Ferrari Rainbow: The 1976 Bertone Show Car That Was Years Ahead of Its Time

[This story originally appeared in the March 1981 issue of Motor Trend with the headline "Ferrari Rainbow," and comes from a time when we had a space in our name. Story and photos by John Paulding.] At the 1952 Turin Auto Show, Carrozzeria Bertone was literally saved from postwar bankruptcy when American entrepreneur Wacky Arnolt saw two MG-based cars on the Bertone stand and ordered 100 of each. Bertone used Arnolt's money to build the famous BAT series show cars. He then parlayed those BATs into the fabulously successful Alfa Romeo Giulietta series, the Alfa Sprint Speciale, and a whole series of production cars that further established Bertone in the big league of automotive design.

In the Sixties, Bertone produced a group of show cars designed by the young Giorgetto Giugiaro, which literally started the all-pervasive angular style. Giugiaro's show cars became the Alfa GTV, the Iso Grifo, and the Bizzarrini, among other production machines. In the Seventies, Giugiaro's successor Gandini created a group of highly influential Bertone show cars that led to even more spectacular production cars, including the Fiat X1/9 and the Lamborghini Countach. But of the hundreds of Bertone show cars built over the decades, the Ferrari Rainbow is the designer's most successful.

The Rainbow debuted at the Turin Auto Show in November 1976. Following its Italian introduction, it was exhibited at auto shows all over the world. By 1978, the Rainbow was completely refurbished and then sent out on another world tour. It was on the stand at the 1979 San Francisco Import Car Show and the 1980 Montreal Auto Saloon. In July, it will be seen in the Brock Yates/Hal Needham/ Burt Reynolds "Cannonball" feature film. After that, who knows? The car is still so advanced it could be repainted and again sent on the circuit to wow the crowds.

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The Ferrari Rainbow has received top billing for so long because it is a spectacular piece. Essentially, it is an oversized version of an earlier Bertone show car that eventually went into production as the Fiat X1/9. There is a family resemblance—its pointed nose, its heavily buttressed C-pillar, its wedge shape, and its chopped-off tail. But the Rainbow is much more than the X1/9. The severely slabsided body is decorated with only two incised highlight lines. These were originally painted black, when the Rainbow was white. But in 1978, when the car was repainted metallic blue, the highlights were muted to body color. Either way, it is one of the most strikingly flamboyant cars ever to get off the doodling pad.

Much of the Rainbow's look is what you'd expect if you showed a contemporary Can-Am car to a stylist and asked him to design a street version. It has partially hidden rear wheels, a front chin spoiler, a flat hood, a sharply raked windshield, and a chopped-off Kamm tail. This is not to imply that the Rainbow is a successful design. There's something striking and unusual about it, but it's not what you would call pretty. The proportions are off, and the angular theme has been carried a little far. Even the Speedline wheels are angular.

Gandini's Lamborghini Countach has the same type of square wheelwell arches as the Rainbow, and they don't look any better on the Lamborghini. But the Contach does have matching arches over the rear wheels. The Rainbow has curious-looking forward-tilting rear wheelwells that were obviously an after-thought. And the rear deck has been cut off to expose the taillights.

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By comparison, there are some details on the Rainbow that are so well designed and executed they'll probably show up on production cars in years to come. For example, at first glance, it looks as if the Rainbow has no bumpers, just a delicate and vulnerable full-width front grille with a matching grille in the rear. But look again. The thin, horizontal grille bars are actually a molded-on disguise for matched 5-mph bumpers. They are neat, clean, and more visually appealing than most color-matched urethane bumpers, which turn out not to match af-ter a few days in the sun.

The real point of interest on the Rainbow is its convertible-top design. Until now, there have been three kinds of convertible tops: a folding softtop with all the attendant susceptibility to leaks and sharp knives; a folding hardtop like the one on the ’57 Skyliner Ford that created a nightmare of hydraulic lines and servos and no trunk space; and the lift-off targa top, as displayed on the Porsche Targa or Fiat X1/9, complete with the hassles of lifting, carrying, and storing.

The Rainbow's top is the best convertible top ever designed, although, granted, it will only work effectively on a 2-seater. The top is rigid aluminum, painted the color of the body, and the C-pillar is a conventional stationary Targa-style upright. But instead of lifting out for storage elsewhere, the Rainbow aluminum top simply rolls back on a pair of tracks, like a garage door, and stores vertically behind the seats. It operates manually, so there's nothing to break or go wrong. It's light enough for one person sitting in either seat to easily hoist up and down. And it latches with a lever conveniently located in the center of the windshield header.

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When the top is down, it impedes rear visibility. So Gandini provided a moonroof the same size as the rear window, which becomes a second rear window. Unlike a conventional sliding sunroof, Gandini's top doesn't affect head room, and it's convenient and more foolproof than any we've used. This first truly original solution to the convertible top problem is a patented design that Bertone hopes will attract a manufacturer.

Actually, the Rainbow exists primarily as a vehicle to showcase this unique top, as well as to explore the possibilities of the mid-engine design. This is probably why the Rainbow has remained so fresh for so many years. The mid-engine revolution of the early Seventies postponed a decade. In fact, the only mid-engine design that's a real car and not a status toy is the Fiat X1/9, which has been around for nearly 10 years. Lotus, Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Maserati are merely dreams or names to most people And, ironically, the mid-engine vehicles sold by these companies have bodies designed either by Giugiaro, who used to be with Bertone, or by Gandini, who is still with Bertone.

