2 1969 Autobianchi A112 Runabout

When the time came to prepare a concept for the 1969 Turin Salon, Nuccio Bertone decided that it was an opportune moment to showcase the benefits of a mid-engined layout in an inexpensive two-seater, and so convince Fiat that it would be a good route when designing a replacement for the successful 850 Spider.

Thus it was decided that Carrozzeria Bertone would show a small, mid-engined roadster purely as a concept, not intended for production – a somewhat misleading preamble – and badged as an Autobianchi. For the concept to be suitably dramatic, Marcello Gandini decided on a backto-basics roadster – what the Italians term a barchetta or ‘little boat’ – that would do without doors or a proper windscreen.

Gandini took the literal meaning of barchetta as a leitmotif of the design. Inspired by the world of speedboats, the Runabout’s pointed front end was a stylised reference to the prow, the lower half of the car looked like a hull, and there was even a pert little ‘sundeck’ at the rear.

Anorak fact The Runabout engine was not from an A112, but a Fiat 128’s 55bhp 1116cc ‘four’