Summary
- Bertone has pulled the Runabout from concept-car folklore into a road-legal, ultra-limited V6 sports car that channels its 1969 Autobianchi A112 namesake through sharp wedge surfacing and neo-retro details
- Built around a lightweight Lotus-derived bonded aluminum chassis with carbon bodywork, the Runabout pairs a mid-mounted supercharged 3.5-liter Toyota V6 and six-speed gated manual to deliver around 475 hp, 0-62 mph in just over four seconds and a 168 mph top speed
- Production is capped at 25 cars split between purist Barchetta and more usable Targa body styles, each commanding roughly €390,000 before taxes as the first entry in the new Bertone Classic line
The reborn Bertone Runabout is not just another nostalgia play. It is the moment the storied Italian design house proves it can mine its own back catalog and still feel genuinely current. More than five decades after Marcello Gandini’s Autobianchi A112 Runabout rewired the idea of a compact sports car, the new two-seater lifts that speedboat-meets-wedge silhouette and drops it into a 2026 reality shaped by carbon fiber, small-series regulations and serious money. Dimensions stay Miata-small but stance and surfacing are pure Bertone, from the ultra-low nose and pop-up headlamps to the coda tronca tail sitting over fat staggered rubber.
Underneath, the romance is backed up by purposeful hardware. A Lotus-style extruded and bonded aluminum tub wears hand-laid carbon panels to keep weight to around 1,057 kg, while a mid-mounted, supercharged 3.5-liter Toyota V6 sends roughly 468–475 hp to the rear axle through a close-ratio six-speed manual and exposed metal gate. Double wishbones with multi-way adjustable dampers and anti-roll bars, forged 18/19-inch wheels and serious brakes give the Runabout real track-day potential, even if most examples will live in climate-controlled garages. Inside, a hull-like cockpit leans into the boat inspiration with a low driving position, a single digital tachometer, a dashboard that reads like a minimalist deck and analog touchpoints including a gated shifter and nautical-style compass.
Crucially, the Runabout also marks the launch of the the all-new Bertone Runabout line, a curated series of ultra-low-volume reinterpretations from within the brand’s own mythology. Available as a roofless Barchetta that treats airflow as part of the experience or a Targa that adds a removable carbon roof and full windshield, each car arrives as a made-to-measure object with extensive color and material personalization, from retro copper and Mediterranean blue exteriors to bi-color leather, bespoke luggage and even helmets. Pricing that hovers around €390,000 and a run of just 25 build slots frame the Runabout less as a rational buy and more as a rolling design manifesto for collectors who remember the original wedge era or are ready to discover it on their own terms.