The mid-engine revolution is coming. Every front-drive engine/transaxle/suspension could be used as the basis for a mid-engine 2-seater, just like the much-rumored mid-engine 1982½ Chevy/Pontiac 2-seater built off the X-body chassis. The designers responsible for these cars have been looking for ideas to complement their own. We would hope they've discovered the Bertone Rainbow with the most clever convertible top imaginable. If they have, the Rainbow will have served its function as a show car, pointing the way for others.

Behind the Wheel

How do you drive a $200,000 Ferrari? Like you would a fine piece of art with wheels. Unlike many show cars that are nothing more than styling exercises, the Rainbow is a real car. The engine is carved out of aluminum, not balsa wood and everything, down to the turn signals and instrument lights works. The Rainbow was built on a Ferrari 308 GT chassis, one of the most exciting platforms in production. But people would still come to stare at the Rainbow if it only had Styrofoam innards. The simple fact that it can be taken out and flogged almost puts it in an entirely different classification. It is an automobile that runs under its own power and turns and stops on demand. But it's not a mature vehicle.

The Rainbow style hasn't yet been compromised for production, which means "a lot of things about it don't work very well and would have to be changed before anybody would actually. buy one. For example, the roof is so low that average-sized people only fit in the car when the top is down. The retracting mechanism is fine; it's just that Gandini wanted the car to be as low and sleek as possible, so he chopped the top. In order to get in, we had to lean in head first, release the top, roll it back, and then enter.

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The bucket seats are upholstered in black and white leather, with a segmented design. They're surprisingly comfortable for one-off show car seats. They have lateral bolsters and headrests and lots of thigh support. What they don't have are seatbelts or adjustable tracks. Nor are the pedals adjustable. The same small Italian who's the only one who won't have any trouble with the chopped top is also the only one who'll fit comfortably behind the wheel. For the rest of us, the driving position is Go-Kart Classic: knees over elbows.

Gandini's Rainbow has all the rear vision of a chopped 32 Ford 3-window. Not only is the sunroof panel in the roof barely 5 inches high, there's a big scoop over the air cleaners in the middle of the rear deck, plus twin headrests that block what little window there is. And upholding true show car flavor, the Rainbow has no rearview mirrors. Watching for flashing lights becomes the passenger's job.

All these are minor annoyances, however. The actual driving of the Rainbow was just fine, thank you. The chassis is a 1975 European-spec Ferrari 308 GT4 with 4 inches removed between the axles. This gives it a 96-inch wheelbase, 4 inches longer than the one used on the Pininfarina-bodied 308 GTB. The aluminum-bodied Rainbow weighs only 2735 pounds, compared to 3100 for the mostly steel GTB. Today's American-spec 308 GTB is rated at 205 horsepower, enough to push it to 140 mph and 0-60 in 8 seconds. The 400-pound-lighter Rainbow boasts 240 horses, which is good enough to give it a genuine top speed of 150 mph and noticeably snappier acceleration.

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The Rainbow has less than 1000 miles on the odometer, most of them gained driving on and off revolving displays. We put on over 100 of those miles in one afternoon, however, blitzing around Bergen County with then Ferrari Public Relations Director Bill Baker. Baker was understandably uneasy about the whole thing … $200,000 illegal car, speed-crazed thrill seeker …

In deference to Baker, we started out driving gently but firmly, using 5000 rpm as a redline instead of 7700 and avoiding hard acceleration. Baker grew more nervous anyway and finally blurted out a "take it easy." We then spent a time using 3000 rpm maximum, which gave 70 mph in overdrive 5th. After a while, Baker began complaining because the plugs were loading up. Tired of his whining, we accelerated hard from 1500 rpm to 7500 in 4th, and the engine never missed a beat. This European-spec 3-liter Ferrari V-8 is just about the most flexible of engines. You could drive it and never realize it's also the most potent motor in production. It will idle down to 500 rpm, then pull smoothly all the way to 8000. Within reason, you almost never need to shift unless you're terrifying PR guys. Second or 3rd can handle any urban street or winding road, 4th is capable of anything from 20-120 mph. Remarkable.

Accompanied by shrieks and threats from Baker, we tried a little high-speed cornering. As you might expect, the Rainbow chassis needs to be sorted out. The body creaks and groans, but the Ferrari suspension is terrific, as are the Pirelli P7s. If you've never driven a 308 GIB, it's hard to believe just how superior to the normal run of machinery a car can be. A Ferrari functions on a different level, even if it has spent most of its existence sitting around collecting auto show fingerprints.

People respond to the Rainbow, and of course, that's half the fun of driving a car like this. It's the original crumpet collector, and if your assignment is to track down the Rainbow, you'll be sure to find it just by following the trail of dropped jaws and twisted necks. According to Baker, Bertone keeps talking about selling the Rainbow for something around $200,000. Depending on your relationship with the bank, there are worse investments. The Bertone Ferrari Rainbow is more than just another show car, and it's more than just another Ferrari. And it sure is fun to drive.