FIRE engine.

Production ended in 1999, after 55,000 Fiat Punto Cabriolets had been built.

21. 2000 Vauxhall/Opel Astra Coupe Bertone

Based on the Mk4 Astra’s platform, the Coupe Bertone was designed and manufactured by Bertone in Italy.

Still retaining much of the Astra hatch’s practicality, with ample room for four adults, the Coupe’s more rakish shape, helped by a lower roofline, resulted in an impressive drag coefficient figure of 0.28Cd.

The Coupe was also 6in (152mm) longer than the Astra hatch.

A choice of two engines was available: a naturally aspirated 2.2-liter ‘four’, and a turbocharged 2-liter, which also powered the special edition 888 Coupe (pictured).

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