BERTONE GETS WACKY

A glimpse at the offbeat gems inside the carrozzeria’s private collection

The unveiling of the Alfa BAT 5 at the 1953 Salone dell’automobile in Turin established Bertone as a design house that showcased extraordinary concept cars. Many icons of the second half of the 20th century – from simple but beautiful Fiats and Citroëns to Lamborghinis – rolled out of the carrozzeria, while a succession of cutting-edge machines during the 1960s and ’70s cemented its reputation as not only the most audacious, but also arguably the most progressive of all the Italian design studios.

Some of the most important creations from Stile Bertone were gathered in a private museum, housed at its studio near Turin, and two years after the firm ceased activities in 2014, Automotoclub Storico Italiano acquired 79 vehicles from the collection. In addition to the accepted beauties, from Alfa Giulia Sprint to Lancia Stratos, these cars also demonstrate the creative thinking that went on at this prolific design house; here are just a few of our favourites from a seriously wacky back catalogue.

The Bertone Collection by Gautam Sen and Michael Robinson is published by Dalton Watson Fine Books (price £69; ISBN 978 1 85 443293 3)