Bertone celebrates 95 years in the design business
Bertone's 95th anniversary roadster.
(Credit: CNET Networks)Car designer Bertone has been around for a long, long time. To celebrate its 95th anniversary, the company did what it does best: it designed a car. Shown at the 2007 Geneva auto show, the Bertone roadster takes a retro design and adds modern components. The doors swing up on hinges integrated into the rear wheel fenders. Transparent inserts in the doors show off the use of modern plastics in body components.
Bertone's roadster concept is an homage to the 1947 Fiat 500.
(Credit: CNET Networks)The Bertone roadster shape hearkens back to the 1947 Fiat 500, an example of which is also on display in the Bertone booth. The Bertone roadster is built on a Fiat Panda platform, a car that has received acclaim in Europe for excellent and fun handling. The Panda's engine is a 1.4-liter four-cylinder making 100 horsepower, so the Bertone roadster isn't going to be the fastest thing on four wheels. But it would be one of the coolest things, if it could ever become anything more than a concept.
