Bertone Runabout: ‘projects like this are the zenith for a designer’

Who doesn’t love a comeback? Especially one which feels more unlikely than others: the resketching of a one-off, 1969 concept as a high-performance production sports car. The Bertone Runabout was iconic in its first instance, placing an improbably slender, open body upon humble Autobianchi underpinnings. It went on to influence the Fiat X1/9 and Lancia Stratos. 

But this second iteration looks set to carve a legacy all of its own. It reimagines the original Marcello Gandini design in carbon panels and with newfound usability – real doors, luggage space and the option of a full-size windscreen and targa roof – while slotting much feistier components beneath. The dimensions of its bonded, extruded aluminium chassis and supercharged Toyota V6 match those of the outgoing Lotus Exige – no coincidence – but every component is box-fresh and heavily modified for this new application. It’s no restomod and devours no donor car in its construction.

Bertone is revealing the car in production form at Retromobile 2026, with order books open for the 25-strong production run. Prices start at €390,000 (£340,000) before taxes, but customisation is key. This show car arrives painted to match its sixties inspiration, but almost every element of the Runabout – right down to the lever for its six-speed manual gearbox – can have its material or colour swapped. “Every client follows a curated configuration journey,” we’re told, “shaping the car’s identity through a personal dialogue with Bertone’s Centro Stile.”

Design lead Andrea Mocellin began his studies in Turin before a stint in London at the Royal College of Art. A diverse career has taken him via passenger car design for Ferrari, Maserati and Alfa Romeo – the F12 and Giulia just two examples of cars with his fingerprints upon them – to autonomy, aviation and wheelchair projects. He loves mobility, then, but acknowledges that “projects like the Runabout are the zenith for a designer”. 

CDN sat down for a chat with Andrea to find out more…

Car Design News: Why is the Runabout coming back?

Andrea Mocellin: It’s a link to get car collectors and new generations falling in love with Bertone. The original Runabout was provoking with its shape and design, influencing the Fiat and Lancia with its exposed fender and front wedge design and the truncated, ‘coda tronca’ tail. Many characteristics that are really built into the history of the automobile. The Runabout is this kind of hidden gem.

CDN: How did the project begin?

AM: From the first day of this project I loved turning the original car, sketching it, and really getting to understand the original work of Gandini. There are three lines, four maximum, that give character to the vehicle. If you remove those, or you put that character in the wrong place, then immediately the car becomes something else. As a designer I love to really start from ‘why was the car like that?’. Once I’d hopefully learned what Gandini was thinking, I then started to translate it into something more conceptual.

CDN: Was it challenging making a pure show-car design work on the road?

AM: We had to develop the packaging and analyse all these areas to really fine tune the car and make it work as we wanted. The car has to perform, and it’s really powerful in respect to the original Runabout. We tried to ensure the performance is not loud, that it’s well integrated in key areas that respect the clean design. 

So you see in the lower section, which is super nautical in its inspiration and how it shrinks the bottom of the car, we had to insert the air intakes in a way that still looked like a Runabout but which also works naturally, as the cut line of the door starts exactly in that area.

CDN: You’ve had to work in useable lighting, too.

AM: The daytime running light is this horizontal blade running through the front stripe and then you have the pop-up lights as minimal as possible to make it driveable today. We are not contaminating the design by making waves on the front, killing the fenders. All the lines are crisp and clear so that the car is not overdesigned. It's a really honest and respectful design, I would say.

CDN: How did you make the interior respect the project’s aims?

AM: We wanted to translate the original design into the interior and its materials, feelings and technologies, but without losing this nostalgic aura that you see on the outside. 

It was extremely important to make the interior feel like it belonged to the Runabout, while delivering the level of quality that the driver wants today – which is completely different to what the driver wanted many years ago. Our approach was clear in maintaining as many of the key lines of the original Runabout, while making it fresh, making it new, but also integrating details that recall the concept from 1969. Yet still fit the market today in terms of quality and perception.