At the upcoming Geneva Auto Show, Stile Bertone will unveil a dramatic new concept car created to commemorate its 100th Anniversary
The new car is the Nuccio, named for Giuseppi “Nuccio” Bertone, the founder of one of the world’s great design houses and the mentor of such talents as Marcello Gandini and Giorgetto Giugiaro.
Penned by Mike Robinson, Bertone’s design director, the Nuccio is described as an “extreme” sports car that is an evolution of the mid-rear engined berlinetta dating back 42 years to the Lancia Stratos Zero of 1970.
While Bertone hasn’t released details of the car’s underpinnings, the Nuccio is a fully functional car with what is said to be a 4.3-liter V8 engine.
The Nuccio will appear at all of the events scheduled for the Bertone Centenary. After Geneva, the car will travel to Beijing in April and to the Turin National Car Museum in May for a gala evening, kicking off an historic exhibition that will stay open till the summer. Bertone is also sponsoring the annual congress of Automotive News Europe in June and the Nuccio will be on display during the event. In August, the Nuccio will appear at the Concorso Italiano at Laguna Seca, California in August. This year’s Concorso will be dedicated to Bertone. Then it’s back to Italy for a special edition of the Florence Unique Special Ones show in September.
Carrozzeria (Coachworks) Bertone was founded by Giovanni Bertone in Turin in 1912. Giuseppi Bertone (1914-1997), nicknamed “Nuccio” took over the firm from his father after World War II and built it into a world-famous design and production company. He also split the company into two entities: Stile Bertone, the design side of the business, and Carrozzeria (Coachworks) Bertone, the production arm that produced thousands of cars and car bodies each year. Following a downturn in business, Carrrozzeria Bertone went bankrupt in 2007 and was sold to Fiat SpA in 2009. The Bertone Factory at Grugliasco will be used for Maserati production.
