I have a neat book called “70s Concept Cars: Yesterday’s Dreams of the Future” that I was showing my friend Sumathi because I thought she would appreciate the vintage photography. It’s full of Italian wedges from Bertone, Italdesign, Michelotti, and Pininfarina. She turned the page to the Bertone Autobianchi Runabout and asked, “What’s a runabout?”
While explaining the symbiotic relationship between Italian automakers and design houses (and attempting to explain what a runabout is), I was reminded of the heir apparent of the Autobianchi that I had written about it just over a year ago. Wouldn’t ya know it, Bertone’s media site has an update on its neo-Runabout, the first of the Bertone Classic series. Limited to 25 examples, the Bertone Runabout made a recent stop at Villa Gontero in Cumiana (outside Turin, in the province of Piedmont).
The villa was commissioned by entrepreneur Riccardo Gontero and designed by Carlo Graffi between 1969-71, the same time as the Runabout. It was designed in an expression known as “experimental brutalism,” which I recognize as an architectural style though I (wrongly) tend to associate it with something out of the Iron Curtain. “The dialogue with the Bertone Runabout is immediate and profound,” says Bertone. “Both objects emerged from the same late-1960s Piedmontese environment, a fertile territory where automotive design, architecture, and industrial vision evolved side by side.” Though the movements that birthed the two appear to be opposites, the Runabout against the backdrop of the villa is the perfect pairing. “In both the car and the house, complexity is reduced to strong, memorable gestures. The Runabout’s taut beltline answers the villa’s horizontal concrete strata. Its low, floating stance echoes the cantilevered ends of the residence. Even the subtle red accents in the villa’s detailing find a quiet resonance with the car’s graphic elements in our imagery.”
While the original concept was not a completely fulfilled automobile, the new incarnation is capable of putting in motion the emotion aroused by its design (that part came from me, even though it may come off like the obtuse translation of Bertone’s PR department). Available as the “pure” Barchetta and “more versatile” Targa, the Runabout is powered by a supercharged 3.5-liter V-6 producing 475 horsepower. With a six-speed manual, rear-wheel drive, and curb weight that hearkens to an era before mandated safety equipment, the Runabout is capable of 0-62 mph in 3.1 seconds.
The Runabout speaks to me in a way that many modern vehicles do not. Its purity of function intersects with purity of design (plus, any modern car with pop-up headlights ain’t half bad). This is an energy that seems to have lost the embrace of manufacturers (and federal entities) around the world.
