Nuccio Bertone's Designs of the 1960's and 1970's in Miniature
by Doug Breithaupt

Carrozia Bertone is one of several famous Italian automotive design houses to survive from the early years of motorcars to present day. Nuccio Bertone first produced custom auto designs in the 1920's. His most memorable designs however, may well be those for prototypes and production vehicles of the 1960's and 1970's. Bertone was largely responsible for the move to wedge-shaped designs in the 1970's.

The lists below were drawn directly from the official Bertone Website at bertone.it. Even though the site is in Italian, no translation is needed as one views the many designs. It is not clear if these lists are all-inclusive of Bertone's work during these decades, but all the major models are included.

Where possible, the toy car version of each model is shown. Models in the prototype list must have actually been a miniature of the one-off show car. On the production side, an example has been selected as many of the cars on the list as possible.

It is fascinating to see the way Bertone design elements evolved throughout the years. Compare the '64 Alfa Canguro and the '66 Iso Grifo or the '67 Lamborghini Marzel and the '68 Espada it inspired. The '72 NSU Trapeze and '74 Lancia Stratos also share theme elements.

Many interesting Bertone designs have never been produced in small-scale. I would love to see the 1961 Ferrari 250GT done. Some the the design can bee seen in the Fiat Dino and in an early Honda coupe (done by Tomica).

(image courtesy of Bertone Website)

One of the images that follows is not a 1:64 scale model. It is actually 1:43 scale with minor alterations but was included, both to illustrate this model and test your skill. If you think you know which model it is, let me know and I will post the names of those who guess correctly (click here).


PROTOTYPES

1979 Volvo TUNDRA
1978 Lancia SIBILO
1977 Jaguar ASCOT
1976 Ferrari RAINBOW
1976 Alfa Romeo NAVAJO
1975 Fiat X 1 /9 Dallara
1975 Visitors Bus
1974 Lamborghini BRAVO
1974 Maserati Quattroporte
1974 Fiat 127 VILLAGE

1973 NSU TRAPEZE - Norev

1972 Lamborghini Countach - Matchbox

1972 Citroën CAMARGUE - Majorette
1972 Porsche-VW
1972 Suzuki GO
1970 Lancia STRATOS 0
1970 Chrysler France SHAKE
1970 BMW 2200 TI GARMISCH
1969 Autobianchi RUNABOUT
1969 Fiat 128 Coupé

1969 BMW 2800 SPICUP - Playart

1968 Alfa Romeo CARABO - Matchbox
1967 PANTHER
1967 Fiat 125 EXECUTIVE

1967 Lamborghini MARZAL - Matchbox
1967 Alfa Romeo MONTREAL
1966 Porsche 911 Roadster
1966 Jaguar FT
1965 Ford Mustang

1964 Alfa Romeo CANGURO - Polistil
1963 Corvair TESTUDO
1962 Alfa Romeo Coupé High Speed
1962 Iso Grifo Bizzarrini
1961 Aston Martin DB 4/GT
1961 Maserati 5000 Coupé
1961 Ferrari 250 GT
1960 Gordon Keeble
1960 Ferrari 3000


PRODUCTION

1977 Volvo 262 C

1976 Fiat 131 Rally - Tomica
1975 Volkswagen Polo
1975 Saviem SG2
1974 Innocenti Mini 90/120
1974 Audi 50

1974 Lancia Stratos - Playart

1973 Ferrari Dino 308 GT/4 - Polistil

1972 FIAT X 1/9 - Corgi

1972 Lamborghini Countach - Tomica
1972 Maserati Khamsin
1971 Lamborghini Urraco
1970 Lamborghini Jarama

1970 Alfa Romeo Montreal - Siku
1969 lso Rivolta Lele

1968 Lamborghini Espada - Siku (Hungary)
1968 Alfa Romeo 1750/2000
1968 Racer Team Berlinetta
1967 Toyo Kogyo Mazda 1500/1800

1966 Lamborghini Miura - Tomica
1964 Alta Romeo GT 1300/2000
1964 Fiat 850 Spider

1964 lso Rivolta Coupé - Polistil

1964 Iso Grifo - Matchbox

1964 Fiat Dino Coupé - Playart
1961 BMW 3200 CS

1961 Alfa Romeo 2000/2600 Sprint - Polistil
1961 ASA 1000 "Ferrarina"
1960 Simca Coupé 1200 S