22 Feb 08
The Geneva Motor Show is Europe's first big automotive event each year, and there are always a number of brand-new concept cars on display. Some are clear previews of upcoming production models, other disappear without trace. What's happened to some of the show-stoppers from recent years?
The Barchetta (literally 'little boat' in Italian) was created to celebrate the 95th anniversary of the Bertone styling house/coachbuilding firm. It recalled the 1947 Fiat 500 Barchetta, a one-off built by company founder Nuccio Bertone as his own personal racer.
Based around the chassis and powertrain of the Fiat Panda 100bhp, the Barchetta was a two-seater speedster with high waistline, scissor-opening doors, short front and rear overhangs, glazed doors and 20-inch wheels. It was set off by a one-piece hand-beaten polished aluminium panel running nose to tail, interrupted only by the passenger compartment and an air vent to the engine. The stripped-out cabin featured natural-finish leather upholstery and a neat adjustable dash set-up mounted on rails, with minimal instrumentation but stowage trays and an iPod dock.
Bertone has had a long relationship with Fiat, stretching back over 80 years and more than 50 collaborations: these have notably included the Fiat 850 Spider and the X1/9 coupe. This Barchetta was a clear appeal to Fiat for the contract to build a new-generation roadster - a replacement for the Punto-based Barchetta - and, it turns out, it was a plea for a much-needed commission.
Once Bertone finished its 2000-car Mini GP production run, new jobs were not forthcoming, and it filed for bankruptcy. The assets of the Carrozzeria Bertone - the coachbuilding business - was sold to an investment group early in 2008, though the design/prototyping division, Stile Bertone, remained under the control of the Bertone family. Since then, there have been disagreements within the Bertone family itself; Stile Bertone is currently on the verge of bankruptcy and sadly, may not reach its centenary. Little chance of the Barchetta getting built, then.
