The Bertone Runabout Is a Rad Retro Sports Car—With Pop-Up Headlights!
The retro inspired Bertone Runabout uses new Lotus Exige underpinnings and Toyota engines.
Among styling firms, wild-looking concept and production cars traditionally were the province of Pininfarina. But Bertone knew how to party, too. Now a decade removed from bankruptcy, the revived Italian brand is launching its second limited-edition vehicle in the Runabout. It’s a sports car that traces its roots to an original Bertone design from 1969, but made modern with pop-up headlights and Lotus underpinnings.
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The original Runabout concept was designed for the 1969 Turin Auto Show for Autobianchi, as a mid-engine barchetta using an Autobianchi A111 sedan engine and four-speed transmission. It also had nautical influences with a wedge-shaped body, two-tone paint scheme, and a rear rollover bar with the headlights mounted to it. The design proved so successful Fiat used it as the basis for the X1/9 mid-engine sports car sold under the Fiat brand from 1972 to 1982 and as a Bertone from 1982 to 1989.
This modern version of the Bertone Runabout is more than just a concept, however, as Bertone will produce 25 units starting at the equivalent of $464,000 (€390,000). The chassis and engine are those of the Lotus Exige but are not overhauled to create the Runabout. These all-aluminum chassis are bought as virgin pieces (in other words, never used to create a car) that the Runabout body is then bonded to along with additional extruded aluminum architecture.
The supercharged 3.5-liter V-6 produces is sourced directly from Toyota, and it features a custom exhaust system and produces up to 475 hp. The Bertone Runabouts are then classified for road use with a fully unique VIN for each of the 25 examples to be produced.
While the unique headlights of the original Autobiachi Runabout don’t appear here—those are highly likely to be illegal—the modern version goes for pop-ups in the spirit of the Fiat X1/9. The Runabout can also be had as a purely open barchetta like the concept or with a targa top like the X1/9. Owners will also be able to spec their Runabout with different materials, colors, textures, and finishes.
Inside, the two-seater’s dashboard features a decking-like look with a functional compass in the center, while the gated six-speed manual shifter features exposed mechanicals.
